Author: Vanessa Talbot

Vanessa Talbot
• Product Owner •Vanessa Talbot joined 4D Program team in June, 2014. As a Product Owner, she is in charge of writing the user stories then translating it to functional specifications. Her role is also to make sure that the feature implementation delivered is meeting the customer need.Since her arrival, she has worked to define key features in 4D. She has worked on most of preemptive multi-threading new features and also on a very complex subject: the new architecture for engined application. Vanessa has a degree from Telecom Saint-Etienne. She began her career at the Criminal Research Institute as a developer for the audiovisual department. She has also worked in media and medical fields as expert in technical support, production as well as documenting new features.
Tips
Vanessa Talbot
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A component to export the structure file

Thanks to 4D v17 R3, you can export your structure file in multiple text files. For example, with only a few lines of code you can create a copy of your database every morning. You can use this to keep track of the history or to send your database to a colleague and see the changes when they’re done working on it.

We provide you a ready-to-use component with only two methods: one to configure the data to be exported, and the other to export your database.

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Vanessa Talbot
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Better documents with two new attributes

To produce a nice document, you need to respect some typesetting rules and fundamentals. For example, the grammar, spelling, and structure of your document shows the quality of your text. One of these rules concerns the distribution of paragraphs and tables over multiple pages.

4D Write Pro offers you two options to manage paragraph distribution:

  • Avoid page break inside paragraphs or tables, and
  • Avoid widows and orphans for paragraphs or tables.

 

Let’s dig into more details.

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Vanessa Talbot
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Convert classic 4D forms to dynamic forms

Your forms may need to be changed depending on your customer or user needs. For example, the color black might be perfect for one user but not so much for another user (who sees blue as the ultimate perfection). Luckily, dynamic forms (introduced with 4D v16 R6) are here to help you handle your users’ preferences. But rewriting an existing form to a dynamic form could be a difficult task, and it’s not always easy to start with a blank page. Ideally, it’d be best to have a draft that can be modified and improved. With 4D v17 R3, it’s now possible to easily convert a classic 4D form (stored in .4DB file) to a dynamic form.

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Vanessa Talbot
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Text files from your structure file

Developing an application is often a very collaborative job, involving many people. In this case, you may want store your development in a source control repository, or have a history of the work done during the day, or send your database to a colleague and see the changes when they’re done working on it.

All of the above scenarios are now possible! Beginning with v17 R3, you can export the .4DB file into multiple text files. This offers you many new possibilities.

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Vanessa Talbot
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Change the properties of several methods at once by code

We know that sometimes you want to change the properties of multiple methods without having to open the property dialog for each method.

For example, you want to set all methods to “Can be run in preemptive mode” status, then compile your database. So with compilation errors, you get an overview of the methods to modify to be preemptive.

Using the METHOD GET NAMES command to retrieve the list of methods from your database, and then using the METHOD SET ATTRIBUTES command to modify the attributes, lets you modify them all at the same time!

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Vanessa Talbot
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4D Methods editor with dark theme

Humans have different taste preferences. For instance, some people prefer white over all other colors, while others find black to be more majestic … hence any new color trend tagged as ‘the new black’!

In order to accommodate different preferences, 4D enables you to personalize the method editor theme!

In the 4D preferences dialog, you can set several parameters for the editor such as the color of the background or each type of code element (i.e., commands and comments). 

Thanks to these different options, you can completely customize the method editor to your taste. Whether you’re a fan of light or dark themes, 4D’s got you covered!

Here’s what a dark theme looks like:

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Tips
Vanessa Talbot
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How to display a multilevel collection in different list boxes!

Starting with 4D v17, the content of a multilevel collection can easily be displayed in different list boxes. Meaning that you can bind several list boxes to display nested details … without a single line of code! This can be achieved by simply using an object or a collection as the data source for another list box!

With the new list box collection type, the “Current item” and “Selected items” properties have been added. Keep in mind that the “Current item” property allows you to get an object, while the “Selected item” property returns a collection.

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