Doodads & Sub-Reports in Baden!

Lots of doodads and sub-reports!  This was Razzak’s (A Razzak Memon – RBTI CEO) summary of what we could expect to see in the next version of R:BASE to be released at the end of October 2005. 

Developers from Switzerland, France, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom gathered in Baden Zurich at the end of March for the Advanced R:BASE 7.5 training course which was impeccably hosted by Adrian Hüssy of the local R:BASE Distributor, Hüssy Engineering (www.huessy.com). 

During the two day session Razzak reviewed the new features with us, answered numerous questions, helped us to find solutions to problems in our applications and took note of new features which were requested.  In true RBTI style we were given the very latest beta release of the product, including an overnight update from the US (which included a new feature that had been requested) – sometimes the time difference between Europe and the US is very useful!  How many software suppliers do you know who are as responsive to their developers and users as RBTI?!

A summary of some of the things you can expect to see in version 7.5 has been published since the beginning of the year at www.rbase.com\rbg75 - the course expanded on this and more.  (Please remember though – that as the beta program continues, some features may change.)

One of the first things to note about 7.5 is that the .exe file is much smaller.  The use of a new compiler has reduced the size of the .exe and provides extra security.  New features in the main window include the ability to right-click on a table in the database explorer and export the data or the structure for that table, enhancements to the data browser which include changing the font and background colour and showing the full text of a note field as a ‘hint’.   The ability to change the language for the development environment is also planned for 7.5 which will be welcomed by the international development community.

Enhancements to R:BASE forms include the option to store forms in a compressed format, reducing the size of the .RB4 file and providing more security as the data in the SYS_FORMS3 is  table encoded.  Custom form actions now allow code to be saved as part of the form removing the need to distribute multiple “external” EEP files thus simplifying application deployment. 

Expect to see a new facility - R:Themes, included with version 7.5.  R:Themes will allow you to choose a visual “theme” for your forms from a predefined library, giving an enhanced  look and feel and saving a lot of development effort.  See www.rbase.com\rbg75\rthemes for more information.

Building on the PROPERTY & GETPROPERTY commands introduced with version 7.1 expect to see more properties available in 7.5 – providing even more scope for producing exciting applications.  With the new version, properties will also be available for controls within R:BASE reports.  When used with EEPs in new report actions, this will give incredible flexibility for report production.

As if that isn’t enough, the R:BASE 7.5 reports will now support sub-reports!  This lets you place an entire report within an existing report – providing an excellent way to produce comprehensive reports of one-to-many data sets.  With version 7.5’s new ability to “print” reports to secure PDF files (ie encrypted PDFs that need a password for access), the R:BASE reporting facility within version 7.5  provides a set of facilities to rival any of the standalone report writers on the market.

Furthermore, for extensibility to supplement the existing R:BASE “plug-in” architecture, we even had a preview of version 7.5 forms with the ability to access ActiveX controls! So with R:BASE 7.5 for Windows you can be sure that the comprehensive development environment will continue to grow, providing everything in one product to produce no compromise windows applications.

We have only covered some of the items that you will see in version 7.5.  Look out for more information later in the year as the beta testing comes to completion.  Better still book your place at the next R:BASE Developer’s Conference and see what's coming next.