DataFlex Wiki - User contributions [en]

Using On key for undefined keys

2008-03-02T23:47:43Z

Hellboy1975:

'''On_Key''' is a command used in Dataflex for trapping the action of keystrokes. All alphanumeric characters on the keyboard have actions define for them, but some keys such as /!@#$...etc do not.

You can define these special characters yourself. Generally this is done by working out the Hex value of the keystroke, and then defining the key with a [[Define_Symbol]] command.

==Examples==

Capturing the "/" symbol:

Define_Symbol Key_FwdSlash for |VI$802F
On_Key Key_FwdSlash Send DoSomething

==External Links==
*[http://centricle.com/tools/ascii-hex/ Ascii to Hex Converter]

[[Category: Tutorials]]

Coming events

2008-01-03T04:15:47Z

Hellboy1975:

Updated as of '''22nd December, 2007'''
*'''January 2008'''
**Discovering Visual DataFlex Training, Salzburg, Austria, January 7-11 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**Drive In Support, Friedrichsdorf, Germany, January 15 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**Discovering [[COM]], Friedrichsdorf, Germany, January 16-17 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**[[Visual DataFlex]] Training, Miami, Florida, USA, January 28-February 1, 2008 [http://www.dataaccess.com/Training/DANA]
***Discovering [[Web Application Server]], January 28-29
***Discovering [[Web Services]] in [[Visual DataFlex]], January 30
***Exploring External Controls and [[DLL|DLLs]], January 31
***Exploring [[Crystal Reports]], February 1
*'''February 2008'''
**[[DISD 2008]] - February 21-23, Carson City Nevada, USA
**[[South Australia DataFlex Users Group|SA DataFlex Users Group]] - Meeting 19th February 2008 - ''Creating [[ActiveX]] controls using MFC''
*'''Later...'''
**[[VDF SIG UK]] Meeting - 8 April 2008 at Asckey Data Services Ltd
**[[EDUC8]] - 5-6 June 2008, Copenhagen, Denmark
**[[DDUG]] - September 2008, Perth, Australia (TBC)

Visit the [[Portal:DataFlex Community|DataFlex Community]] page for a full list of events.

DISD 2008

2008-01-03T04:15:13Z

Hellboy1975: Import and tidy up from DISD8

'''DISD 2008''' will be held at the pinion Plaza Hotel in Carson City, Nevada.

==Overview==
You don’t want to miss DISD 2008! It will be the first chance you will have to see the next VDF development environment: [[Visual DataFlex 2008]]. As you can see by the agenda items below, web technologies are a major focus of this years’ DISD. With the explosion of Web based applications in the past year [[DISD]] is offering a number of sessions supporting Visual DataFlex development in this arena. Starting with our '''free Thursday training''' focused on Web enabling technologies including [[XML]], [[XSLT]], [[DTD]]s, [[SOAP]], [[AJAX]] and more, we follow on Friday and Saturday with the following sessions. There will be a further announcement on the specifics of Thursday’s training within the next couple of weeks as the topic list solidifies. Please keep in mind that this list is preliminary and subject to change.

==Guest Presenter==

Our guest presenter for this year will be '''Gregg Shipler''', MCT, MCSD, MCSE, MCDBA, MSF, MCITP: Database and Business Intelligence Developer, with 27 years in Data application development experience. He will be presenting topics, '''''Everything XML:''' A broad based look at the world of [[XML]] from Documents to Streams to Taxonomies and Vocabularies, the advent of XML in our world today and insights into the future''. Gregg is one of those gifted instructors that you will '''always''' learn something new and valuable from. He offers a broader industry perspective to many of the issues that we, as [[DataFlex]] developers, deal with every day.

==Agenda==
Specific sessions that have been scheduled so far are as follows:

===Product Status – Stephen W. Meeley, Data Access Worldwide===

This session will provide a recap of the current status of all [[Data Access Worldwide]] products. The goal is to quickly bring everyone up to date with [[Visual DataFlex]] and the products that surround it.

==='''Visual DataFlex 2008 – John Tuohy''', Data Access Worldwide===

The session will introduce the latest version of [[Visual DataFlex]]. A primary focus of this release will be Windows Vista support and we will show you the changes we've made that will allow you to successfully and attractively move your applications to the Vista platform.. We will also show you how you can use skinning to make your applications look great. In addition, we will be showing you some important new features we've added to the Studio and to the framework.

==='''Windows Vista, Visual DataFlex and your Applications– Stephen W. Meeley''', Data Access Worldwide===

One of our most important goals for [[Visual DataFlex 2008]] is to provide support for [[Windows Vista]]. This is important as both a development tool, and as a deployment platform for your Visual DataFlex applications. In short, Visual DataFlex should work equally as well on Windows Vista as on other supported Windows platforms. Various changes in Windows Vista, such as [[User Account Control]] (UAC), require related changes in both how the development tool is used and in how applications are deployed and run. In this session we will examine the changes Vista brings, what has been done to Visual DataFlex to accommodate them and how to assess and prepare your applications for the Vista platform.

==='''Using COM and the Codejock Menus – John Tuohy''', Data Access Worldwide===

The Codejock menus added to Visual DataFlex allows you to build a sophisticated and great looking menu, toolbar, status-bar system. All of this can be done without needing to use or understand the underlying [[COM]] interface. However, that COM interface is there and it can be used to handle all kinds of customizations. This presentation will show you how take advantage of this. This will cover some of the COM basics and explain how the [[Codejock]] COM classes are structured. With this knowledge we will then show examples of how to take full advantage of the Codejock features. These techniques can then be applied the Codejock menu system, the other Codejock controls and other COM controls.

==='''From Vincent’s Laboratory – Vincent Oorsprong''', Data Access Europe===

Vincent will show a useful tool for VDF developers and some examples of exciting uses of the most current Visual DataFlex product. Want details? Come to DISD!

==='''VDF Management Console & SOAP server GPS truck routing system - Oliver Nelson & Rod Mundy===
This presentation will demonstrate real-time [[GPS]] technology interfaced with VDF Oliver and I will be presenting our GPS project. We'd like a late morning/early afternoon slot on Friday so we can show live trucks running. An hour to an hour and a half would work.
The project involves downloading a route to a truck, showing the route and current location on a screen in the truck, sending real time truck locations back to a centralized server, and allowing messages to be sent from the truck to the server and vice versa.
On the client side, we'll have a screen where we can view where the trucks are real time, and do planned/actual route overlays, and do exception reporting.

==='''Achieving User Interface & Functional Distinction with VDF 12 and Codejock Components – Dan Levene'''===

Anasazi Software, a leading developer of fully integrated enterprise software solutions for the Behavioral Healthcare industry, is targeting a May 2008 release of it’s new product, The Dr.’s HomePage. This product will provide doctors with a user interface experience that can be individually tailored to readily display the information the doctor most wants to see in the way he or she wants to see it. Members of Anasazi’s executive and development teams will discuss and demonstrate the unique user interface they have designed around several [[Codejock]] components, specifically, the Skin Framework, the Report Control, Docking Panes, Command Bars and the Popup control. In addition, they will discuss new technology functionality highlights including an innovative use of client and server web services to interface with a central database of drug information and interactions designed to aid doctors in generating safe, effective prescriptions. Interwoven in the discussion will be references to the product mission that has underpinned all design considerations—the business goal of providing a superior clinical tool that distinguishes itself in the marketplace based on its style, usability and reliability.

==='''Running VDF in a virtualized hardware environment – Scott Myers'''===
[[Virtualization]] is taking off. Scott Myers will be sharing his hard earned experience over the last year with this topic. Offering a “more nimble approach” to hardware infrastructure, virtualization has much to offer the organizations we work with. Scott’s presentation will focus on the functionality built into VMware and the hardware requirement for enabling the high availability functionality.

===Interfacing VDF with MS Reporting Services – (To be decided) ===
This presentation offers a step by step walk through of the process of creating [[Microsoft Reporting Services]] (RSS) report and integrating into the VDF Order Entry example. There will be discussion of several interface options to [[RSS]] including [[SOAP]], direct WEB access, and localized reporting.

==='''Process logging using [[XML]] and E-Mail reporting with [[XSLT]] in VDF – Peter Miska'''===
Using the Order Entry examples, this session would be a step by step generation of an XML order confirmation and an XSLT transform into an e-mail.

===WebApp [[AJAX]] interface for business process showing real-time updates of server process – Dave Martinko ===
Based on Web based technologies, Dave has created an [[AJAX]] WebApp earlier this year and a Business Process for WebApp that shows real-time updates of server processing and allows remote cancelling of the process. It does the same thing for a WebApp that a [[BPO]] does for a windows app.

==='''Flex on Flex; Getting SaaSy with [[SOAP]] – Oliver Nelson'''===
Oliver will be showcasing a SaaS (Software as a Service) like application that uses a Visual DataFlex [[SOAP]] backend with an [[Adobe Flex]] or [[Mozilla]] [[XUL]] front end. This architecture allows for native or near-native application appearance and functionality on multiple operating systems without the need to do ANY porting. It also is inherently extensible via its SOAP backend. Although the application being shown isn't setup directly for SaaS operation, the model it’s based on is SaaS friendly.

[[Category:Dataflex Community]]

DISD8

2008-01-03T04:14:50Z

Hellboy1975: Redirect

#REDIRECT [[DISD 2008]]

Category Index

2008-01-03T03:56:33Z

Hellboy1975: /* Non-Dataflex Programming */ rmv SQL already exists under DB Connectivity

'''VDFWiki Category Index'''

==Dataflex==
*[[:Category:Dataflex|Dataflex]]
**[[:Category:Visual Dataflex|Visual Dataflex]] - [[Portal:Visual DataFlex|Portal]]
***[[:Category:Windows Applications|Windows Applications]]
****[[:Category:ActiveX|ActiveX]]
*****[[:Category:Codejock|Codejock]]
***[[:Category:Webapp|Web Applications]]
****Web Business Objects
****[[:Category:Web Services|Web Services]]
**[[:Category:Dataflex (Character Mode)|Dataflex (Character Mode)]] - [[Portal:DataFlex|Portal]]
***Windows
***Unix/Linux
**[[:Data Dictionaries|Data Dictionaries]]
**[[:Category:Basics|Basic Techniques]]

==Database Connectivity==
*[[:Category:Database Connectivity|Database Connectivity]]
**Embedded Databases
**[[:Category:SQL|SQL]]
***MSSQL
***MySQL
***Oracle
***DB2
***Pervasive
**ODBC

==Non-Dataflex Programming==
*[[:Category:Web Programming|Web Programming]]
**[[:Category:Web Design|Web Design]]
***HTML
***[[:Category:AJAX|AJAX]]
***CSS
**[[:Category:XML|XML]]
**SOAP
**ASP
**PHP
**Javascript
**[[:Category:Firefox|Firefox]]

==Development Tools==
*[[:Category:Development Tools|Development Tools]]
**Resources
**Version Control
**File Comparison
**Open Source

==Dataflex Community==
*[[:Category:Dataflex Community|Dataflex Community]]
**[[:Category:Events|Events]]
**[[:Category:Training|Training]]
**[[:Category:User Groups|User Groups]]
**User Demographics
***[[:Category:Australian Users|Australian Users]]

==Misc==
*[[:Category:Stub|Stub]]
*[[:Category:VDFWiki|VDFWiki]]
**[[:Category:Wiki Playground|Wiki Playground]]
*[[:Category:How To|How To]]
*[[:Category:Challenges|Challenges]]
*[[:Category:System Integration|System Integration]]
*[[:Category:File Types|File Types]]
*[[:Category:Cookbook|Cookbook]]
*[[:Category:Operating Systems|Operating Systems]]

[[Category:VDFWiki]]

Firebug

2007-12-22T12:18:05Z

Hellboy1975:

'''Firebug''' is a useful development tool for [[Firefox]]. Firebug allows you to view and edit many aspects of a webpage, including [[HTML]], [[CSS]], [[Javascript]] and the [[DOM]].

