SSL/TLS: Support for ECDSA certificates
4D uses SSL/TLS to secure client-server communication and HTTP requests. 4D is supporting RSA cryptography since more than a decade and with 4D v20R4 we are now adding ECDSA cryptography to our tool belt. It’s a good moment for me to speak a bit about security.
Developing Concurrently on 4D Server in Project Mode
Since its release in 4D v18, Projects drastically expanded 4D’s capabilities by bringing compatibility with version control systems —among other things.
With excellent feedback, we couldn’t be prouder to see significant adoption of this feature among the 4D community. This pushed us to improve it to make it even better.
Your feedback included a request for the possibility to work simultaneously on a single development server as a team. Again, 4D listened, and we are thrilled to announce that with 4D v19 R6, you can work on a development server in project mode!
Disabling explorers on merged servers
You may want to restrict administrators from accessing the Data Explorer and the Runtime Explorer in your deployed merged servers. 4D v19 R5 enables to do so.
Here is everything you need to know.
Simplified cross-platform client/server application building on Windows
The release of Silicon Macs had a great impact on the way 4D compiles applications. Before v19, 4D was compiling only for Intel architecture, using the same code on Mac and Windows. But Silicon Macs use a new architecture, and as such 4D needs to compile specifically for Silicon. It affects cross-platform client/server application building.
As long as you build your server on Mac, it’s not much of an issue, as you can compile for both Intel and Silicon platforms. But on Windows, it’s not possible to compile for Silicon Macs. Our current recommendation is to compile the project on Mac for both architectures, and then copy it on a Windows machine before building the server. Unfortunately, for big projects with a lot of data, the copy can take some time.
Monitor 4D Server activity with this new tool
Multiple 4D data sources, interested?
We’ve got an exciting new feature to announce in 4D v18 and the title may have already given you a hint!
This feature opens new possibilities for client/server work. Rather than being limited to the current database and requiring a permanent network connection, an application in 4D v18 can get data from another, remote 4D database that’s exposed on a 4D server!
A lot of options become available thanks to this feature. For example, you could organize your applications to work offline and only synchronize local data when remote data is reachable. Or you could consider publishing your data on multiple servers and switching from one to the other as necessary. Another option could be splitting your data model across different databases (e.g. local data, international data). What about having your data distributed in different places yet still accessible through a single 4D client code (project methods and form objects)? All of these scenarios are now possible and this blog post tells you how!
Customize the admin dialog with 4D code
There have been requests to modify the 4D Server administration dialog, with some customers wanting to remove information and others wanting to add customized information. This AdminWindow component shows you how to do just that. You can use it “as is” or modify it to fit your needs.
New architecture for application deployments
Today, merged applications save many information in the application package and also in the compiled file (.4DC). Besides preventing to create read-only applications, saving information in the application package has another annoying consequence: the information gets lost when you update the application.
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