SmartWare 4 Release Notes. Installation Process As many of you know, as Windows moves along, sometimes there are problems for existing non Microsoft products. This was the case for SmartWare versions prior to SmartWare 4. With the introduction of Windows 2000, the install process was broken and would not finish correctly. This is now fixed in SmartWare 4. To install, place the CD ROM in your CD Reader. Choose Start from the Task Bar, Run, Browse to the CD Drive, and select the Setup file. On many computers, the exact command to install will be: D:\setup where D: is the CD ROM drive. If your CD ROM drive is E: then your command would be E:\setup. Then click OK. Follow the screen prompts from and SmartWare will install. All told, SmartWare needs about 50 Megabytes of disk space. During the install you may be prompted about installing ODBC drivers. It is the same file used as before, although the file size is slightly changed because of changes to reflect the word SmartWare instead of ANGOSS. When prompted, select Yes to install. No changes will be made to any existing ODBC drivers you may have installed. Additionally, for those of you who have implemented survival tactics and modified your systems to tune ODBC performance, you will see no change. During the install you will be prompted to choose your install location. The default will be to: c:\SmartWare. You will also be prompted to add icons etcetera to the SmartWare 4 program group or the program group of your choice. The Windows executable file is now called Smartw.exe When you run the install process, the DOS executable is automatically installed. The DOS executable is now Smartx.exe. However, if you need printer drivers or other DOS oriented components, you must choose Start, Run, Browse to the CD ROM and choose D:\Install or E: if your CD ROM drive is E:. At this point, the installation will proceed as it always has. Follow the prompts as you are used to. There are no new printer, modem or other DOS style drivers included in SmartWare 4. There are also no plans to add any in the future. If you have hard coded paths in your Smart Programming Language (SPL) code that reflect executables toward old directories such as ANGOSS, there is no real reason to change the directory structures. Simply use Add Remove Programs from your computers control panel and uninstall your prior version of SmartWare. (Please make a backup prior to uninstalling in case there is a file you made in the past you wish to keep.) Therefore, you may install to the same directory structure you have used in the past. If you want SmartWare 4 to reside in a home directory called ANGOSS, go for it. After install, when you move the shortcut from the SmartWare 4 program group to the desktop, you will see the 4 box logo. Your new shortcut target line will be: c:\smartware\bin\smartw.exe. and your new Start In directory will be: c:\smartware\bin. Notes on the Development Process It has been a long time since a document like this needed to be written. The first point to make is that fundamental file and data compatibility with the past has been maintained. The second is that SmartWare has begun a process of change to reflect what is current and what will be in the future. In the half decade or more since SmartWare has had serious work done at code level, those who use the product have further advanced their passion for the product. The principals of SmartWare Corporation share that passion. SmartWare is our only product, our only focus, and outside of our families and faith, it is about all we even care about. The most significant feature in this release is not new code, buttons to push, bugs fixed, or any typical software enhancements. The one feature that matters most is John Halverson, our Software Architect. It is not often that the main enhancement to any product is human, but that is the exact truth. The gentleman can program. He was a member of the Microsoft Access development team for over 5 years. In Access 2002 he wrote all the Wizards and owned many feature areas of the product. He left Microsoft to move to Wisconsin to be near family, his wife secured her dream of teaching in a small high school, and John was looking for a new challenge. He found passion. His mandate was: First, do no harm. This truly lofty goal is normally associated with the health care industry. This idea was applied to the development of SmartWare 4. We believe he has met that mandate. Existing Applications For existing SPL applications that have desktop shortcuts, simply change the Target executable line to reflect the \SmartWare\Bin\Smartw.exe path to run SmartWare 4. When you change the Start In to the \SmartWare\Bin directory, the desktop Icon will change from the old “Flying A” to the 4 box logo. You may also need to invoke the Pathset utility in RAD and change your paths if necessary. No passwords have been changed or added to the product. The default RAD password is still 1621. The Configuration Menu After you start SmartWare, in the upper left hand of the screen corner many of you will recognize an old friend. Go ahead and click on the “4 box logo”. This is the gateway to the Configuration screen where you will find some changes. However, everything that was on Configuration menu before this upgrade is still there, exactly as you remember it. There are 2 major additions to the Configuration menu. Use Modern Look and Feel and Show taskbar when Smart is running are new options. Show Taskbar when Smart is Running Many of you have applications that you want to fully control. A “feature” of the DOS executable was the screen would be filled by the application, giving no hint that anything else even exists in the computer. By checking this box in the Configuration screen, the Windows executable will now fill the entire screen. The Task Bar will not show so you users will probably be less tempted to “click around” Use Modern Look and Feel With this box checked on the Configuration menu you begin to see some real changes. The default upon