==External Links==
*[https://addons.mozilla.org/da/firefox/addon/1843 Firebug Extension]
*[http://www.evotech.net/blog/2007/06/introduction-to-firebug/ A tutorial on installing and using Firebug]

[[Category: Development Tools]]
[[Category:Firefox]]
[[Category: Web Programming]]

Firefox

2007-12-22T12:17:30Z

Hellboy1975:

'''Firefox''' is an [[Open Source]] [[Web Browser]] created by the Mozilla Foundation.

One of the main features of Firefox are the '''Extensions''' or '''Add-Ons''' that area available. There are many extensions that are of use to web developers, including:
*[[Firebug]]
*[[Web Developer (Firefox Extension)|Web Developer]]
*[[DOM Inspector]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.mozilla.com Mozilla Foundation]

[[Category: Web Programming]]
[[Category:Firefox]]

Category:Firefox

2007-12-22T12:17:11Z

Hellboy1975: New page: Articles related to the Open Source Web Browser Firefox.

Articles related to the [[Open Source]] [[Web Browser]] [[Firefox]].

Category Index

2007-12-22T12:16:25Z

Hellboy1975: /* Non-Dataflex Programming */

Category Index

2007-12-22T12:16:05Z

Hellboy1975: /* Non-Dataflex Programming */

'''VDFWiki Category Index'''

==Dataflex==
*[[:Category:Dataflex|Dataflex]]
**[[:Category:Visual Dataflex|Visual Dataflex]] - [[Portal:Visual DataFlex|Portal]]
***[[:Category:Windows Applications|Windows Applications]]
****[[:Category:ActiveX|ActiveX]]
*****[[:Category:Codejock|Codejock]]
***[[:Category:Webapp|Web Applications]]
****Web Business Objects
****[[:Category:Web Services|Web Services]]
**[[:Category:Dataflex (Character Mode)|Dataflex (Character Mode)]] - [[Portal:DataFlex|Portal]]
***Windows
***Unix/Linux
**[[:Data Dictionaries|Data Dictionaries]]
**[[:Category:Basics|Basic Techniques]]

==Database Connectivity==
*[[:Category:Database Connectivity|Database Connectivity]]
**Embedded Databases
**[[:Category:SQL|SQL]]
***MSSQL
***MySQL
***Oracle
***DB2
***Pervasive
**ODBC

==Non-Dataflex Programming==
*[[:Category:Web Programming|Web Programming]]
**[[:Category:Web Design|Web Design]]
***HTML
***[[:Category:AJAX|AJAX]]
***CSS
**[[:Category:XML|XML]]
**SOAP
**ASP
**PHP
**Javascript
**[[:Category:Firefox]]

==Development Tools==
*[[:Category:Development Tools|Development Tools]]
**Resources
**Version Control
**File Comparison
**Open Source

==Dataflex Community==
*[[:Category:Dataflex Community|Dataflex Community]]
**[[:Category:Events|Events]]
**[[:Category:Training|Training]]
**[[:Category:User Groups|User Groups]]
**User Demographics
***[[:Category:Australian Users|Australian Users]]

==Misc==
*[[:Category:Stub|Stub]]
*[[:Category:VDFWiki|VDFWiki]]
**[[:Category:Wiki Playground|Wiki Playground]]
*[[:Category:How To|How To]]
*[[:Category:Challenges|Challenges]]
*[[:Category:System Integration|System Integration]]
*[[:Category:File Types|File Types]]
*[[:Category:Cookbook|Cookbook]]
*[[:Category:Operating Systems|Operating Systems]]

[[Category:VDFWiki]]

Web Developer (Firefox Extension)

2007-12-22T12:15:43Z

Hellboy1975:

'''Web Developer''' is a [[Firefox]] Add-on designed to assist developers easily develop and maintain their websites. It contains many helpful tools to analyse your [[HTML]] and [[CSS]] content.

[[Image:Webdeveloper.png|center|thumb|700px|Web Developer Toolbar]]
==External Links==
*[http://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/60 Web Developer Addon on Mozilla.org]

[[Category:Development Tools]]
[[Category:Firefox]]
[[Category:Stub]]

Web Developer (Firefox Extension)

2007-12-22T12:14:41Z

Hellboy1975: Added image

File:Webdeveloper.png

2007-12-22T12:12:24Z

Hellboy1975:

Web Developer Firefox Extension screenshot

File:Webdeveloper.png

2007-12-22T12:11:33Z

Hellboy1975: Web Developer Firefox Extensio screenshot

Web Developer Firefox Extensio screenshot

Web Developer (Firefox Extension)

2007-12-22T12:10:31Z

Hellboy1975:

'''Web Developer''' is a [[Firefox]] Add-on designed to assist developers easily develop and maintain their websites. It contains many helpful tools to analyse your [[HTML]] and [[CSS]] content.
==External Links==
*[http://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/60 Web Developer Addon on Mozilla.org]

[[Category:Web Development]]
[[Category:Stub]]

Coming events

2007-12-22T12:04:36Z

Hellboy1975:

Updated as of '''22nd December, 2007'''
*'''January 2008'''
**Discovering Visual DataFlex Training, Salzburg, Austria, January 7-11 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**Drive In Support, Friedrichsdorf, Germany, January 15 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**Discovering [[COM]], Friedrichsdorf, Germany, January 16-17 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**[[Visual DataFlex]] Training, Miami, Florida, USA, January 28-February 1, 2008 [http://www.dataaccess.com/Training/DANA]
***Discovering [[Web Application Server]], January 28-29
***Discovering [[Web Services]] in [[Visual DataFlex]], January 30
***Exploring External Controls and [[DLL|DLLs]], January 31
***Exploring [[Crystal Reports]], February 1
*'''February 2008'''
**[[DISD8]] - February 21-23, Carson City Nevada, USA
**[[South Australia DataFlex Users Group|SA DataFlex Users Group]] - Meeting 19th February 2008 - ''Creating [[ActiveX]] controls using MFC''
*'''Later...'''
**[[VDF SIG UK]] Meeting - 8 April 2008 at Asckey Data Services Ltd
**[[EDUC8]] - 5-6 June 2008, Copenhagen, Denmark
**[[DDUG]] - September 2008, Perth, Australia (TBC)

Visit the [[Portal:DataFlex Community|DataFlex Community]] page for a full list of events.

Coming events

2007-12-22T12:04:07Z

Hellboy1975:

Updated as of '''22nd December, 2007'''
*'''January 2008'''
**Discovering Visual DataFlex Training, Salzburg, Austria, January 7-11 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**Drive In Support, Friedrichsdorf, Germany, January 15 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**Discovering [[COM]], Friedrichsdorf, Germany, January 16-17 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**[[Visual DataFlex]] Training, Miami, Florida, USA, January 28-February 1, 2008 [http://www.dataaccess.com/Training/DANA]
***Discovering [[Web Application Server]], January 28-29
***Discovering [[Web Services]] in [[Visual DataFlex]], January 30
***Exploring External Controls and [[DLL|DLLs]], January 31
***Exploring [[Crystal Reports]], February 1
*'''February 2008'''
**[[DISD8]] - February 21-23, Carson City Nevada, USA
**[[South Australia DataFlex Users Group|SA DataFlex Users Group]] - Meeting 19th February 2008 - ''Creating [[ActiveX]] controls using MFC''
*'''Later...'''
**[[VDF SIG UK]] Meeting - 8 April 2008 at Asckey Data Services Ltd
**[[EDUC8]] - 5-6 June 2008, Copenhagen, Denmark
**[[DDUG]] - September 2008, Perth, Australia (TBC)

Visit the [[Portal:DataFlex Community]] page for a full list of events.

Coming events

2007-12-22T12:03:42Z

Hellboy1975:

Updated as of '''22nd December, 2007'''
*'''January 2008'''
**Discovering Visual DataFlex Training, Salzburg, Austria, January 7-11 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**Drive In Support, Friedrichsdorf, Germany, January 15 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**Discovering [[COM]], Friedrichsdorf, Germany, January 16-17 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**[[Visual DataFlex]] Training, Miami, Florida, USA, January 28-February 1, 2008 [http://www.dataaccess.com/Training/DANA]
***Discovering [[Web Application Server]], January 28-29
***Discovering [[Web Services]] in [[Visual DataFlex]], January 30
***Exploring External Controls and [[DLL|DLLs]], January 31
***Exploring [[Crystal Reports]], February 1
*'''February 2008'''
**[[DISD8]] - February 21-23, Carson City Nevada, USA
**[[South Australia DataFlex Users Group|SA DataFlex Users Group]] - Meeting 19th February 2008 - ''Creating [[ActiveX]] controls using MFC''
*'''Later...'''
**[[VDF SIG UK]] Meeting - 8 April 2008 at Asckey Data Services Ltd
**[[EDUC8]] - 5-6 June 2008, Copenhagen, Denmark
**[[DDUG]] - September 2008, Perth, Australia (TBC)

Visit the [[Portal:Dataflex Community]] page for a full list of events.

Coming events

2007-12-12T00:29:03Z

Hellboy1975:

Updated as of '''12th December, 2007'''
*'''January 2008'''
**Discovering Visual DataFlex Training, Salzburg, Austria, January 7-11 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**Drive In Support, Friedrichsdorf, Germany, January 15 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**Discovering [[COM]], Friedrichsdorf, Germany, January 16-17 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**[[Visual DataFlex]] Training, Miami, Florida, USA, January 28-February 1, 2008 [http://www.dataaccess.com/Training/DANA]
***Discovering [[Web Application Server]], January 28-29
***Discovering [[Web Services]] in [[Visual DataFlex]], January 30
***Exploring External Controls and [[DLL|DLLs]], January 31
***Exploring [[Crystal Reports]], February 1
*'''February 2008'''
**[[DISD8]] - February 21-23, Carson City Nevada, USA
**[[South Australia DataFlex Users Group|SA DataFlex Users Group]] - Meeting 19th February 2008 - ''Creating [[ActiveX]] controls using MFC''
*'''Later...'''
**[[EDUC8]] - May 2008, Moscow, Russia
**[[DDUG]] - September 2008, Perth, Australia (TBC)

Visit the [[Dataflex Community]] page for a full list of events.

Portal:Tutorials

2007-12-10T22:35:21Z

Hellboy1975:

The '''Tutorials Portal''' will contain links to the best tutorials on the [[VDFWiki]].

