PDF format for Print Previewing on Windows
PDF format is a viable alternative to XPS for print previewing on Windows, providing users with a more accessible option. Microsoft’s decision to make the XPS Viewer an optional Windows feature has caused issues for many users when deploying applications, resulting in end-users being unable to preview their printings. Although installing the free XPS Viewer is straightforward, some administrators are hesitant to install additional features, particularly on Remote Desktop environments.
Fortunately, 4D v20 now offers the option of using the PDF format for print previewing. Since almost all current Windows versions have either XPS or PDF pre-installed, end-users should no longer encounter issues with print previewing. This new option offers a more flexible and efficient solution that meets the needs of both end-users and administrators.
4D View Pro: What’s New in 4D v20
With every release, the 4D View Pro features list is growing. And this feature release is no exception: 4D v20 comes with a new version of SpreadJS, the v16, and a Ribbon update that is compatible with it.
Let’s discover the new features offered by this new version.
4D v20 Beta Starts Today
We’re excited to announce that beta testing for 4D v20, one of our most anticipated LTS versions yet, is starting today!
With over +100 advances, including enhancements to existing products and highly requested features that have been voted for by our 4D developers, this release promises to be one of our most comprehensive and feature-rich releases yet.
Buckle up, and let’s discover some of what 4D v20 Beta has to offer:
- Build real-time web applications that can handle large volumes of data and provide a seamless user experience with the new built-in WebSocket Server.
- Work with complex data structures with object and collection literals that provide a more concise and readable way to initialize objects and collections in your code.
- Quickly and efficiently search and replace code with the Find and Replace feature improvements.
- Create a custom “Help” menu for your application by passing a collection describing the menu items.
- Save time and quickly analyze and organize your data with 4D Write Pro’s tables, which automatically fill your data in tables with page breaks, headers, footers, and even break rows.
- Take advantage of 4D Write Pro text boxes (floating containers) to print complex product flyers or brochures.
- Evaluate the new feature, QUIC Network layer, a total rewrite of Client/Server communication. Built on UDP instead of TCP, it facilitates faster recovery in case of packet loss, congestion, and other issues that can cause delays and disruptions in network traffic.
- Native support for Microsoft 365 using the Microsoft Graph API allows sending, receiving, organizing emails, and handling user authentication with Single Sign On (OAuth2)
- Much more awaits you with this LTS (see below)
4D for Mobile Tutorial – Choose an Input Control
Formatters allow you to format the displayed data or to define behavior when the user touches the data. The input controls follow the same principle. They allow you to select the type of keyboard, define the behavior, or format the data in an action form.
For example, for image data, you have by default two types of control, the first one allows you to select an image or to take a picture, and the second one displays a zone to sign.
There are 3 types of input controls:
4D for Mobile Tutorial – Create actions
Actions allow users to interact with the application to change the customer’s address, add a new contact and modify a picture.
In the 4D language, an action allows you to add, edit, and delete an entity or a selection entity. But also, it can simply execute a method of your 4D server.
4D for Mobile Tutorial – Include relations
The data of your application are linked together by two types of relationship: Many to One or One to Many.
In this blog post, we will show you how to include relations. With 4D for Android and 4D for iOS, you can easily navigate between your related data. We automatically generate the transition between views in your application.
4D for Mobile Tutorial – Using Formatters
A data formatter allows you to map a data type from your database to a specific display on the mobile side. For example, you can define a date, percentage, or currency format. Data formatters can also call some code to create intelligent interfaces.
For example, you can attach a data formatter to phone numbers that open an action menu on the mobile app when the user touches the number (e.g., to call the person or save them in contacts).
You have three formatter types:
4D for Mobile Tutorial – Sort your list view
To facilitate the use of an application, the data presented to the user is usually sorted alphabetically, chronologically, or a combination of several criteria.
4D for Android and 4D for iOS allows you to define multiple sorts for each list view.
Catch errors everywhere
Error management is often a constraining part of development in all languages. In 4D, if you forget to call an error-handling method in a new process/worker or use components that don’t handle errors, the built-in 4D error dialog can appear to the final user. 4D developers would like to catch all errors in all contexts to avoid displaying this built-in 4D error dialog.
Let’s see how we can manage this behavior with 4D v19 R8.
4D for Mobile Tutorial – Define filter queries
For a mobile application, data is usually filtered to preserve storage space and provide direct and quick access to essential data.
With 4D, you have two types of filters.
- A static filter to filter the data for a table. For example, limit to tasks with the status ‘in progress.’
- A dynamic filter depends on the user’s information. For example, return only the user’s tasks.
This tutorial will show you how to use and combine these two filters.
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