SVG “non-scaling-stroke” attribute support
Sometimes it’s preferable to have the lines of an object keep their original width, regardless of the applied transformation. For example, you draw a line on a map showing a user’s position and a destination. When the user zooms in on the map, you want to enlarge the map but have the line maintain its width.
Code Editor: Say hello to Comment blocks
Adding a block of comments at the beginning of a method is useful for adding a note about what a method does, as well as a list of input/output parameters. And having a few lines of human-readable text within a complicated section of code can be convenient to help you and others recall the purpose of this particular section of code. Beginning with 4D v18, your programming experience is enhanced with the addition of comment blocks!
Project database: Deploying your application
So your application has been developed and you’re ready for the next step. 4D lets you:
- generate a compiled database that no longer contains any interpreted code,
- generate a standalone application that can be double-clicked, (i.e., merged with 4D Volume Desktop, 4D’s database engine),
- generate client/server applications with automatic updates of client and server parts.
With a project database, you can also build your final applications for both platforms. A project database uses the same configuration file as a binary database.
Project Databases: Post conversion
In this blog post, we showed you how to convert a binary database into a project database. Once everything is ready and the conversion has successfully completed, you can start working with your project database. However, some questions may arise: are all the files in the database useful? It’s obvious that the”.4DB” structure file is no longer needed. Can I delete other files?
Here’s everything you need to know after the conversion.
Zip/unzip files and folders with these commands
Before exchanging files (by email for example), we often compress them to reduce their size before transmitting them. With 4D v18, you can compress and uncompress your files by programming without the need for external libraries or tools. Here are the new commands that allow you to do so:
Project databases: beautify your forms with style sheets
Classic 4D binary structures let you define style sheets to specify the font, font size, and text style to use in your forms for both the macOS and Windows platforms. Project databases let you go even further by letting you define the properties of a 4-state button or specify the color and border of all line objects or even set the header height of all of an application’s list boxes! Inspired by the grammar and syntax of CSS, 4D adapted it to meet the specific needs of the forms in 4D project databases. Thanks to style sheets, you can configure all of the properties to create truly visually appealing forms. This blog post shows you how!
Project databases: Architecture
Project databases, the headliner of the 4D v18 release, allow distributed teams to work collaboratively by storing an application’s code in a source control system, in text files containing everything from the database structure to the user interface, including forms, menus, user settings, or any required resources. And since a project database is made of text-based files, you’ll have several folders and files, stored within a single parent database folder. In this blog post, we’ll go through the architecture of a project database to give you a better understanding of this new type of database.
Project databases: From binary to text-based
4D v17 R5 marked the start of beta testing for a new type of 4D database: project databases. In 4D v18, we’re thrilled to announce that project databases are now in final release. It’s time to take advantage of the power of the 4D development platform combined with the versatility of a lightweight and distributed format!
Project databases: More than a collaboration solution
Dreaming of a way of to work collaboratively? A way to work wherever you are in the world, with team members in different locations, and no one has to question where to find the latest version of a file or project? A different way to test new features and roll them back if they don’t work out, while being able to choose a restore point from which you want to roll back instead of running a full file backup. Your dreams are becoming a reality, these scenarios are now possible thanks to 4D v18 and project databases!
Power of objects and dot notation
With 4D v17 R5, we showed you how easy it is to manipulate an object to retrieve the attributes of a file or folder. Things have gotten even easier thanks to object notation! In this blog post, we’re providing you an HDI with a user interface to manage files and folders. This isn’t new in 4D since you could do it with classic 4D commands, but now you can do it easier and with fewer lines of code!
Contact us
Got a question, suggestion or just want to get in touch with the 4D bloggers? Drop us a line!
* Your privacy is very important to us. Please click here to view our Policy