==Recent Additions==
*[[Add Workspace Parameter]]
*[[Run only one instance of your application]]
*[[SMTP]]
*[[Using On key for undefined keys]]

==Requested Articles==

[[Category:Portals]]
[[Category:Tutorials]]

Category:Tutorials

2007-12-10T22:21:22Z

Hellboy1975: New page: DataFlex related tutorials. For more information visit the Tutorials portal.

DataFlex related tutorials. For more information visit the [[Portal:Tutorials|Tutorials]] portal.

Using On key for undefined keys

2007-12-10T22:16:24Z

Hellboy1975:

SMTP

2007-12-10T22:15:47Z

Hellboy1975: Changing How To/Cookbook -> Tutorials

'''SMTP''' or '''Simple Mail Transfer Protocol''' is a method of sending emails, and is commonly used as an alternative to sending emails via MAPI. SMTP is not natively supported in [[Dataflex]] but can easily be achieved through an [[ActiveX]] control.

==Creating a COM Interface for SMTP Email==

===Why SMTP?===

[[MAPI]] email works fine from within VDF, but if using Outlook or Outlook Express, it can be quite annoying, especially if the [[email]] is sent automatically from a background program like a service. The problem is that it wants to be sure that the email being sent is not from a Trojan horse or some other hidden program and will pop up a message asking if the message is being sent by “you”. When being sent from a service, that’s a killer, as you will not know why your application just halts. This can supposedly be turned off if using Outlook Express as your mail client, but not with Outlook. There are some third party products that can help with this, but using [[SMTP]] seems to just be much easier.

===How SMTP?===

It turns out that SMTP is very easy to implement, generally an activex dll will do the trick. Having looked around at the available offerings, aspemail.dll, available for free at [http://www.aspemail.com www.aspemail.com] was selected. The aspemail [[DLL]] is free for the commonly used email functions, but costs for “premium” functionality, go to their site and see if it will work for you.

The second reason that it was chosen is because it’s asp compatible and so will work when called from either a Windows server or from an [[ASP]] page.

===DLL Package Creation===

This is actually the easy part, believe it or not. We will install the dll and create the Com interface.

# Download the aspemail dll and register it per their instructions.
# In the VDF Studio (12.1 was used), go to File/New/Other and select the “Class” tab.
# Select Import COM Automation
# Select “Persists Software AspEmail 5.x” and click “Ok”

This will create a VDF package named aspemail.pkg that can be used without modification in your application.

===The View===

Create a simple one-view test application. On the view you will need the following "form" controls and name the form objects as indicated:

The SMTP host address - oHost
From address - oFromAddr
To address - oToAddr
Subject - oSubject
Message (body) - oMessage
Attachment - oAttachment

In addition, take the following steps

# Add ''Use aspemail.pkg'' to the top of your code, outside the view itself
# Add one button to the view and change the label to ''Send''
# Add the following object to the top of the view, anywhere inside or outside of the view itself:

Object oComMailSender is a cComMailSender
End_Object

And then we need to create the object.

Send CreateComObject to oComMailSender

The COM object must be created prior to it’s being used. One of the common problems is once the code is complete you get an error about the object being activated before it’s instantiated. Add the create statement just below the object declaration.

In aspemail.pkg at the bottom in class cComMailSender you will find a line as follows:

Set peAutoCreate to acNoAutoCreate

When an [[ActiveX]] component is created, this is set to AutoCreate, but when a COM Automation component is created, it’s set to NoAutoCreate. This could be changed in aspemail.pkg or simply add the line as shown above.

===Sending the email===

Inside the [[OnClick]] event in the ''Send'' button added above, add the following code:

String sAttach sName
Integer iRC
Boolean bIsComObjectCreated

Get IsComObjectCreated of oComMailSender to bIsComObjectCreated

If (not(bIsComObjectCreated)) Begin
Send CreateComObject to oComMailSender
End

Send ComReset to oComMailSender

Set ComUserName of oComMailSender to "YourEmailLoginID"
Set ComPassword of oComMailSender to "YourEmailLoginPassword"
Set ComHost of oComMailSender to (Value(oHost))
Set ComFrom of oComMailSender to (Value(oFromAddr))
Set ComSubject of oComMailSender to (Value(oSubject))
Set ComBody of oComMailSender to (Value(oMessage))
Send ComAddAddress to oComMailSender (Value(oToAddr)) sName
Get Value of oAttachment to sAttach
If (trim(sAttach) <> "") Begin
Send ComAddAttachment to oComMailSender sAttach
End

Get ComSend of oComMailSender "" to iRC
If (not(iRC)) send stop_Box "Email failed."

===SMTP Host===

To determine who your SMTP host is, do the following
# Bring up your mail client. For Outlook or Outlook Express…
# Click on Tools
# Click Accounts
# Select the account for your provider
# Click Properties
# On the “Server” tab use the entry from “Outgoing mail (SMTP)”

===Operation===

Fill in the fields and click ''Send''. You will need valid email addresses for the ''from'' and ''to'' and the attachment is optional.

In the code above, notice the ''sName'' variable. A name is not required for the ''To'' address, but if not used, a null value must be sent to the ComAddAddress procedure to avoid an error. Another control for the addressee's ''name'' could be added to the form.

===In Conclusion===

Look in the aspemail.pkg and you will see a large list of functions and procedures that may be used with this dll. Remove the ''com'' from the front of the method name and the remaining name is the one that is used in the aspemail manual, so figuring out how things work is relatively easy.

[[Category: ActiveX]]
[[Category: Tutorials]]

Run only one instance of your application

2007-12-10T22:14:12Z

Hellboy1975:

The question on how to make sure that your application is only started once by your users can be approached in several ways.

# Using mutexes
# Using FindWindow WinAPI

=== Using mutexes ===
Dalton Pulsipher says:
"We use a MuteX object to do this. Just attach one to your program and on
startup check if it already exists on the system.
Here is the code if you want to go that route."

In the SRC file within the panel object put this piece of code:
<pre>
Procedure Exit_Application
integer iVoid
If (ghMuteX) Move (CloseHandle(ghMutex)) to iVoid
move 0 to ghMuteX
Forward Send Exit_Application
End_Procedure
</pre>
And in a package that gets hit on startup:
<pre>
// Constants
Define ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE for 6 // taken from error.h of VS7
Define ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS for 183<br/>
Handle ghMuteX<br/>
// external functions
#IFNDEF Get_CreateMuteX
External_Function CreateMuteX "CreateMutexA" Kernel32.dll Integer i1 Integer i2 Integer i3 Returns Integer
#ENDIF
#IFNDEF Get_CloseHandle
External_Function CloseHandle "CloseHandle" Kernel32.dll Integer i1 Returns Integer
#ENDIF<br/>
// function to create a mutex
Procedure Create_MuteX_Object
Integer iVoid iErr
String sID
Move "Unique String For My Application" To sID
Move (CreateMuteX(0,1,AddressOf(sID))) To ghMuteX
If (ghMuteX <> ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE) Begin
Move (GetLastError()) To iErr
If (iErr = ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS) Begin // program is already
// running
Move (CloseHandle(ghMuteX)) To iVoid
Move 0 To ghMuteX
// kill the application here if you do not want to allow
// multiple instances
ABORT
End
Else Send None // program is not already running
End
Else Send None // rare error; object could not be created
End_Procedure // Create_MuteX_Object<br/>
// create the mutex
Send Create_MuteX_Object
</pre>

=== Using FindWindow WinAPI ===

Leslie Brennan says:

Usage in SRC:
<pre>
Use myPanel,pkg
Object Main is a myPanel
</pre>

Source myPanel.pkg
<pre>
////////////////////////////////////////////
//
// 05/24/2007
// Panel Class from Pieter van Dieren to check
// to make sure program is only run one time.
//
/////////////////////////////////////////////

Use dfPanel.pkg

Class myPanel is a Panel
// DoCheckProgramActive
// Checks if the program already is active.
// If so, it activates the running application and closes this one.
Procedure DoCheckProgramActive
String sTitle
Handle hWnd
Integer iVoid

Register_Object Main
Get Label of Main to sTitle
Move (FindWindow("",sTitle)) to hWnd
If (hWnd) Begin
Send Stop_Box (sTitle + " Already is Running and Can only be Started Once.") "Error:"
Move (ShowWindow(hWnd,SW_MAXIMIZE)) to iVoid // 9 =SW_RESTORE SW_NORMAL
Move (SetForegroundWindow(hWnd)) to iVoid
Abort
End
End_Procedure // DoCheckProgramActive

// End_Construct_Object
Procedure End_Construct_Object
Send DoCheckProgramActive
Forward Send End_Construct_Object
End_Procedure // End_Construct_Object
End_class
</pre>

The FindWindow technique is also discussed in the book [http://www.starzen.com/Products/DataFlexVDF/Books/tabid/56/Default.aspx Mastering Visual DataFlex] from Starzen.

[[Category: Tutorials]]

Challenges

2007-12-10T22:12:05Z

Hellboy1975:

*[[AJAX Updating Related forms]]
*[[AJAX calling an external webservice from the client]]

Add Workspace Parameter

2007-12-10T22:11:17Z

Hellboy1975: Changing How To/Cookbook -> Tutorials

How to add a parameter in your .ws file and pass it in to your program. In this example I need to know where the document folder is found for each user, usually the same location for all users. This then allows the Docs folder to be found anywhere on a network. I use a global variable to store the location. If not defined in the .ws file default it from the home location.

I just put this code near the bottom of the source (.src)

Function MyValueWS String sKey Returns String
String sValue
String sWorkspaceWSFile
Handle hoWorkspace hoIniFile
Move (phoWorkSpace(ghoApplication)) to hoWorkspace
Get psWorkspaceWSFile of hoWorkspace to sWorkspaceWSFile
Get Create U_cIniFile to hoIniFile
Set psFilename of hoIniFile to sWorkspaceWSFile
Get ReadString of hoIniFile 'Workspace' sKey ' ' to sValue
Send Destroy of hoIniFile
Function_Return sValue
End_Function

Get MyValueWS "DocsFolder" to gsDocsFolder
If gsDocsFolder eq "" Begin
Get psHome of (phoWorkspace(oApplication(Self))) to gsDocsFolder
Move (gsDocsFolder-"Docs") to gsDocsFolder
End

//The .ws file may look like this:
[Workspace]
Home=..\
BitmapPath=.\Bitmaps
DataPath=c:\Members\CEPU
HelpPath=.\Help
ProgramPath=.\Programs
FileList=c:\Members\CEPU\Filelist.cfg
Description=MASS - Membership Administration Software Solution - CEPU
DocsFolder=c:\Test\Docs

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Main Page

2007-12-10T22:09:16Z

Hellboy1975:

