Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Harbour MiniGUI Extended Edition Released on 18th November 2015

Hi Friends,

I am glad to announce a new version of Harbour MiniGUI Extended Edition.

The setup of the build 2.5.5 is published at the following URL:

http://hmgextended.com/files/CONTRIB/hmg-2.5.5-setup.zip

and the MinGW-based self-extracting archive is placed at the following URL:

http://hmgextended.com/files/CONTRIB/hmg255-mingw.exe

There are also the extra xHarbour.org-based and xHarbour.com-based archives
for this build at the Minigui's download homepage.

There is the following changelog for this build:

2015/11/18: HMG Extended Edition 2.5.5 Published.
  * Fixed: Correction of the vertical position of the page titles for the
           font's size more than 12 pt in the ownerdraw colored TAB.
           Requested by Verchenko Andrey <verchenkoag@gmail.com>.
           Contributed by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
           (see demo.prg in folder \samples\Basic\TAB)
  * Fixed: Wrong vertical (and horizontal) scroll up in the Virtual Panel
           window when the thumbs of scroll bar were in a zero position and
           you are click a scrolling bar up (or left) arrow button.
           Contributed by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
           (see demo in folder \samples\Basic\CONTAINERS\Panel_2)
  * Enhanced: The GetBox control supports additionally a hotkey Ctrl+Y for
           clearing of the current value.
           Suggested and contributed by Gilbert Vaillancourt.
  * Enhanced: Added a horizontal scrolling of a long text string in the
           function WaitWindow().
           Requested by Marcelo Brigatti <mbrigatti@uol.com.br>.
           Contributed by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
           (see demo.prg in folder \samples\Basic\WAIT_WINDOW)
  * Changed: SplitChild windows without caption can not be closed with
            hotkey pressing by default.
           Contributed by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
  * Updated: Header file i_hmgcompat.ch for compatibility with Official HMG:
           - added a new command RELEASE MEMORY;
           - added the pseudo-function HMG_ChangeWindowStyle().
           Contributed by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
  * Updated: 'HMG Debugger' library (see source in folder \Source\Debugger).
           Based upon a contribution of Claudio Soto <srvet@adinet.com.uy>.
           Adapted for Minigui Extended by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
           (see demo in folder \samples\Advanced\DBG_TEST)
  * Updated: Adaptation FiveWin Class TSBrowse 9.0 in HMG:
           - fixed a program crash at the simultaneous using of the column's
             'Valid' clause and the function SetBtnGet().
             Problem was reported by Gilbert Vaillancourt.
           Contributed by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
  * Updated: HbSQLite3 library:
           - update for using SQLITE3 version 3.9.2 (from 3.9.1).
           Contributed by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
  * Updated: Harbour Compiler 3.2.0dev (SVN 2015-11-14 13:19).
           Contributed by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
           (look at ReadMe.txt in folder \harbour)
  * New: 'Graph Print on datas from the database' sample.
           Contributed by Stefano Biancini libero.it
>.           Revised by Pierpaolo Martinello alice.it
>           (see in folder \samples\Basic\GraphPrint_2)
  * New: 'ErrorSys HMG Custom' sample.
           Contributed by Toledo <toledo@pctoledo.com.br>.
           Revised by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
           (see in folder \samples\Basic\Hmg_Error)
  * Updated: 'ProgressBar' sample:
           - using of the function SuppressKeyAndMouseEvents() for blocking
             of the mouse and keyboard pressing at the event's processing.
           Contributed by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
           (see demo2.prg in folder \samples\Basic\PROGRESSBAR)
  * Updated: 'TSBrowse SetArrayTo method usage' sample.
           Contributed by Verchenko Andrey <verchenkoag@gmail.com>
           (see in folder \samples\Advanced\Tsb_SetArrayTo)
  * Updated: 'WebCam preview and capture' sample:
           - Added: saving the captured image to the PNG file.
           Contributed by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
           (see in folder \samples\Advanced\WebCam_2)

There is a "last minute" modification also in this build:

  * New: Draw Icon command with the transparent support.
           Syntax:
             DRAW ICON IN WINDOW AT , ;
                PICTURE ;
                [ WIDTH ] ;
                [ HEIGHT ] ;
                [ COLOR ] ; 
                [ ]
           Requested by Verchenko Andrey <verchenkoag@gmail.com>.
           Contributed by Grigory Filatov <gfilatov@inbox.ru>
           (see demo in folder \samples\Applications\UPXshell)
           Note: It is an experimental feature.

