4D v16 R5 Beta starts today!

October 5, 2017 5 min read

We are pleased to announce the launch of beta testing for 4D v16 R5! It’s chock-full of interesting things, so let’s take a look and see what 4D v16 R5 BETA has in store for you…

This release introduces some compelling features and enhancements, including:

Enforced security for 4D Web Server and password handling with appropriate and effective protocols and algorithms.
Simplified handling of undefined values in the 4D language.
The ability to programmatically manage your 4D Write Pro headers and footers.
Fully automatic adaptation of a list’s row height in 4D View Pro.

Security

Over the years, security has become a key topic for business applications. 4D v16 R5 takes a giant leap forward in security matters with these three improvements:

Enhanced security for 4D server

Starting with 4D v16 R5, the default minimum supported version is TLS v1.2. 4D Web Server now guarantees that your applications have the maximum security level by default (older TLS versions will be rejected, as they could be unsecure).

Support of SHA-2 for Generate digest command

Digest functions are designed to verify data integrity. As a result, they’re a great way to detect changes and alterations. 4D v16 R5 introduces a notable enhancement to the Generate digest command by supporting SHA-2 algorithms.

Passwords hashing and verification

Two new commands related to user password protection have been created: Generate password hash and Verify password hash. They’re both based on the bcrypt algorithm, which is purposely slow in order to make a password more secure against brute force attacks.

4D Language

enhanced commands for preemptive processes

Preemptive processes are outstanding since they make your 4D compiled applications run faster and allow more connected users. Your multi-cores won’t be sitting idle with 4D v16 R5, especially with the 20+ enhanced commands to use in preemptive processes!

JSON pointers management

If you want to partition your JSON documents into smaller and reusable parts, JSON pointers are the way to go!

Don’t panic over undefined values

Undefined values are no longer a nuisance in 4D v16 R5. Thanks to object notation enhancements, the 4D language now accepts evaluation of any expression containing undefined values. No more errors or interrupted code execution!

Passing data between forms

Communication with forms is greatly simplified with 4D v16 R5. Just bind an object to your form, and use it internally with the new Form command. No more complicated code or global variable hassles!

help tips on list boxes

Help tips are great way to simplify a complex user interface. 4D now supports help tips on list box objects.And that’s not all! Help tips can be defined according to the position of the mouse, so you can set help tips based on a hovered column and even per each row. Happy Hovering!

4D Write Pro

manage headers and footers programmatically

For those who want to use 4D Write Pro templates to create other documents and programmatically manage the headers and footers, we have great news…it’s available in 4D v16 R5, thanks to a set of new commands!

support of picture expressions

Where words fall short, there are pictures. With 4D v16 R5, handling pictures in your 4D Write Pro documents is becoming easier since an expression can be a picture. This improvement will help you create complex documents programmatically.

full size background pictures

Sometimes you need to have background pictures filling the entire printable area. Well, thanks to a newly added style for background images, it’s now possible in 4D Write Pro!

4D View Pro

automatic row height

List boxes are great, and they just got even better with 4D v16 R5. Thanks to a fully automatic mode to display lists, you can create gorgeous interfaces without a single line of code! Just set a few properties in the list box and 4D will do the rest!

… and more!

keep an eye on your 4D Web server

With 4D v16 R5, you’re one step closer to creating your own server administration dialog. With a single command, you can retrieve detailed information about your 4D Web Server and its cache if you set the cache attribute to true!

process monitoring

The Get process activity command has been improved. Thanks to a new attribute, any process can be uniquely identified, no matter its type. It’s worth mentioning that it’s easier than ever to parse the command result!

Need more technical details? Take a look at the 4D v16 R5 beta documentation in the 4D Doc Center.

Download 4D v16 R5 now (Exclusive to 4D Partners)

Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will help us to improve our product quality to better serve your needs.We would love to hear your thoughts about any of the features above. You can contribute to our “beta version” forum which is accessible for all 4D Partners.

Not a partner yet? Become a 4D Partner and be part of our beta test campaigns.