{| style="width:100%; background:#fcfcfc; margin-top:1.2em; border:1px solid #ccc;"
|style="width:56%; color:#000"| 
{| style="width:280px; border:solid 0px; background:none;"
|style="width:280px; text-align:center; white-space:nowrap; color:#000;"|
<div style="font-size:162%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#000;">Welcome to the [[VdfWiki:About|VDFWiki]],</div>
<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:95%;">the free [[DataFlex]] encyclopedia that ''anyone can edit''.</div>
<div id="articlecount" style="width:100%; text-align:center; font-size:85%;">[[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles in English</div>
|}
|style="width:11%; font-size:95%; color:#000;"|
*[[Portal:DataFlex|DataFlex]]
*[[Portal:Visual DataFlex|Visual DataFlex]]
*[[Portal:Web Applications|Web Applications]]
|style="width:11%; font-size:95%;"|
*[[Portal:Data Dictionaries|Data Dictionaries]]
*[[Portal:Class Reference|Class Reference]]
*[[Portal:Tutorials|Tutorials]]
|style="width:11%; font-size:95%;"|
*[[Portal:DataFlex Community|DataFlex Community]]
*[[Portal:Development Tools|Development Tools]]
*'''[[Category Index|All Categories]]'''
|}


{|style="border-spacing:8px; margin:0px -8px;"
|class="MainPageBG" style="width:55%; border:1px solid #cef2e0; background:#f5fffa; vertical-align:top; color:#000;"|
{|width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top; background:#f5fffa;"
! <h2 style="margin:0; background:#cef2e0; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #a3bfb1; text-align:left; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Featured article</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000;"| {{:Featured_Article}}
|-
! <h2 style="margin:0; background:#cef2e0; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #a3bfb1; text-align:left; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Recent Additions</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000;"| {{:Recent Additions}}
|-
|}


|class="MainPageBG" style="width:45%; border:1px solid #cedff2; background:#f5faff; vertical-align:top"|
{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top; background:#f5faff;"
! <h2 style="margin:0; background:#cedff2; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #a3b0bf; text-align:left; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Coming Events</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000;"| {{:Coming events}}
|-
|}
|}

{| style="border-spacing:8px; margin:-8px -8px;"
|class="MainPageBG" style="width:100%; border:1px solid #ddcef2; background:#faf5ff; vertical-align:top; color:#000;"|
{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top; background:#faf5ff; color:#000"
! <h2 style="margin:0; background:#ddcef2; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #afa3bf; text-align:left; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Want to contribute?</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000;"|
All users are invited to contribute on whatever way they can! If you're not sure how to contribute, try one of the following:
*Checkout the list of [[Special:Wantedpages|wanted pages]]. These are pages that are linked to, but not yet written. If there is one there you feel you can say something useful about, click on the link and start writing. Those with several links are obviously ''seriously'' needed!
*Not sure you have any knowledge you can add? Contribute by helping with Formatting and Categorising of pages.
*Still not sure? Feel free to contact one of the many frequent contributors to this site. We don't bite!
|-
|}
|}


__NOTOC__

Portal:Development Tools

2007-12-10T22:08:37Z

Hellboy1975: New page: For any Dataflex Developer there are a range of tools useful for many situations. ==Data Access Tools== Data Access provide a core of development tools vital to Dataflex development. ...

For any Dataflex Developer there are a range of tools useful for many situations.

==Data Access Tools==
[[Data Access]] provide a core of development tools vital to Dataflex development.
*[[Visual DataFlex Studio]]
*[[Database Builder]]
*[[Database Explorer]]

==Third Party Development Environments==
Other tools have been developed by the dataflex community over the years. These tools frequently take inspiration from the larger development community and often preview features which eventually make it into the official VDF Studio.
*[[Eclipse]]
*[[The Hammer]]

==Dataflex Libraries==
*[[VDF Query]]
*[[StarZen's Wizard]]
*[[StarZen's Date form control]]

==Other Tools==
*[[Version Control]]
*[[File Comparison]]
*[[Text Editors]]

[[Category:Development Tools]]

Development Tools

2007-12-10T22:08:28Z

Hellboy1975: Redirecting to Portal:Development Tools

#REDIRECT [[Portal:Development Tools]]

Portal:DataFlex Community

2007-12-10T22:05:40Z

Hellboy1975:

The '''Dataflex Community''' presents a wide range of events around the world, ranging from formal training to informal user get togethers.

==Prominent Groups and Conferences==
*[[DISD]] - an annual conference run in Carson City, NV, USA
*[[Dataflex Developers and Users Group]] - Australian and New Zealand DataFlex users
*[[EDUC]]
*[[MMISL]]
*[[NEDC]] - Northeast Dataflex Consortium
*[[ScanDUC]]
*[[Synergy]]
*[[VDF SIG UK]] - Visual DataFlex Special Interest Group - UK DF and VDF group

==Coming Events==
===User Group Events===
*[[DISD8]] - February 21-23, Carson City Nevada, USA
*[[South Australia DataFlex Users Group|SA DataFlex Users Group]] - Meeting 19th February 2008 - ''Creating [[ActiveX]] controls using MFC''
*[[EDUC8]] - May 2008, Moscow, Russia
*[[DDUG]] - August/September 2008, Perth, Australia (TBC)

===Dataflex Training===
*[[Visual DataFlex]] Training, Miami, Florida, USA, December 3-7 2007 [http://www.dataaccess.com/Training/DANA]
**Discovering [[COM]], December 3-4
**[[Codejock]] Extensions in [[Visual DataFlex]], December 5
**Discovering [[XML]], December 6
**Discovering [[Web Services]] in [[Visual DataFlex]], December 7
*[[Visual DataFlex]] Training, Miami, Florida, USA, January 28-February 1, 2008 [http://www.dataaccess.com/Training/DANA]
**Discovering [[Web Application Server]], January 28-29
**Discovering [[Web Services]] in [[Visual DataFlex]], January 30
**Exploring External Controls and [[DLL|DLLs]], January 31
**Exploring [[Crystal Reports]], February 1

==Historical Events==
*[[Data Access Training and Seminar Luton Oct 2007]] - 24th & 25th October 2007, Luton, UK
*[[Scanduc7]] - 1st & 2nd November 2007, Fredrikstad, Norway

[[Category:DataFlex Community]]
[[Category:Portals]]

Dataflex Community

2007-12-10T22:05:01Z

Hellboy1975: Redirecting to Portal:DataFlex Community

#REDIRECT [[Portal:DataFlex Community]]

Portal:DataFlex Community

2007-12-10T22:03:45Z

Hellboy1975: Redirecting to Dataflex Community

#REDIRECT [[Dataflex Community]]

Portal:Tutorials

2007-12-10T22:03:05Z

Hellboy1975: New page: The '''Tutorials Portal''' will contain links to the best tutorials on the VDFWiki. ==Recent Additions== ==Requested Articles== Category:Portals Category:Tutorials

The '''Tutorials Portal''' will contain links to the best tutorials on the [[VDFWiki]].

==Recent Additions==

==Requested Articles==

[[Category:Portals]]
[[Category:Tutorials]]

Portal:Class Reference

2007-12-10T21:59:46Z

Hellboy1975: New page: DataFlex, both '''Character Mode''' and Visual DataFlex have a wide range of classes available for use. This section of the website is designed to be a reference for these classes...

[[DataFlex]], both '''Character Mode''' and [[Visual DataFlex]] have a wide range of classes available for use. This section of the website is designed to be a reference for these classes, including descriptions on what they're for, as well as giving working examples.

==Recent Additions==

==Requested Articles==
*[[cIniFile]]

[[Category:Portals]]

Drive In Support

2007-12-10T21:54:32Z

Hellboy1975:

'''Drive In Support''' is group support session hosted by a [[Data Access]] staff member, usually [[Vincent Oorsprong]] as Data Access Europe's Manager Training & Support. The event is held every month in the Netherlands and Germany. In Germany it is organized in the Frankfurt and Munich areas. The costs are 150 euro per person for the day and all kind of [[DataFlex]] topics can be discussed and dealt with.

==Upcoming Sessions==
*'''December 10''' - Hengelo, The Netherlands.

[[Category:Events]]

Category:User Groups

2007-12-09T23:40:55Z

Hellboy1975:

Dataflex User Groups from around the world.

[[Category:Dataflex Community]]

South Australia Dataflex Users Group

2007-12-09T23:36:59Z

Hellboy1975:

The '''South Australian Dataflex Users Group''' is a group the meets bi-monthly in Adelaide, South Australia. All Dataflex Developers are invited to attend.

==Next Meeting==
The next meeting will be held on the 19th of February, 2008 and the main session will be about creating [[ActiveX]] controls for use in your VDF App.

==Meeting History==
In previous meetings, the following sessions have been run:
*September 2007
**[[AJAX]] and using a [[Web Application]] to enhance and existing console mode application
**[[Quizmaster]] [[Open Source]] software demonstration
*November 2007
**[[Visual Dataflex|VDF]] [[Web Services]] with a [[.Net]] interface.

[[Category:Dataflex Community]]
[[Category:User Groups]]

Category Index

2007-12-09T23:35:31Z

Hellboy1975:

'''VDFWiki Category Index'''

==Dataflex==
*[[:Category:Dataflex|Dataflex]]
**[[:Category:Visual Dataflex|Visual Dataflex]] - [[Portal:Visual DataFlex|Portal]]
***[[:Category:Windows Applications|Windows Applications]]
****[[:Category:ActiveX|ActiveX]]
*****[[:Category:Codejock|Codejock]]
***[[:Category:Webapp|Web Applications]]
****Web Business Objects
****[[:Category:Web Services|Web Services]]
**[[:Category:Dataflex (Character Mode)|Dataflex (Character Mode)]] - [[Portal:DataFlex|Portal]]
***Windows
***Unix/Linux
**[[:Data Dictionaries|Data Dictionaries]]
**[[:Category:Basics|Basic Techniques]]

==Database Connectivity==
*[[:Category:Database Connectivity|Database Connectivity]]
**Embedded Databases
**[[:Category:SQL|SQL]]
***MSSQL
***MySQL
***Oracle
***DB2
***Pervasive
**ODBC

==Non-Dataflex Programming==
*[[:Category:Web Programming|Web Programming]]
**[[:Category:Web Design|Web Design]]
***HTML
***[[:Category:AJAX|AJAX]]
***CSS
**[[:Category:XML|XML]]
**SOAP
**ASP
**PHP
**Javascript

==Development Tools==
*[[:Category:Development Tools|Development Tools]]
**Resources
**Version Control
**File Comparison
**Open Source

==Dataflex Community==
*[[:Category:Dataflex Community|Dataflex Community]]
**[[:Category:Events|Events]]
**[[:Category:Training|Training]]
**[[:Category:User Groups|User Groups]]
**User Demographics
***[[:Category:Australian Users|Australian Users]]

==Misc==
*[[:Category:Stub|Stub]]
*[[:Category:VDFWiki|VDFWiki]]
**[[:Category:Wiki Playground|Wiki Playground]]
*[[:Category:How To|How To]]
*[[:Category:Challenges|Challenges]]
*[[:Category:System Integration|System Integration]]
*[[:Category:File Types|File Types]]
*[[:Category:Cookbook|Cookbook]]
*[[:Category:Operating Systems|Operating Systems]]

[[Category:VDFWiki]]

Portal:Web Applications

2007-12-09T23:33:00Z

Hellboy1975:

The '''Web Applications Portal''' is a repository for articles related to developing [[Web Application|Web Applications]] using [[Visual Dataflex]]. This portal covers web applications using [[ASP]] and [[Web Business Object|Web Business Objects]], as well as [[SOAP]] [[Web Service Object|Web Service Objects]] and Classes.