It is a regularly scheduled maintenance release.

This release is considered stable and ready for production use.

--
Best Regards,
Grigory Filatov
[MiniGUI Team]

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Harbour Beginner's Guide


Qatan wanstadnik@gmail.com

15th Nov 2015
to harbour-users
Hello all,
I am happy to announce a new version of the ‘Harbour Beginners’ Guide’
It is my humble contribution to Harbour.
Any suggestions or corrections are welcome.
My idea is to be able to add it to the Harbour website (via GitHub) – if the developers agree with it, of course.
You will find it in different forms (experimental) here:

You can use these links to download:
I hope it will help someone.
Regards,
Qatan

Friday, November 13, 2015

DBT to FPT Conversion

Recently, I had the opportunity to upgrade a software solution  created to run under MS/DOS using the DBF/DBT format to DBF/FPT to run under Windows 64 bits.

Found this piece of code written by Loren Scott and had it recompiled using Harbour 3.2

/*
   DBT2FPT.PRG - Memo file converter by Loren Scott / SuccessWare 90, Inc.

   This is a simple program demonstrating how to convert Clipper .DBT's
   to FoxPro-compatible FPT's using the Clipper 5.2 DBFCDX RDD.

    Compile:  CLIPPER dbt2fpt /n/w
    Link   :  BLINKER FI dbt2fpt LIB dbfcdx,clipper

   ---------------------------------------------------------------------
*/

#include "RDDSYS.CH"

REQUEST DBFCDX


FUNC DBT2FPT( cOldFile, cNewFile )

LOCAL aFile := {}

cOldFile := Upper( AllTrim( cOldFile ))
cNewFile := Upper( AllTrim( cNewFile ))

IF "." $ cOldFile
  cOldFile := Left( cOldFile, at( ".", cOldFile )-1 )
ENDIF

IF "." $ cNewFile
  cNewFile := Left( cNewFile, at( ".", cNewFile )-1 )
ENDIF

// Display a message
//MWS 13/11/15 ? "DBT2FPT - Memo File Converter"
//?
ALERT('DBT2FPT - Memo File Converter')
// Make sure we got the correct parameters
IF PCOUNT() < 2
  ? "USAGE:  DBT2FPT "
  ?
  ? "where:   = Name of the database containing the memo"
  ? "                    field to convert."
  ? "         = New file to create"
  ?
  Return(1)
ENDIF

// Check for the original file
IF !File( cOldFile + ".DBF" )
  ? "Cannot find " + cOldFile + "!"
  ?
  Return(2)
ENDIF

// Open the original file (using DBFNTX)
USE (cOldFile) VIA "DBFNTX"

// Set DBFCDX Driver as the default for creating new dbf
RDDSetDefault("DBFCDX")

// Show that we're doing something
? "Working"

// Now copy to the new file (with nifty UDF)
COPY TO (cNewFile) FOR ShowDot()

// Look, we made it!
//MWS 13/11/15 ?? "Done!"
//?
ALERT('Success !')
// Clean up before leaving
CLOSE ALL

// Compare file sizes
aFile := Directory( cOldFile + ".DBT" )
? PadR( "Old " + cOldFile + ".DBT Size",21 ) + ": "
?? Str( aFile[1,2] ) + " bytes"
aFile := Directory( cNewFile + ".FPT" )
? PadR( "New " + cNewFile + ".FPT Size",21 ) + ": "
?? Str( aFile[1,2] ) + " bytes"
?