install is to use the modern look and feel. The default font offered is Courier New 8 point. Any font you have installed in your Windows Font Directory can be accessed by SmartWare 4. There are fixed width, proportional and DOS fonts. Frankly, some fonts are beautiful, some are plain ugly. Larger font sizes may (will) make existing database or spreadsheet screens “bleed” off to the right. We suggest 8 point fixed width fonts as they most emulate the way the old DOS SFF fonts behaved. Some proportional fonts may not make your existing screens look sharp. When you make new databases the sky is the limit as you are not bound by expectations of how an existing database has always looked. If you would like your database to look like a wedding invitation, choose something line Edwardian Script. Very fancy and quite indicative of SmartWare joining a more modern time. You can choose large font sizes if your eyes are not as young anymore. We have tried very hard to make your existing applications look just right when run for the first time. There are certain combinations of line graphics, colors and shadowing tactics that may not translate as well to the new modern look and feel. We hope that this does not cause untoward inconvenience If you have a screen or screens that do not look appetizing and you do not want to do a File Modify, simply uncheck the Use Modern Look and Feel box and it will look like it always has. You are not forced to use fonts or tactics you do not want to use. However, if you turn off modern look and feel you lose access to grid lines in spreadsheets, standard data views and tables on custom views. The GUI SmartWare was bound by the DOS legacy. Stuck in the 80 x 25 world would be a good way to put it. The source code demanded 8 pixel characters on the screen and even demanded to control the math of how those characters were displayed. We were advised that to write any sort of GUI, it would be necessary to write 4 separate interfaces. The Database, Spreadsheet and Word Processor would need individual controls. A fourth GUI to overlay and control everything would also be required. Notice no comment about the Communications module which would need yet another interface. The Communications module has not been touched. Those that use it will find no difference in operation. The menu interface is consistent with the rest of the product. The Word Processor is a dicey affair at best. Although many say it was the best DOS Word Processor ever written, even better than Word Perfect, the only changes are to the command interface. It will function like it always has. Simply put, there are no changes. The evidence advanced by the prior owners of the product convinced us that any change to the Word Processor code would in fact bust it, perhaps fatally. Upon final review, there was solid reasoning to not fool with the Word Processor. Use it as you always have. The Spreadsheet has a nice new look upon entry. There are grid lines on the screen and spreadsheets look nicer and are easier to read. Most existing spreadsheets will look beautiful right out of the box. New spreadsheets as well as existing spreadsheets now can take advantage to any Windows font you have on your computer. There are some situations where long column heading titles do not behave correctly in existing spreadsheets. We are sorry and ask forgiveness of those who will need to touch up issues as this. Spreadsheet Graphs now print. A significant bug that was introduced in a prior version is now fixed. We believe that graphs are part of a GUI so it was very important to us to announce to you that this very important feature is now enabled. The Database has had extensive work. Many of the features listed later in this document have to do with the database. There is a nice look to tables with grid lines. Note that if you have screens with black backgrounds, the grid lines will not show. Standard views without a black background will emulate the look of spreadsheets. Many developers use standard screens in lieu of spreadsheets for applications where appropriate. We invite you to check out this new way to view your data. When you make a new database simply do what you have always done. There are no changes to the process of creating screens so there is nothing to learn. Most of the work to the Database involves bug fixes and enhancements here and there. These will be discussed later in the release notes. The Color 7 Paradigm A significant change to SmartWare is how color 7 is handled. Color 7 in SmartWare is Light Grey. Color 7 is now tied to the default color scheme in Windows found in Display Properties Appearance on your Windows Desktop. Whatever default color you choose from the Windows desktop will be reflected in SmartWare. When you make a database, the default background of the database window will also take the default color from Windows. We believe that any dissonance with this design decision will be offset by the fact that if any of your customers say SmartWare is not a Windows program, change the default Windows color and then ask your customer what they think now. Cut, Copy, and Paste There has never been a true Windows style Cut, Copy and Paste in SmartWare. There are clipboard functions and developer invented tactics, but for the first time, in the Database and Spreadsheet there is mouse driven cut, copy and paste. The mouse driven Cut, Copy and Paste functions are primarily designed to work in the Database, and the SPL editor, Text Editor and Spreadsheet. The standard Windows keystrokes of CTRL + X, CTRL + C, and CTRL + V are used for Cut, Copy and Paste respectively. You can use these functions between Windows Applications such as Microsoft Word and SmartWare. For instance, if you get an email that contains information you wish to store in a SmartWare database, simply copy the data as you would with any program and paste it into your database field. Theoretically, you could use Microsoft Word to write SPL code, and then copy it to the SPL editor in