Use DIALOG instead of MODIFY SELECTION
There is an old saying: “Old is gold” meaning that new ways are not as good as the old ones. But the new way to say is “Old is gold but new is platinum“. We are not referring to jewelry here but two of 4D commands: MODIFY SELECTION and DIALOG.
Exchanging messages between processes
4D v15 R5 introduces a new, simple and powerful way to exchange information between processes and also between processes and forms. This feature is based upon an asynchronous messaging system that allows processes and forms to be called and asked to execute methods with parameters in their own context.
4D View Pro – Variable Row Height in Listbox
Displaying a list where the line height would exactly fit the content is a very common need. 4D View Pro is including a new feature so that you can now control the height of each row independently in a listbox to make it fit to its content. To know more about 4D View Pro, check out this blog post.
There are actually now two ways to define the row height in a listbox:
- using new dedicated commands
- using a new control array
Listbox – columns AUTO resizing !
4D v16 includes a new feature providing your end-user great freedom and flexibility at the interface level when using list boxes. The constraints defined for each column are now fully applied and respected when the list box they belong to is resized.
New commands to save and restore print settings
This feature allows users to save and restore print settings (even those that cannot be set using 4D Get print option and SET PRINT OPTION commands) quickly and efficiently, whether on Windows or Mac OS in both 32 and 64 bits environments.
Office printers supports a large set of features, duplex, staple, punch, watermark, ink saving, color calibration, just a name some. The new commands BLOB to print settings and Print settings to BLOB supports to save and restore the whole set of information available via printer dialogs, allowing fully automatic (and faceless) print jobs.
Execute action upon listbox column resizing
The event On Column Resize is now triggered “live” during the resizing of the list boxes as long as the user modifies the column widths (previously, it was generated only once, at the end of the resizing).
Thanks to this feature, 4D programmers will have the opportunity to create live and responsive interfaces based on the actual width of columns!
Go further with Object fields
Object fields introduced with v15 allows unstructured data bases, similar to schemaless database (NoSQL). 4D v16 goes a big step further. Get a dynamic structure for unstructured data… Confused?
Imagine you use an object field to allow your customers to store custom data, where they can create their own fields. This works well and is one of the most interesting reasons for using an object field. The problem is, how to allow your customer to query this unstructured data? You don’t know which ‘fields’ they used, you cannot build a query editor on top or offer a drop down with used values.
Use Unicode for texts in forms
In 4D v16 the texts for all the form objects (static texts, buttons, check boxes, etc…) will be stored in Unicode, allowing you to use characters from different languages directly in the form editor.
Especially for Asian or Eastern European languages this will ease the development process.
Search records with matching object attributes in selection
4D v16 is providing you with an enhanced integration of object fields in your database.
If you have already pre-selected sets of an object field, you can now query these sets using only one 4D command: easy and fast!
Add an icon to listbox header
From 4D v15 R5, you can add an icon in the listbox header by programming. The image can come from a file, a picture variable or the picture library. This icon can be placed on the left or on the right side of the column.
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