==Recent Additions==

==Tutorials==

==Requested Articles==

[[Category:Portals]]
[[Category:Web Applications]]

MediaWiki:Sidebar

2007-12-09T23:31:30Z

Hellboy1975: Sections to Portals

Talk:Main Page

2007-12-09T21:16:32Z

Hellboy1975: /* Categories & Portals */

= What would you like to see on this wiki? =

Feel free to discuss the purpose of this wiki on this page. You are also welcome to provide feedback on how you want this site to interact with other resources (e.g the newsgroups and vdf-guidance.com) --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 23:35, 25 November 2007 (CET)

== Overall goal ==

I think VdfWiki should be a place assemble knowledge and articles in the long term (in a structured manner).

There are some guidelines for keeping VdfWiki on the right track :[[VdfWiki_guidelines]]

The newsgroups are still '''THE''' place to ask question and chat about current events.--[[User:Jka|Jka]] 08:28, 23 November 2007 (CET)

==Wiki Structure Proposal==
I ([[User:Mikepeat|Mike]]) have just modifed the sidebar (the panel on the left of every page) to add "sections". (If any Sysop is not happy with this then it can be undone by editing the page [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]], or by just reverting my changes to it.) I have used the sections as currently laid out on the main page, but I would like to propose a significant restructuring of those sections. I will take no action until there has been reasonable discussion of it here and a consensus reached however.

=== Overall structure (from Mike)===
I would propose something like the following overall structure:

* <big>'''Main Page'''</big> (Brief Product Overview)
** Product Detail
** '''Windows'''
*** CodeJock
*** OLE/COM/ActiveX
*** Reporting
** '''Web'''
*** AJAX
*** JavaScript
** '''Character Mode'''
*** DOS/Console Mode
*** Unix/Linux
** '''Web Services'''
*** SOA
** '''Databases'''
*** Embedded
*** MS SQL Server
*** Oracle
*** IBM DB/2
*** Pervasive
*** MySQL
*** ODBC

(All comments and abuse will be gratefully received! [[Image:Smile-tpvgames.gif|20px]])

--[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 02:46, 21 November 2007 (CET)

::I agree, the current structure on the main page isn't clear enough at the moment. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 05:37, 21 November 2007 (CET)

::: Marco here... I agree too. I'd like to add some gotcha's about moving from DataFlex tables to DB2, accessed from DF32 on Linux and VDF on Win32.

=== Data Dictionaries ===
::: I also want to add a topic on batch create/update/delete using DataDictionaries. Where would that live? Would it be a topic referenced from Web and Windows and Webservices, or should this be another section, 'Data Dictionaries'?
::: I think a section about 'Data Dictionaries' could be great. I'll just add one (also containing the Databases' links from Mike --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 10:16, 25 November 2007 (CET)

=== Suggestion for topic (Development Tools)===

Can I suggest that we add a new section or link on the main page for general development tools and articles that sit outside of the existing Web/Windows/WS/Console categories. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 00:07, 23 November 2007 (CET)

:Sounds perfectly sensible to me... "Other" as a general catch-all, or "Other Tools": a bit more specific, but then we might have issues with things that fell outside that ''and'' our existing sections. --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 00:14, 23 November 2007 (CET)

:: I am OK with a "tools" section. We can still lay down the law in that page :P The trick is to create a separate page for each tool we want to describe - and keep the external links down to a minimum (this should make it easier to keep track of the content on the page). I think the title "Development tools" could work. articles not related to these sections can be attached to a specific user page - we should try not to clutter the frontpage and 1st level navigation too much. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 08:15, 23 November 2007 (CET)

== Discussing cookbooks ==

::That structure looks reasonable. My original idea with the "cookbooks" was to put a list of howto-do-stuffs in there. E.g a list of recipes in them - and have the "other" page contain the description. E.g "Windows" contains the description and "Windows cookbook" contains the recipes. I've found that the early contributions have been about "howto do stuff" (e.g something that should go in the cookbook). I can see now , that there should be no distinction between e.g "Windows" and "Windows cookbook" - they should be the same page. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 09:38, 21 November 2007 (CET)

:::On the "''cookbooks''" issue... perhaps using "Categories" might be a help. This is not a subject I understand well enough (yet!), but it seems to me that it might add a multi-dimentional element to how articles are arranged and accessed, so that they can be come at from more than one direction (don't know how yet - research needed!). I think the original idea had merit - that some articles will be of a "howto" nature while others will be more descriptive, others discursive and still others umm... complaining (whining? - "''why don't DAW do more with the Linux product?''" <g>). In a big Wiki like Wikipedia, searching is usually the only way to start, but with our rather less ambitious subject matter, good organisation might lead people quickly to what they need (even if they didn't know they needed it and didn't know it was there). --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 11:12, 21 November 2007 (CET)

::Yes . The need for having a "cookbook" can be adressed by having a category for all the different recipees. I think we should proceed in this direction . I removed the cookbook links from the frontpage and the navigation. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 20:12, 21 November 2007 (CET)

==Style Guide?==
At the suggestion of [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] (what is that all about anyway, Matt? <g>) - see [[Talk:Web_Service_Basics]] - I have been changing the colour I am using to emphasise stuff - in this case (for now anyway) changing <span style="color:blue;">blue</span> to <span style="color:midnightblue;">midnightblue</span> to avoid confusion with hypertext links (I'm not sure that is enough - I think I've just made that text look like visited links).

However it would have saved me this effort if I'd had a guideline on what colours etc. to use from the start. I think we need to evolve some kind of consensus "Style Guide" which would help us all use a nice, clear, consistent style for various things. It would be bound to be an evolving document, as we are unlikely to think of everything on day one and will have to be flexible and inclusive rather than prescriptive, but the sooner we start laying it down, the less time will be wasted later fixing stuff up that doesn't match or looks ugly. (''I did experiment with using a template - [[Template:Colorise]] - but couldn't get what I wanted to work: the amount of time I can afford to devote to learning the WikiMedia Template [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-specific_programming_language DSL] is strictly limited!'' <g>) [[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 11:03, 22 November 2007 (CET)
:I should have said ''pr<u>o</u>scriptive'' above - it would indeed be ''pr<u>e</u>scriptive'', by intent! [[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 14:54, 22 November 2007 (CET)
:Something like the Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style Manual of Style] is always a good place to start. Another place to look for examples are in some of the programming manuals on Wikibooks. Here's one of the pages in the C++ manual for instance. [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/C%2B%2B_Programming/Variables] [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 00:20, 23 November 2007 (CET)

==Opensource/community libraries==

I understand that there is a [[Data Access Worldwide|DAW]] community site in the works. please consider this when describing available available [[Open Source]] [[Visual DataFlex]] libraries. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 00:49, 1 December 2007 (CET)

== Main Page ==

I'm sure you've all noticed by now I've made a bit of a change to the front page. It's more or less the same as before, just with a bit more information for users who are a bit new to the whole wiki thing. What do you guys think? [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 05:21, 5 December 2007 (CET)

:Looks good Matt... you might consider mentioning [[Special:Categories]] in addition to the [[Category Index]], and maybe adding the [[Category Index]] to the "navigation" pane (edit [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]]). ...And be careful who you say doesn't bite: '''''I''''' haven't had any coffee yet! [[Image:Smile.gif]]

:I think we probably need a single person (oops: that would be you... ''sucker!'' You have only yourself to blame!) to head-up work on structure, accessibility, cross-indexing and the like. We have made a big step forward with Categories, giving us the three tools you mention: Structure, Search and Categories... ''now'' let's talk '''''namespaces!'''''

::Given that [[User:Hellboy1975|Matt]] has proclaimed himself 'category enforcer' - then I think he could lead the overall structure on the wiki ;) --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 11:45, 5 December 2007 (CET)

:::That's fine, I'm happy to take on the roll of structuring the site for now. My first goal is to make the main page a bit more accessable, and then each of the main categories (Web, Windows, Character Mode, DD's and Development Tools). I guess my plan with these pages at the moment is to make the more structures, in much the same way as the Main Page on Wikipedia [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 00:25, 6 December 2007 (CET)
::::Take a look at [[Main_Page_1]] for a preview [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 01:53, 6 December 2007 (CET)

:::::Like it Matt! ''Very'' nice. Keep up the good work! --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 09:54, 6 December 2007 (CET)
:::::Awesome effort :) You rock --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 10:06, 6 December 2007 (CET)
:::::So... when are you going to make that live? I can't believe anybody is going to think we should ''not'' go with it... it is just a question of fleshing out some of those "wanted" links first IMO. --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 10:22, 6 December 2007 (CET)
::::::Still got a couple of little things I want to do, mainly including some more info from the original main page. All things going well sometime tomorrow or over the weekend. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 13:08, 6 December 2007 (CET)

:Main page change is now up, and am working on the Portal pages. Feedback/suggestions on the main page always appreciated. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 12:04, 9 December 2007 (CET)

== Namespaces ==
:Actually, namespaces require modification of the LocalSettings.php file on the server I think, so adding them is non-trivial (i.e. down to somebody with OS access to the server: Jacob, Johan or Sture, etc.) and thus they are a blunter and less flexible tool than Categories, but worth thinking about, in a background sort of way.

::Let's do some experimenting with namespaces when we have a backup copy of VDFWiki running on a separate machine. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 10:10, 6 December 2007 (CET)

==Backups==
(Seem to have spawned a different thread here, so... [[Image:Smile.jpg]] --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 09:54, 6 December 2007 (CET))

I have two other MediaWikis set up that I can play/practice on (but they are hosted on ''real'' operating systems [[Image:Smile.gif]]), and if you are going to do that stuff I suggest you set one up for yourself, if you have not already - the software is a snap to set up, at least on Linux. Actually, several of us might consider doing that just to take periodic back-up copies of VdfWiki onto... just a thought.