SmartWare. (Although we cannot fathom doing that, it is possible.) To cut and copy in the Spreadsheet and Word Processor, the original SmartWare method of ALT-C and ALT-D for example, still works as always. In the Word Processor you can save to the buffer or the Clipboard for insertions elsewhere. Because SmartWare has a line length of 255 characters, there is a limitation in the Paste routine. If you copy from a paragraph longer than 255 characters and that paragraph does not have a carriage return, the paste action will truncate at character 255 in the Text Editor and in the SPL editor. However, if you have a database text field the Database will handle the Paste of as many characters as the field can accept. Curiously, if you Paste to a Database Field, then Copy from the field to the Text Editor, the formatting will hold and the 255 Character with no carriage return limitation is moot. In the Database, if you have a field that is completely full you must use the keyboard to cut the entire contents. Simply place the cursor to the left of the first character and press Shift and the right arrow. The field will highlight and then use CTRL + C to copy. The problem with selecting all text with fonts that are larger is this: With fonts that fill up all the space allocated, the problem is that since the text takes all the space, the pixel position is not reported to the function doing the selection because it is outside the width of the text area. A quirk of the mouse driven Cut, Copy and Paste highlighting sequence is that if you are typing on a line, the line you are typing will not highlight. If you leave the line you are on and return to it, the highlighting works. Windows API Database Pinned to the SmartWare menu on the main Windows desktop Programs Menu is a new feature called WIN32 API Viewer. Advanced programmers can treat themselves to a database with 1543 Windows API function calls with sample code. There is also another database that contains 6407 named constants. With the API functions there is sample SPL code on how to use it. To use, find the function you desire, go into update mode, copy the code, then paste the code into your SPL application. With these features accessed and used correctly, you literally could write SmartWare 4 with SPL. A caveat: These functions should be used only by experienced programmers or adventuresome types who are prepared to deal with consequences. They directly manipulate the operating system and should not be used experimentally. The SmartWare Corporation expressly disclaims responsibility should an accident occur. These functions are provided as a convenience only. Features Added F6 in Calculator to list fields Formula Calculator remembers the last calculation Windows API Database with sample SPL code to utilize. Cut Copy and Paste with the mouse There is now CGM graphic support in Report writer. It works very similar to how it works in the word processor. You tell the report in the report definition page where on the page and what size you would like the picture. Details are explained later in this document. Long file names are supported Windows font support is now available in the Database and Spreadsheet. SmartWare has a legacy of 8 pixel fonts so some fonts and sizes are not as desirable. Courier New 8 point font is the new default. New menu interface with 3D buttons There is now added SPL syntax highlighting: blue indicates a keyword, green is a comment, maroon is a constant, and black is for anything else. Messages and prompts are now handled through dialog boxes SmartWare now uses the Windows default color scheme which is usually light gray. Table data on view has a new look Grid lines on standard views that have any background color except black. Views now have text boxes Views now have radio buttons on bar menus Cursor is now thin vertical bar as in MS applications In configuration menu, there is now an option for “Use Modern Look and Feel” In configuration menu there is now an option to hide Taskbar when Smart is Running. Menus are command button like instead of how they were Record selectors now a changed look Selection arrow has a changed look “Bitmap Draw” can handle true color bit maps Options screens uses textboxes and radio buttons Added command line switch –ob to use the “classic” look, for example, your Target in the shortcut would be: c:\smartware\bin\smartw –ob and Smart will run exactly like you are used to except that many of the enhancements made elsewhere in the software will still be available to you. Button Function and Screen Menu now use command buttons Spreadsheet now has grid lines Make Application is now on the programs menu as well as database Messages and prompts are now handled through dialog boxes The 4 Boxes logo has been reintroduced Alt-W and ALT-F3 in field editor default equation so you can quickly make similar equations in different fields Bugs Fixed Catastrophic bug in DB fixed, when you replicated a field and used the same field name by mistake, or tried to place a field on the screen where a field already was, when you press F10, the software would crash and all data would be lost. More mouse support in Form report writer White on Grey fixed – in certain color combinations, especially with some laptop computers, the cursor would seem to disappear. Graphs print is spreadsheet where is 2.65C they did not. Transaction printing bug where the last page of printed output would not print is fixed. Form printing breakpoints and grand totals Install shield fixed so that it does not crash during install and finished correctly 2.65C compiled under latest Linux Kernel 100% CPU usage fixed Data Utilities Information Crash bug fixed, in the database when you pressed ALT-F with a complicated view loaded, Smart to crash Tools File Print bug fixed Remember Tools Print Bug fixed RAD Printing Menu Password Bug, when you made a User Mode in RAD, the print Report menu would be passworded, that is now fixed 0 Columns by specific number of rows, window would not appear Tools