How to share your 4D code via Github
So you’ve been testing out project databases … maybe you’ve created one or perhaps you’ve converted an existing binary application. Now, it’s time for us to show you how to use Git (the revision control system) with Github as the hosting service for your 4D application.
Project databases and components
Since the delivery of 4D v18, a series of blog posts on how to convert and develop with project databases have been published. What about components? This blog post answers that question.
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.
Using 4D libraries within project databases
4D provides libraries to help you develop applications. One of these libraries is standard and contains preconfigured form objects and widgets, while other libraries are custom. The standard library is “read-only” and its behavior doesn’t change when developing project databases (with the exception of minor, cosmetic interface differences). You also have the ability to create your own custom libraries to save your own form objects or group of objects. In this case, a few changes have been made to make them even more powerful. The following is everything you need to know about these changes:
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.
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: Managing Users and Groups
Project databases, available in beta in the latest 4D v 17 R-Releases, are now available for production in 4D v18! Among the many changes in 4D v18 is the way user and groups are managed … it’s become much easier, especially deployment. This post will briefly highlight everything you need to know about these changes.
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!
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