:Good idea to do multiple backups. Sture and I have been talking about uploading the content to 'somebody's ftp server - to have it duplicated. is that 'somebody' you , Mike? --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 11:45, 5 December 2007 (CET)

::It ''could'' be. Right now I have MediaWikis running on two Linux boxen - one in the office (Ububtu server) and one at home (Fedora). I realise that you guys are running under WinDoze/IIS - would that cause any issues do you think? We have a public, hosted FTP server that I ''should'' be able to configure access to for you, so we are a possibility as a backup, but I think DAW or DAE are probably a better bet, both from a technical and an administrative PoV. If needed, I could act as "''third string''" to a DAW/DAE "''second string''", in that you could dump stuff nightly to my FTP server (and I would then ignore it), where, in the event of an emergency, it could be restored from to a MediaWiki I could set up specifically for it (on another Fedora machine that I have spare in the office). If I set up VdfWiki on that, it would be sitting ready to go from backup... But I'd explore the Data Access options first I think. --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 13:05, 5 December 2007 (CET)

:::Or... we also have our [http://www.unicorninterglobal.com web site] hosted, with the ability to host others (we do host a couple of others there). I have work to do in moving that all to a new machine on the hosting site (I'm just too overloaded to contemplate it ATM), but once I've done that we could offer a WinDoze compatible alternative hosting platform as a backup (primary or otherwise). --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 13:05, 5 December 2007 (CET)

:::: DAE has agreed to set up an ftp account for our purpose. Its content will be part of their backup sequence (cool). Once we get it [[User:Jka|Jacob]] will upload a vdfwiki image and we'll see if it runs easily at your server(s). --[[User:Sture|Sture]] 18:16, 6 December 2007 (CET)

==Common Editing Mistakes==
Something to watch for (and maybe warn against): I had occasion last night to move an article ([[Add Workspace Parameter]]) by [[User:Peter Brooks|Peter Brooks]] which he had put on the [[:Category:How To]] page; I moved it off onto its own page, but it is an easy mistake to make: just go to a Category and start editing. --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 11:01, 5 December 2007 (CET)

== Categories & Portals ==

On the main pages, in the top section where it says "Welcome to the VDFWiki" I added on the right a list of categories, which I'm implementing as portals. The ones I stuck in there (Dataflex, VDF, Web Apps, DD's, Class Reference, Tutorials, Dataflex Community and Development Tools) pretty much just came off the top of my head when I did that bit. Having a weekend to think about it, I think it's a pretty good structure, and seems to cover pretty much all the bases I can think of. Provided there's no objections, I'm going to implement each of these are portals, and then change the current Sections are on the sidebar to point to these portals.

As part of this Portal conversion, I may also be editing any pages that currently resemble portals (like the current [[Visual DataFlex]] page) and making something more like a reference page. In that example the Visual Dataflex page will become more of a ''What Is'' type page. The ultimate plan to be that all pages will either be a reference type page, or some kind of tutorial, while anything that contains lists of articles gets shifted to ''Portal:'' pages. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 12:29, 9 December 2007 (CET)

:How are the new portal pages supposed to work together with the "sections" in the navigation? I think the two should be integrated somehow. It would be great if we could keep sections/portals in such a narrow scope that one guy could keep track of it all (check the "section owners in [[VdfWiki:about]] ).--[[User:Jka|Jka]] 14:30, 9 December 2007 (CET)
:: I agree, and already have plans for that. From the fisrt paragraph "I'm going to implement each of these are portals, and then change the current Sections are on the sidebar to point to these portals" [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 22:16, 9 December 2007 (CET)

Talk:Main Page

2007-12-09T11:29:50Z

Hellboy1975: Categories & Portals

= What would you like to see on this wiki? =

Feel free to discuss the purpose of this wiki on this page. You are also welcome to provide feedback on how you want this site to interact with other resources (e.g the newsgroups and vdf-guidance.com) --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 23:35, 25 November 2007 (CET)

== Overall goal ==

I think VdfWiki should be a place assemble knowledge and articles in the long term (in a structured manner).

There are some guidelines for keeping VdfWiki on the right track :[[VdfWiki_guidelines]]

The newsgroups are still '''THE''' place to ask question and chat about current events.--[[User:Jka|Jka]] 08:28, 23 November 2007 (CET)

==Wiki Structure Proposal==
I ([[User:Mikepeat|Mike]]) have just modifed the sidebar (the panel on the left of every page) to add "sections". (If any Sysop is not happy with this then it can be undone by editing the page [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]], or by just reverting my changes to it.) I have used the sections as currently laid out on the main page, but I would like to propose a significant restructuring of those sections. I will take no action until there has been reasonable discussion of it here and a consensus reached however.

=== Overall structure (from Mike)===
I would propose something like the following overall structure:

* <big>'''Main Page'''</big> (Brief Product Overview)
** Product Detail
** '''Windows'''
*** CodeJock
*** OLE/COM/ActiveX
*** Reporting
** '''Web'''
*** AJAX
*** JavaScript
** '''Character Mode'''
*** DOS/Console Mode
*** Unix/Linux
** '''Web Services'''
*** SOA
** '''Databases'''
*** Embedded
*** MS SQL Server
*** Oracle
*** IBM DB/2
*** Pervasive
*** MySQL
*** ODBC

(All comments and abuse will be gratefully received! [[Image:Smile-tpvgames.gif|20px]])

--[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 02:46, 21 November 2007 (CET)

::I agree, the current structure on the main page isn't clear enough at the moment. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 05:37, 21 November 2007 (CET)

::: Marco here... I agree too. I'd like to add some gotcha's about moving from DataFlex tables to DB2, accessed from DF32 on Linux and VDF on Win32.

=== Data Dictionaries ===
::: I also want to add a topic on batch create/update/delete using DataDictionaries. Where would that live? Would it be a topic referenced from Web and Windows and Webservices, or should this be another section, 'Data Dictionaries'?
::: I think a section about 'Data Dictionaries' could be great. I'll just add one (also containing the Databases' links from Mike --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 10:16, 25 November 2007 (CET)

=== Suggestion for topic (Development Tools)===

Can I suggest that we add a new section or link on the main page for general development tools and articles that sit outside of the existing Web/Windows/WS/Console categories. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 00:07, 23 November 2007 (CET)

:Sounds perfectly sensible to me... "Other" as a general catch-all, or "Other Tools": a bit more specific, but then we might have issues with things that fell outside that ''and'' our existing sections. --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 00:14, 23 November 2007 (CET)

:: I am OK with a "tools" section. We can still lay down the law in that page :P The trick is to create a separate page for each tool we want to describe - and keep the external links down to a minimum (this should make it easier to keep track of the content on the page). I think the title "Development tools" could work. articles not related to these sections can be attached to a specific user page - we should try not to clutter the frontpage and 1st level navigation too much. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 08:15, 23 November 2007 (CET)

== Discussing cookbooks ==

::That structure looks reasonable. My original idea with the "cookbooks" was to put a list of howto-do-stuffs in there. E.g a list of recipes in them - and have the "other" page contain the description. E.g "Windows" contains the description and "Windows cookbook" contains the recipes. I've found that the early contributions have been about "howto do stuff" (e.g something that should go in the cookbook). I can see now , that there should be no distinction between e.g "Windows" and "Windows cookbook" - they should be the same page. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 09:38, 21 November 2007 (CET)

:::On the "''cookbooks''" issue... perhaps using "Categories" might be a help. This is not a subject I understand well enough (yet!), but it seems to me that it might add a multi-dimentional element to how articles are arranged and accessed, so that they can be come at from more than one direction (don't know how yet - research needed!). I think the original idea had merit - that some articles will be of a "howto" nature while others will be more descriptive, others discursive and still others umm... complaining (whining? - "''why don't DAW do more with the Linux product?''" <g>). In a big Wiki like Wikipedia, searching is usually the only way to start, but with our rather less ambitious subject matter, good organisation might lead people quickly to what they need (even if they didn't know they needed it and didn't know it was there). --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 11:12, 21 November 2007 (CET)

::Yes . The need for having a "cookbook" can be adressed by having a category for all the different recipees. I think we should proceed in this direction . I removed the cookbook links from the frontpage and the navigation. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 20:12, 21 November 2007 (CET)

==Style Guide?==
At the suggestion of [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] (what is that all about anyway, Matt? <g>) - see [[Talk:Web_Service_Basics]] - I have been changing the colour I am using to emphasise stuff - in this case (for now anyway) changing <span style="color:blue;">blue</span> to <span style="color:midnightblue;">midnightblue</span> to avoid confusion with hypertext links (I'm not sure that is enough - I think I've just made that text look like visited links).

However it would have saved me this effort if I'd had a guideline on what colours etc. to use from the start. I think we need to evolve some kind of consensus "Style Guide" which would help us all use a nice, clear, consistent style for various things. It would be bound to be an evolving document, as we are unlikely to think of everything on day one and will have to be flexible and inclusive rather than prescriptive, but the sooner we start laying it down, the less time will be wasted later fixing stuff up that doesn't match or looks ugly. (''I did experiment with using a template - [[Template:Colorise]] - but couldn't get what I wanted to work: the amount of time I can afford to devote to learning the WikiMedia Template [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-specific_programming_language DSL] is strictly limited!'' <g>) [[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 11:03, 22 November 2007 (CET)
:I should have said ''pr<u>o</u>scriptive'' above - it would indeed be ''pr<u>e</u>scriptive'', by intent! [[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 14:54, 22 November 2007 (CET)
:Something like the Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style Manual of Style] is always a good place to start. Another place to look for examples are in some of the programming manuals on Wikibooks. Here's one of the pages in the C++ manual for instance. [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/C%2B%2B_Programming/Variables] [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 00:20, 23 November 2007 (CET)

==Opensource/community libraries==

I understand that there is a [[Data Access Worldwide|DAW]] community site in the works. please consider this when describing available available [[Open Source]] [[Visual DataFlex]] libraries. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 00:49, 1 December 2007 (CET)

== Main Page ==

I'm sure you've all noticed by now I've made a bit of a change to the front page. It's more or less the same as before, just with a bit more information for users who are a bit new to the whole wiki thing. What do you guys think? [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 05:21, 5 December 2007 (CET)

:Looks good Matt... you might consider mentioning [[Special:Categories]] in addition to the [[Category Index]], and maybe adding the [[Category Index]] to the "navigation" pane (edit [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]]). ...And be careful who you say doesn't bite: '''''I''''' haven't had any coffee yet! [[Image:Smile.gif]]

:I think we probably need a single person (oops: that would be you... ''sucker!'' You have only yourself to blame!) to head-up work on structure, accessibility, cross-indexing and the like. We have made a big step forward with Categories, giving us the three tools you mention: Structure, Search and Categories... ''now'' let's talk '''''namespaces!'''''

::Given that [[User:Hellboy1975|Matt]] has proclaimed himself 'category enforcer' - then I think he could lead the overall structure on the wiki ;) --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 11:45, 5 December 2007 (CET)

:::That's fine, I'm happy to take on the roll of structuring the site for now. My first goal is to make the main page a bit more accessable, and then each of the main categories (Web, Windows, Character Mode, DD's and Development Tools). I guess my plan with these pages at the moment is to make the more structures, in much the same way as the Main Page on Wikipedia [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 00:25, 6 December 2007 (CET)
::::Take a look at [[Main_Page_1]] for a preview [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 01:53, 6 December 2007 (CET)

:::::Like it Matt! ''Very'' nice. Keep up the good work! --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 09:54, 6 December 2007 (CET)
:::::Awesome effort :) You rock --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 10:06, 6 December 2007 (CET)
:::::So... when are you going to make that live? I can't believe anybody is going to think we should ''not'' go with it... it is just a question of fleshing out some of those "wanted" links first IMO. --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 10:22, 6 December 2007 (CET)
::::::Still got a couple of little things I want to do, mainly including some more info from the original main page. All things going well sometime tomorrow or over the weekend. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 13:08, 6 December 2007 (CET)

:Actually, namespaces require modification of the LocalSettings.php file on the server I think, so adding them is non-trivial (i.e. down to somebody with OS access to the server: Jacob, Johan or Sture, etc.) and thus they are a blunter and less flexible tool than Categories, but worth thinking about, in a background sort of way.