Return(0)

FUNC ShowDot()
  ?? "."
Return (.T.)

Welcome to Clipper... Clipper... Clipper


In 1997, then using Delphi 3, I had already created 32-bits Windows applications for HRIS, ERP and CRM. In 2007, using Ruby on Rails, an AJAX powered CRM site running on Apache & MySQL was created and I am now using Visual Studio .Net 2008 to create web-based projects and Delphi 7 for Win32 applications using SQL2005 & DBFCDX.

So, why then am I reviving the Original Clipper... Clipper... Clipper via a Blog as CA-Clipper is a programming language for the DOS world ? Believe it or not, there are still some clients using my mission-critical CA-Clipper applications for DOS installed in the late 80's and up to the mid 90's. This is testimony to CA-Clipper's robustness as a language :-)

With the widespread introduction of Windows 7 64-bits as the standard O/S for new Windows based PCs & Notebooks, CA-Clipper EXE simply will not work and it has become imperative for Clipper programmers to migrate immediately to Harbour to build 32/64 bits EXEs

Since 28th January 2009, this blog has been read by 134,389 (10/3/11 - 39,277) unique visitors (of which 45,151 (10/3/11 - 13,929) are returning visitors) from 103 countries and 1,574 cities & towns in Europe (37; 764 cities), North America (3; 373 cities) , Central America & Caribeans (6; 13 cities), South America(10; 226 cities), Africa & Middle-East (12; 44 cities) , Asia-Pacific (21; 175 cities). So, obviously Clipper is Alive & Well : -)


TIA & Enjoy ! (10th October 2012, 11:05; 13th November 2015)


Original Welcome Page for Clipper... Clipper... Clipper

This is the original Welcome Page for Clipper... Clipper... Clipper, which I am republishing for historical and sentimental reasons. The only changes that I have made was to fix all the broken links. BTW, the counter from counter.digits.com is still working :-)

Welcome to Chee Chong Hwa's Malaysian WWW web site which is dedicated to Clipperheads throughout the world.

This site started out as a teeny-weeny section of Who the heck is Chee Chong Hwa ? and has graduated into a full blown web site of more than 140 pages (actually hundreds of A4 size pages) ! This is due to its growing popularity and tremendous encouragements from visiting Clipperheads from 100 countries worldwide, from North America, Central America, Caribbean, South America, Europe, Middle-East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Thanx Clipperheads, you all made this happen !


What is Clipper ?

You may ask, what is this Clipper stuff ? Could Clipper be something to do with sailing as it is the name of a very fast sailing American ship in the 19th century ?

Well, Clipper or to be precise, CA-Clipper is the premier PC-Software development tool for DOS. It was first developed by Nantucket Corporation initially as a compiler for dBase3+ programs. Since then, CA-Clipper has evolved away from its x-base roots with the introduction of lexical scoping & pre-defined objects like TBrowse. As at today, the most stable version ofClipper is 5.2e while the latest version, 5.3a was introduced on 21 May 1996.

As at 11th November, 1996, an unofficial 5.3a fixes file was made available by Jo French. See the About CA-Clipper 5.3a section for more details. BTW, Jo French uploaded the revised 5.3a fixes file on 20th November, 1996.

Latest News

The latest news is that CA has finally released the long-awaited 5.3b patch on 21 May, 1997.

For 5.3b users, you must a take a look at Jo French's comments on unfixed bugs in 5.3b.

BTW, have you used Click ? If you're a serious Clipperprogrammer and need an excellent code formatter, Click is a natural choice. How to get it ? Simple, access Phil Barnett's site via my Cool Clipper Sites.

32-bits Clipper for Windows ?

Have you tried Xbase ++ ? Well, I have and compared to Delphi (my current Windows programming tool of choice), I'm still sticking to Delphi.

Anyway, you should visit the Alaska Home Page. Give it a chance and then draw your own conclusions !.

The Harbour Project

Is this the future of Xbase ? Take a look at at the Harbour Project

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