Read 4D object fields with SQL Engine
A 4D object field is a persistent database field type, stored as binary content. Previously, reading this type of field by an ODBC driver wasn’t possible. Until today.
Before, an error was returned when trying to read an object field. This prevented the completion of simple Select * from myTable requests, which could be frustrating for users who only wanted to browse the content of a table.
Good news! The SQL engine has been updated to allow 4D object fields to be read.
Introduction to data encryption in 4D
DATA is everywhere. As our lives increasingly move online, the importance of data security also increases. Customer data must be vigilantly guarded against potential threats and breaches. In many cases, using a disk encryption tool (such as Microsoft’s Bitlocker or Apple’s FileVault) provides a sufficient level of protection, but what if your customer or your CSO (Chief Security Officer) requires encryption at the database level – on a per table basis?
During 4D Summit 2018, you asked for a solution to encrypt your data and we’ve delivered. We’re excited to present new data encryption tools for your 4D databases.
Get info about the running application
4D v17 R3 takes your database analysis a step further by enabling you to create a customized server administration dialog. Following the ability to retrieve information about users & processes, getting all runtime information about 4D Web server, getting details about the active license, and getting all of the hardware and system details, you now also have the ability to retrieve the activity and network configuration of the running database.
Do you need to know on which IP address and port the database is listening, if communications between the client and the server are encrypted, or if the legacy network layer is used? Just call the new command, Get application info. And that’s not all! This command also returns information about the database such as: the amount of CPU used, the time since its been started, and the list goes on.
Write generic code with ORDA
ORDA was one of the major announcements of 4D Summit 2018, opening a world of new possibilities in 4D. To learn more about ORDA and its benefits, check out this post to see how ORDA will change the way you work.
Get machine hardware information
4D v17 goes a step further to let you create a customized server administration dialog. Following the ability to retrieve information about users & processes, getting all runtime information about 4D Web server, as well as details about the active license, you now have the ability to also retrieve all of the hardware and system details for the machine running your 4D server.
Do you need to know what OS is being used, what processor(s), how much RAM is available, etc.? Just call the new Get system info command, locally or remotely! And that’s not all, this command can be extremely useful for quickly diagnosing and solving any problems that may arise.
Logical operations on entity selections
The ORDA series continues! In this blog post we’ll see how to use logical operators on entity selections!
These operations allow you to get intersections, unions, or differences between two entity selections like you can with classic 4D sets.
Handle entities in an entity selection
FIRST RECORD, LAST RECORD, NEXT RECORD, PREVIOUS RECORD; does that ring any bells? I bet it does. You’ve already been using them to handle selections! ORDA provides useful and familiar methods to navigate through entities in an entity selection – and obviously, some perks!
For starters, you can handle several entity selections at the same time and navigate through them independently, whereas normally you can only manage a single ‘current selection’ per table. That’s precisely what we’re going to see in this blog post.
Working with ORDA optimistic locking
4D v17 introduces ORDA, a major evolution in 4D which is opening a world of new possibilities for 4D developers. One of the benefits of using ORDA is related to record locking, because ORDA offers a choice between optimistic and pessimistic locking. After having introduced the ORDA locking mechanisms, we continue the ORDA series so you can discover how to work efficiently with optimistic locking with ORDA.
Locking entities with ORDA
The ORDA series continues! In this blog post, we’ll look at how you can use locks in your databases with ORDA concepts! It’s not uncommon to need to manage conflicts that might occur when several users or processes load and/or attempt to modify the same records at the same time. Record locking is a methodology used in relational databases to avoid inconsistent updates to data.
ORDA provides an optimistic locking mode in addition to the one you already know (pessimistic locking).
ORDA: work with objects and collections
In this latest addition to the ORDA series, we’ll look at how the new ORDA concepts can interact with existing objects and collections. In fact, it’s possible to turn entities and entity selections into objects and collections, as well as build entities and entity selections from objects and collections. By doing so, you can easily integrate ORDA code within your existing code. You can take full advantage of ORDA without needing to rewrite your code!
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