Directory Display - 5 hour file change bug Global Colors in DV_Info now work The underline feature in the word processor with the bold feature when it comes to screen presentation. We believe the Terminal Server bug is fixed LINUX SmartWare version 2.65C has been compiled under the current Red Hat Linux version 7.3, Kernel 2.4.18. SmartWare 4 has not been recompiled under any Linux Kernel. We do have plans for this undertaking. The Report Writer in the Database The Database Report Writer merits its own section. Major repairs were undertaken and many thanks offered to those who beat it up to the extent that for the first time in eons it can be counted on to do as advertised. A long sought feature is the ability to print a graphic in the report writer. In the database report writer there is a new setting under the Page menu option. There is now a prompt: Is there a picture on the page? It has a space for a picture name, a column – row parameter and finally a size prompt: Small, Medium, Large. Veteran SmartWare users will notice that this is similar to placing a graphic in the Word Processor. The existing code was “harvested” and applied to the Data Base Report Writer. Therefore, the graphic must be in CGM format. There are Bitmap to CGM conversion utilities in the Spreadsheet and Word Processor. Choose Graph and then Convert from the menu. The CGM graphic file must be in the current working directory. In RAD this would be the Home directory of the RAD application. There was an unfortunate circumstance inherited with respect to the report writer. In some combinations of Form / Table reports with Breakpoints and Grand Totals, there were certain combinations where the report writer would print a report that left veracity in question. These issues are now fixed. Long File Name Support For the first time, Smart is not bound by the 8.3 file naming conventions that were a legacy of DOS. Windows standards now apply to file names and extensions. There is a quirk between versions of Windows that needs mentioning. It involves loading files across a network. This would involve a named machine, a shared drive, and a shared directory. If you issue a load command in the database, it might look like this: File, Load, Custom-View \\office\c\files\filename, under Windows 95, 98 and ME the file will load. With Windows NT, 2000 and XP it will not. To work around this, use the Alt-X keystrokes to show the last command. You will notice the first slash in the command has been replaced by a c:. If you “put the slash back” by overtyping the c:, the file will load. Sorry this was missed. In SPL, the command \\office\c\files\filename works fine under all versions of Windows. The Font Folder On the CD is a directory called Fonts. In this directory are several additional fonts that you may enjoy. Simply copy them from the Fonts directory to your /Windows/Fonts directory. SPL Editor The SPL editor has been enhanced in the Database and Spreadsheet. There is color coding in SPL that reflects C code conventions. We have added SPL syntax highlighting: Blue indicates a SmartWare reserved keyword, Green is a comment, Maroon is a constant, and Black is for anything else. For instance, if you are typing a SmartWare command such as printing a database report, as long as the command line is Blue, the command is valid. If the command line turns Black, you will know that the command will not compile as typed. RAD Essentially, RAD has been left alone. The Make Application choice has been pinned to the Windows Programs menu although you will still find it in the Database under the Remember command. An annoyance in RAD has been fixed. When making a new User Mode, the Report Menu would have a password attached. This has been repaired. The Screen Default Colors option is now working. You access this via the following menu path: Management and Utilities, System Management, File Structure Maintenance. Find the screen you are interested in. Go into Update mode and page down twice. You will see fields that allow to change various Screen Default Color attributes. The Formula Calculator A couple of changes have been made to the Formula Calculator typically accessed via ALT+K or Tools Calculator. The calculator will now remember the last formula used. As always F7 will clear the formula. Additionally, to insert the results of the calculation elsewhere in SmartWare, use CTRL+K. This change was necessitated by the fact that CTRL+C now follows the Windows convention for Copy. European Issues There is only one build of SmartWare. After SmartWare is installed you will need to set your date and other preferences to suit your locale. Also, in the Word Processor, Choose Layout, Document-Options, New-Documents and page down 3 times to choose your local dictionary. ANGOSS References ANGOSS has no relationship with SmartWare anymore. There are some references in SmartWare and the documentation that refer to the prior owners of SmartWare. There is no material deficiency because of this and we apologize to anyone who finds this a curiosity. Simply stated, there were so many references in so many places, expected and unexpected that we will have to get the final legacy references removed over time. Part of the reason is explained in the next section. The Books The on line PDF documentation from the SmartWare menu on the Windows Program menu has not been touched. Unfortunately, we are not in possession of the source for the books. Therefore the Documentation cannot be updated at this time. We regret this fact but it is beyond our control. There will be references to the prior owners of SmartWare littered throughout. We will be unable to provide bound books in the meantime. When these material facts change, we will inform all of the SmartWare users. When you press F1 for help, references to the prior owners are gone. Notes on the Future This is not a static product. SmartWare has been moribund but now moves forward. We make no judgment about the past. However, we assure you that the future augers well.