::Let's do some experimenting with namespaces when we have a backup copy of VDFWiki running on a separate machine. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 10:10, 6 December 2007 (CET)

::Main page change is now up, and am working on the Portal pages. Feedback/suggestions on the main page always appreciated. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 12:04, 9 December 2007 (CET)

==Backups==
(Seem to have spawned a different thread here, so... [[Image:Smile.jpg]] --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 09:54, 6 December 2007 (CET))

I have two other MediaWikis set up that I can play/practice on (but they are hosted on ''real'' operating systems [[Image:Smile.gif]]), and if you are going to do that stuff I suggest you set one up for yourself, if you have not already - the software is a snap to set up, at least on Linux. Actually, several of us might consider doing that just to take periodic back-up copies of VdfWiki onto... just a thought.

:Good idea to do multiple backups. Sture and I have been talking about uploading the content to 'somebody's ftp server - to have it duplicated. is that 'somebody' you , Mike? --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 11:45, 5 December 2007 (CET)

::It ''could'' be. Right now I have MediaWikis running on two Linux boxen - one in the office (Ububtu server) and one at home (Fedora). I realise that you guys are running under WinDoze/IIS - would that cause any issues do you think? We have a public, hosted FTP server that I ''should'' be able to configure access to for you, so we are a possibility as a backup, but I think DAW or DAE are probably a better bet, both from a technical and an administrative PoV. If needed, I could act as "''third string''" to a DAW/DAE "''second string''", in that you could dump stuff nightly to my FTP server (and I would then ignore it), where, in the event of an emergency, it could be restored from to a MediaWiki I could set up specifically for it (on another Fedora machine that I have spare in the office). If I set up VdfWiki on that, it would be sitting ready to go from backup... But I'd explore the Data Access options first I think. --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 13:05, 5 December 2007 (CET)

:::Or... we also have our [http://www.unicorninterglobal.com web site] hosted, with the ability to host others (we do host a couple of others there). I have work to do in moving that all to a new machine on the hosting site (I'm just too overloaded to contemplate it ATM), but once I've done that we could offer a WinDoze compatible alternative hosting platform as a backup (primary or otherwise). --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 13:05, 5 December 2007 (CET)

:::: DAE has agreed to set up an ftp account for our purpose. Its content will be part of their backup sequence (cool). Once we get it [[User:Jka|Jacob]] will upload a vdfwiki image and we'll see if it runs easily at your server(s). --[[User:Sture|Sture]] 18:16, 6 December 2007 (CET)

==Common Editing Mistakes==
Something to watch for (and maybe warn against): I had occasion last night to move an article ([[Add Workspace Parameter]]) by [[User:Peter Brooks|Peter Brooks]] which he had put on the [[:Category:How To]] page; I moved it off onto its own page, but it is an easy mistake to make: just go to a Category and start editing. --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 11:01, 5 December 2007 (CET)

== Categories & Portals ==

On the main pages, in the top section where it says "Welcome to the VDFWiki" I added on the right a list of categories, which I'm implementing as portals. The ones I stuck in there (Dataflex, VDF, Web Apps, DD's, Class Reference, Tutorials, Dataflex Community and Development Tools) pretty much just came off the top of my head when I did that bit. Having a weekend to think about it, I think it's a pretty good structure, and seems to cover pretty much all the bases I can think of. Provided there's no objections, I'm going to implement each of these are portals, and then change the current Sections are on the sidebar to point to these portals.

As part of this Portal conversion, I may also be editing any pages that currently resemble portals (like the current [[Visual DataFlex]] page) and making something more like a reference page. In that example the Visual Dataflex page will become more of a ''What Is'' type page. The ultimate plan to be that all pages will either be a reference type page, or some kind of tutorial, while anything that contains lists of articles gets shifted to ''Portal:'' pages. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 12:29, 9 December 2007 (CET)

Talk:Main Page

2007-12-09T11:04:53Z

Hellboy1975: /* Main Page */

= What would you like to see on this wiki? =

Feel free to discuss the purpose of this wiki on this page. You are also welcome to provide feedback on how you want this site to interact with other resources (e.g the newsgroups and vdf-guidance.com) --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 23:35, 25 November 2007 (CET)

== Overall goal ==

I think VdfWiki should be a place assemble knowledge and articles in the long term (in a structured manner).

There are some guidelines for keeping VdfWiki on the right track :[[VdfWiki_guidelines]]

The newsgroups are still '''THE''' place to ask question and chat about current events.--[[User:Jka|Jka]] 08:28, 23 November 2007 (CET)

==Wiki Structure Proposal==
I ([[User:Mikepeat|Mike]]) have just modifed the sidebar (the panel on the left of every page) to add "sections". (If any Sysop is not happy with this then it can be undone by editing the page [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]], or by just reverting my changes to it.) I have used the sections as currently laid out on the main page, but I would like to propose a significant restructuring of those sections. I will take no action until there has been reasonable discussion of it here and a consensus reached however.

=== Overall structure (from Mike)===
I would propose something like the following overall structure:

* <big>'''Main Page'''</big> (Brief Product Overview)
** Product Detail
** '''Windows'''
*** CodeJock
*** OLE/COM/ActiveX
*** Reporting
** '''Web'''
*** AJAX
*** JavaScript
** '''Character Mode'''
*** DOS/Console Mode
*** Unix/Linux
** '''Web Services'''
*** SOA
** '''Databases'''
*** Embedded
*** MS SQL Server
*** Oracle
*** IBM DB/2
*** Pervasive
*** MySQL
*** ODBC

(All comments and abuse will be gratefully received! [[Image:Smile-tpvgames.gif|20px]])

--[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 02:46, 21 November 2007 (CET)

::I agree, the current structure on the main page isn't clear enough at the moment. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 05:37, 21 November 2007 (CET)

::: Marco here... I agree too. I'd like to add some gotcha's about moving from DataFlex tables to DB2, accessed from DF32 on Linux and VDF on Win32.

=== Data Dictionaries ===
::: I also want to add a topic on batch create/update/delete using DataDictionaries. Where would that live? Would it be a topic referenced from Web and Windows and Webservices, or should this be another section, 'Data Dictionaries'?
::: I think a section about 'Data Dictionaries' could be great. I'll just add one (also containing the Databases' links from Mike --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 10:16, 25 November 2007 (CET)

=== Suggestion for topic (Development Tools)===

Can I suggest that we add a new section or link on the main page for general development tools and articles that sit outside of the existing Web/Windows/WS/Console categories. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 00:07, 23 November 2007 (CET)

:Sounds perfectly sensible to me... "Other" as a general catch-all, or "Other Tools": a bit more specific, but then we might have issues with things that fell outside that ''and'' our existing sections. --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 00:14, 23 November 2007 (CET)

:: I am OK with a "tools" section. We can still lay down the law in that page :P The trick is to create a separate page for each tool we want to describe - and keep the external links down to a minimum (this should make it easier to keep track of the content on the page). I think the title "Development tools" could work. articles not related to these sections can be attached to a specific user page - we should try not to clutter the frontpage and 1st level navigation too much. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 08:15, 23 November 2007 (CET)

== Discussing cookbooks ==

::That structure looks reasonable. My original idea with the "cookbooks" was to put a list of howto-do-stuffs in there. E.g a list of recipes in them - and have the "other" page contain the description. E.g "Windows" contains the description and "Windows cookbook" contains the recipes. I've found that the early contributions have been about "howto do stuff" (e.g something that should go in the cookbook). I can see now , that there should be no distinction between e.g "Windows" and "Windows cookbook" - they should be the same page. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 09:38, 21 November 2007 (CET)

:::On the "''cookbooks''" issue... perhaps using "Categories" might be a help. This is not a subject I understand well enough (yet!), but it seems to me that it might add a multi-dimentional element to how articles are arranged and accessed, so that they can be come at from more than one direction (don't know how yet - research needed!). I think the original idea had merit - that some articles will be of a "howto" nature while others will be more descriptive, others discursive and still others umm... complaining (whining? - "''why don't DAW do more with the Linux product?''" <g>). In a big Wiki like Wikipedia, searching is usually the only way to start, but with our rather less ambitious subject matter, good organisation might lead people quickly to what they need (even if they didn't know they needed it and didn't know it was there). --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 11:12, 21 November 2007 (CET)

::Yes . The need for having a "cookbook" can be adressed by having a category for all the different recipees. I think we should proceed in this direction . I removed the cookbook links from the frontpage and the navigation. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 20:12, 21 November 2007 (CET)

==Style Guide?==
At the suggestion of [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] (what is that all about anyway, Matt? <g>) - see [[Talk:Web_Service_Basics]] - I have been changing the colour I am using to emphasise stuff - in this case (for now anyway) changing <span style="color:blue;">blue</span> to <span style="color:midnightblue;">midnightblue</span> to avoid confusion with hypertext links (I'm not sure that is enough - I think I've just made that text look like visited links).

However it would have saved me this effort if I'd had a guideline on what colours etc. to use from the start. I think we need to evolve some kind of consensus "Style Guide" which would help us all use a nice, clear, consistent style for various things. It would be bound to be an evolving document, as we are unlikely to think of everything on day one and will have to be flexible and inclusive rather than prescriptive, but the sooner we start laying it down, the less time will be wasted later fixing stuff up that doesn't match or looks ugly. (''I did experiment with using a template - [[Template:Colorise]] - but couldn't get what I wanted to work: the amount of time I can afford to devote to learning the WikiMedia Template [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-specific_programming_language DSL] is strictly limited!'' <g>) [[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 11:03, 22 November 2007 (CET)
:I should have said ''pr<u>o</u>scriptive'' above - it would indeed be ''pr<u>e</u>scriptive'', by intent! [[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 14:54, 22 November 2007 (CET)
:Something like the Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style Manual of Style] is always a good place to start. Another place to look for examples are in some of the programming manuals on Wikibooks. Here's one of the pages in the C++ manual for instance. [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/C%2B%2B_Programming/Variables] [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 00:20, 23 November 2007 (CET)

==Opensource/community libraries==

I understand that there is a [[Data Access Worldwide|DAW]] community site in the works. please consider this when describing available available [[Open Source]] [[Visual DataFlex]] libraries. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 00:49, 1 December 2007 (CET)

== Main Page ==

I'm sure you've all noticed by now I've made a bit of a change to the front page. It's more or less the same as before, just with a bit more information for users who are a bit new to the whole wiki thing. What do you guys think? [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 05:21, 5 December 2007 (CET)

:Looks good Matt... you might consider mentioning [[Special:Categories]] in addition to the [[Category Index]], and maybe adding the [[Category Index]] to the "navigation" pane (edit [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]]). ...And be careful who you say doesn't bite: '''''I''''' haven't had any coffee yet! [[Image:Smile.gif]]

:I think we probably need a single person (oops: that would be you... ''sucker!'' You have only yourself to blame!) to head-up work on structure, accessibility, cross-indexing and the like. We have made a big step forward with Categories, giving us the three tools you mention: Structure, Search and Categories... ''now'' let's talk '''''namespaces!'''''

::Given that [[User:Hellboy1975|Matt]] has proclaimed himself 'category enforcer' - then I think he could lead the overall structure on the wiki ;) --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 11:45, 5 December 2007 (CET)

:::That's fine, I'm happy to take on the roll of structuring the site for now. My first goal is to make the main page a bit more accessable, and then each of the main categories (Web, Windows, Character Mode, DD's and Development Tools). I guess my plan with these pages at the moment is to make the more structures, in much the same way as the Main Page on Wikipedia [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 00:25, 6 December 2007 (CET)
::::Take a look at [[Main_Page_1]] for a preview [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 01:53, 6 December 2007 (CET)

:::::Like it Matt! ''Very'' nice. Keep up the good work! --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 09:54, 6 December 2007 (CET)
:::::Awesome effort :) You rock --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 10:06, 6 December 2007 (CET)
:::::So... when are you going to make that live? I can't believe anybody is going to think we should ''not'' go with it... it is just a question of fleshing out some of those "wanted" links first IMO. --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 10:22, 6 December 2007 (CET)
::::::Still got a couple of little things I want to do, mainly including some more info from the original main page. All things going well sometime tomorrow or over the weekend. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 13:08, 6 December 2007 (CET)

:Actually, namespaces require modification of the LocalSettings.php file on the server I think, so adding them is non-trivial (i.e. down to somebody with OS access to the server: Jacob, Johan or Sture, etc.) and thus they are a blunter and less flexible tool than Categories, but worth thinking about, in a background sort of way.

::Let's do some experimenting with namespaces when we have a backup copy of VDFWiki running on a separate machine. --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 10:10, 6 December 2007 (CET)

::Main page change is now up, and am working on the Portal pages. Feedback/suggestions on the main page always appreciated. [[User:Hellboy1975|Hellboy1975]] 12:04, 9 December 2007 (CET)

==Backups==
(Seem to have spawned a different thread here, so... [[Image:Smile.jpg]] --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 09:54, 6 December 2007 (CET))

I have two other MediaWikis set up that I can play/practice on (but they are hosted on ''real'' operating systems [[Image:Smile.gif]]), and if you are going to do that stuff I suggest you set one up for yourself, if you have not already - the software is a snap to set up, at least on Linux. Actually, several of us might consider doing that just to take periodic back-up copies of VdfWiki onto... just a thought.

:Good idea to do multiple backups. Sture and I have been talking about uploading the content to 'somebody's ftp server - to have it duplicated. is that 'somebody' you , Mike? --[[User:Jka|Jka]] 11:45, 5 December 2007 (CET)

::It ''could'' be. Right now I have MediaWikis running on two Linux boxen - one in the office (Ububtu server) and one at home (Fedora). I realise that you guys are running under WinDoze/IIS - would that cause any issues do you think? We have a public, hosted FTP server that I ''should'' be able to configure access to for you, so we are a possibility as a backup, but I think DAW or DAE are probably a better bet, both from a technical and an administrative PoV. If needed, I could act as "''third string''" to a DAW/DAE "''second string''", in that you could dump stuff nightly to my FTP server (and I would then ignore it), where, in the event of an emergency, it could be restored from to a MediaWiki I could set up specifically for it (on another Fedora machine that I have spare in the office). If I set up VdfWiki on that, it would be sitting ready to go from backup... But I'd explore the Data Access options first I think. --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 13:05, 5 December 2007 (CET)

:::Or... we also have our [http://www.unicorninterglobal.com web site] hosted, with the ability to host others (we do host a couple of others there). I have work to do in moving that all to a new machine on the hosting site (I'm just too overloaded to contemplate it ATM), but once I've done that we could offer a WinDoze compatible alternative hosting platform as a backup (primary or otherwise). --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 13:05, 5 December 2007 (CET)

:::: DAE has agreed to set up an ftp account for our purpose. Its content will be part of their backup sequence (cool). Once we get it [[User:Jka|Jacob]] will upload a vdfwiki image and we'll see if it runs easily at your server(s). --[[User:Sture|Sture]] 18:16, 6 December 2007 (CET)

==Common Editing Mistakes==
Something to watch for (and maybe warn against): I had occasion last night to move an article ([[Add Workspace Parameter]]) by [[User:Peter Brooks|Peter Brooks]] which he had put on the [[:Category:How To]] page; I moved it off onto its own page, but it is an easy mistake to make: just go to a Category and start editing. --[[User:Mikepeat|Mike]] 11:01, 5 December 2007 (CET)

Portal:Data Connectivity

2007-12-09T10:52:57Z

Hellboy1975: New page: The '''Data Dictionaries Portal''' contains a series of articles related to using the DataDictionary class. These classes often span development in both Character Mode, [...

The '''Data Dictionaries Portal''' contains a series of articles related to using the [[DataDictionary]] class. These classes often span development in both [[DataFlex|Character Mode]], [[Visual Dataflex]] and [[Web Application|Web Applications]].

==Recent Additions==

==Tutorials==

==Requested Articles==

[[Category:Portals]]
[[Category:Data Dictionaries]]

Portal:Windows Applications

2007-12-09T10:35:13Z

Hellboy1975:

The '''Visual Dataflex Portal''' is the place to come for articles on developing [[Windows]] applications with [[Visual DataFlex]].

==Recent Additions==
*How to add '''[[Add Workspace Parameter|Workspace Parameters]]''' using [[cIniFile]]

==Tutorials==
*How to add '''[[Add Workspace Parameter|Workspace Parameters]]''' using [[cIniFile]]

==Requested Articles==

[[Category:Portals]]
[[Category:DataFlex (Character Mode)]]

Portal:DataFlex Character Mode

2007-12-09T10:34:49Z

Hellboy1975:

The '''Dataflex Portal''' is a repository for all articles related to [[DataFlex|Character Mode DataFlex]].

==Recent Additions==
*Not much to see here...

==Tutorials==
*Or here!

==Article Requests==
Have a particular topic you'd like to see covered in Character Based DataFlex. Make a suggestion here:

[[Category:Portals]]
[[Category:DataFlex (Character Mode)]]

Portal:DataFlex Character Mode

2007-12-09T10:34:32Z

Hellboy1975:

The '''Dataflex Portal''' is a repository for all articles related to [[DataFlex|Character Mode DataFlex]].

==Recently Added Dataflex Articles==
*Not much to see here...

==Tutorials==
*Or here!

==Article Requests==
Have a particular topic you'd like to see covered in Character Based DataFlex. Make a suggestion here:

[[Category:Portals]]
[[Category:DataFlex (Character Mode)]]

Portal:Web Applications

2007-12-09T10:09:07Z

Hellboy1975: New page: The '''Web Applications Portal''' is a repository for articles related to developing Web Applications using Visual Dataflex. This portal covers web applications us...

Main Page

2007-12-09T09:57:10Z

Hellboy1975: New Main Page Format

{| style="width:100%; background:#fcfcfc; margin-top:1.2em; border:1px solid #ccc;"
|style="width:56%; color:#000"| 
{| style="width:280px; border:solid 0px; background:none;"
|style="width:280px; text-align:center; white-space:nowrap; color:#000;"|
<div style="font-size:162%; border:none; margin:0; padding:.1em; color:#000;">Welcome to the [[VDFWiki]],</div>
<div style="top:+0.2em; font-size:95%;">the free [[Dataflex]] [[encyclopedia]] that ''anyone can edit''.</div>
<div id="articlecount" style="width:100%; text-align:center; font-size:85%;">[[Special:Statistics|{{NUMBEROFARTICLES}}]] articles in English</div>
|}
|style="width:11%; font-size:95%; color:#000;"|
*[[Portal:DataFlex|DataFlex]]
*[[Portal:Visual DataFlex|Visual DataFlex]]
*[[Portal:Web Applications|Web Applications]]
|style="width:11%; font-size:95%;"|
*[[Portal:Data Dictionaries|Data Dictionaries]]
*[[Portal:Class Reference|Class Reference]]
*[[Portal:Tutorials|Tutorials]]
|style="width:11%; font-size:95%;"|
*[[Portal:DataFlex Community|Dataflex Community]]
*[[Portal:Development Tools|Development Tools]]
*'''[[Category Index|All Categories]]'''
|}


{|style="border-spacing:8px; margin:0px -8px;"
|class="MainPageBG" style="width:55%; border:1px solid #cef2e0; background:#f5fffa; vertical-align:top; color:#000;"|
{|width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top; background:#f5fffa;"
! <h2 style="margin:0; background:#cef2e0; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #a3bfb1; text-align:left; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Featured article</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000;"| {{:Featured_Article}}
|-
! <h2 style="margin:0; background:#cef2e0; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #a3bfb1; text-align:left; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Recent Additions</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000;"| {{:Recent Additions}}
|-
|}


|class="MainPageBG" style="width:45%; border:1px solid #cedff2; background:#f5faff; vertical-align:top"|
{| width="100%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top; background:#f5faff;"
! <h2 style="margin:0; background:#cedff2; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #a3b0bf; text-align:left; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Coming Events</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000;"| {{:Coming events}}
|-
|}
|}

{| style="border-spacing:8px; margin:-8px -8px;"
|class="MainPageBG" style="width:100%; border:1px solid #ddcef2; background:#faf5ff; vertical-align:top; color:#000;"|
{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="5" style="vertical-align:top; background:#faf5ff; color:#000"
! <h2 style="margin:0; background:#ddcef2; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #afa3bf; text-align:left; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em;">Want to contribute?</h2>
|-
|style="color:#000;"|
All users are invited to contribute on whatever way they can! If you're not sure how to contribute, try one of the following:
*Checkout the list of [[Special:Wantedpages|wanted pages]]. These are pages that are linked to, but not yet written. If there is one there you feel you can say something useful about, click on the link and start writing. Those with several links are obviously ''seriously'' needed!
*Not sure you have any knowledge you can add? Contribute by helping with Formatting and Categorising of pages.
*Still not sure? Feel free to contact one of the many frequent contributors to this site. We don't bite!
|-
|}
|}


__NOTOC__

Coming events

2007-12-09T09:55:45Z

Hellboy1975:

Updated as of '''6th December, 2007'''
*'''December 2007'''
**[[Drive In Support]], Hengelo, The Netherlands, December 10 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
*'''January 2008'''
**Discovering Visual DataFlex Training, Salzburg, Austria, January 7-11 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**Drive In Support, Friedrichsdorf, Germany, January 15 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**Discovering [[COM]], Friedrichsdorf, Germany, January 16-17 [http://www.dataaccess.nl/Training]
**[[Visual DataFlex]] Training, Miami, Florida, USA, January 28-February 1, 2008 [http://www.dataaccess.com/Training/DANA]
***Discovering [[Web Application Server]], January 28-29
***Discovering [[Web Services]] in [[Visual DataFlex]], January 30
***Exploring External Controls and [[DLL|DLLs]], January 31
***Exploring [[Crystal Reports]], February 1
*'''February 2008'''
**[[DISD8]] - February 21-23, Carson City Nevada, USA
**[[South Australia DataFlex Users Group|SA DataFlex Users Group]] - Meeting 19th February 2008 - ''Creating [[ActiveX]] controls using MFC''
*'''Later...'''
**[[EDUC8]] - May 2008, Moscow, Russia
**[[DDUG]] - September 2008, Perth, Australia (TBC)

Visit the [[Dataflex Community]] page for a full list of events.