StudioTips - Versions

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Versions

This section describes the changes, fixes, and enhancements that are include with each new release of StudioTips and the StudioTips.

Version 2008-03-19

The following is a summary of the key updates included with this version of StudioTips.

Search StudioTips - The search function in StudioTips has been overhauled and enhanced. Enhancements include:

StudioTips now searches all groups, not just the currently selected group.
Fast Searches! The first time you run a search the StudioTips contents are cached. Subsequent searches are lightning fast.
Case-insensitive searches are now standard.
Multiple word or phrase searches are supported by separating words or phrases with the & character.

Unicode Version of OMST - StudioTips has been updated to work with the unicode version of Omnis Studio. A separate unicode ready release is now available for download. The only difference in the unicode version is that the libraries have been opened with the unicode version of Omnis Studio and converted to unicode. If you are switching back and forth between unicode and non-unicode you will want to have separate unicode and non-unicode versions of StudioTips on your computer.
Unicode Tips - A section on unicode has been added. All the gotchas that I ran into when debugging StudioTips for the unicode version of Omnis Studio are listed in this new section.
Screen Coordinates - A screen coordinates demo and a set of classes are included with this release. This was a lot of work! If you need to position a window over a field in another window, or if you need to know the screen size including extra monitors on the Mac platform, this information and these new classes are worth twice the price of StudioTips!
Platform Folder Paths - A new object, oPaths_PlatformFolder, is included with this release of StudioTips. You can find it in the tipsBase library. The object returns the path to various standard folders on the current platform. e.g. Desktop, My Documents or Documents, Program Files or Applications, Temp files, User Preferences, etc. The object handles Register DLL differences between the unicode and non-unicode versions of Omnis Studio. Feel free to copy this object to your own applications.
FTP - A section on the Omnis FTP commands has been added. It includes sample code, a demo, and explanation of the new oFTP object class which is available for free to StudioTips members.
TCP - A section on the Omnis TCP commands has been added. Tips, sample code, and demos are include for: TCPName2Addr, TCPPing, and getting whois domain name information. (code snip thanks to Rainer Greim)

Version 2008-03-19 Details

tipsBase - Modifications

oFTP/$#About (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Review all methods and use the local 'logError' method for reporting errors to remove 'errhndlr' dependency. Review all methods and remove early exits.

oFTP/$:FilesList_longformat (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Removed early exits. Use local 'logError' method for reporting errors to remove 'errhndlr' dependency.

oFTP/$:FilesList_shortformat (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Removed early exits. Use local 'logError' method for reporting errors.

oFTP/$:PingTimeout (2008-02-06 Doug K.)
Added ping timeout property which can be assigned. Default 15 seconds. If set to zero the pinging the server will be skipped.

oFTP/$:PingTimeout.$assign (2008-02-05 Doug K.)
Added method to allow developers to assign the $:PingTimeout value. If timeout is set to zero then this object skips pinging the server.

oFTP/$connect (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Use local 'logError' method for reporting errors to remove 'errhndlr' dependency.

oFTP/$initialize (2008-02-06 Doug K.)
Corrected the method description. Remove the sentence that said this method opens a connection with the FTP server as that is no longer true.

oFTP/$initialize (2008-02-06 Doug K.)
Added parameter pPingTimeoutSeconds_opt which can be used to set this object's $:PingTimeout property via the $initialize method.

oFTP/$initialize (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Added ivar ibInitOK and set it at the end of the initialize method.

oFTP/$pingServer (2008-02-06 Doug K.)
Use the $:PingTimeout value to ping the server. If timeout is zero ping is skipped and zero returned.

oFTP/logError (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Added local 'logError' and $:ErrorText error handling methods so that this object can be shared independent of tvar 'errhndlr'.

oObjectClassErrorHandlerMethods/$#About (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Added an error handler template methods object class. The methods can be copied to objects which can operate independent of oErrorHandler and 'errhndlr'.

oPaths_PlatformFolders/$:OmnisStudioFolder (2008-01-02 Doug K.)
Use sys(215), if available, rather than sys(115) to indicate the Omnis Studio executable directory. This ensures that on Vista that we will be in the real 'Program Files' directory for the Omnis Studio executable parent folder.

oPaths_studiotips/$:LogFilesFolderPath (2008-03-05 Doug K.)
Call the new $:PathUserAppPreferenceFolder method. Put the log folder inside that folder.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathApplicationsFolder (2008-01-02 Doug K.)
Added method which returns the path to the 'Program Files' or 'Applications' directory, based on the operating system.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathApplicationsFolder (2008-03-12 Doug K.)
Redirect the call to the oPaths_PlatformFolder object class.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathOmnisStudioFolder (2008-01-02 Doug K.)
Use sys(215), if available, rather than sys(115) to indicate the Omnis Studio executable directory. This ensures that on Vista that we will be in the real 'Program Files' directory for the Omnis Studio executable parent folder.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathOmnisStudioFolder (2008-03-12 Doug K.)
Redirect the call to the oPaths_PlatformFolder object class.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathProgramFilesFolder (2008-01-02 Doug K.)
Added method which returns the path to the 'Program Files' or 'Applications' directory, based on the operating system.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathProgramFilesFolder (2008-03-12 Doug K.)
Redirect the call to the oPaths_PlatformFolder object class.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathTempFilesFolder (2008-03-12 Doug K.)
Redirect the call to the oPaths_PlatformFolder object class.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathUserAppPreferencesFolder (2008-01-10 Doug K.)
Added $:UserAppPreferencesFolder method which returns the path to an 'AppName' folder located inside the $:UserOmnisPreferences folder.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathUserDesktop (2008-03-12 Doug K.)
Redirect the call to the oPaths_PlatformFolder object class.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathUserDocuments (2008-03-12 Doug K.)
Redirect the call to the oPaths_PlatformFolder object class.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathUserHome (2008-03-12 Doug K.)
Redirect the call to the oPaths_PlatformFolder object class.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathUserOmnisPreferencesFolder (2008-01-10 Doug K.)
Added $:UserOmnisPreferencesFolder method which returns the path to an 'Omnis' folder located inside the user preferences folder.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathUserPreferencesFolder (2008-01-10 Doug K.)
Added $:UserAppPreferencesFolder method which replaces this method. Redefined this method to return the path to the base user preferences folder.

oPaths_studiotips/$:PathUserPreferencesFolder (2008-03-12 Doug K.)
Redirect the call to the oPaths_PlatformFolder object class.

oPaths_studiotips/retEnclosedFolderPath (2008-03-17 Doug K.)
Removed the early exits.

oSearchTips/$#About (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Created an object that specializes in searching StudioTips. Enhancement is to search ALL of the groups, not just the current group.

oSearchTips/$searchTips (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Modified the search method to copy the groups list and all methods list to class variables and compare them the each time this method is called. Speeds second and more searches.

oStartupTaskVarsTool/$_pingVar (2008-03-06 Doug K.)
Removed the early exits.

oStartupTaskVarsTool/$initializeOnStartup (2008-03-06 Doug K.)
Removed the early exits.

oStartupTaskVarsTool/$initialize_app_prefs (2008-03-05 Doug K.)
Call the new $:PathUserAppPreferencesFolder oPaths method. Removed early exits.

oStartupTaskVarsTool/$initialize_app_prefs (2008-03-05 Doug K.)
Add exception for unicode. Unicode must have a different df1 data file.

oStartupTaskVarsTool/$initialize_cn (2008-03-06 Doug K.)
Removed the early exits.

oStartupTaskVarsTool/$initialize_codedoctools (2008-03-06 Doug K.)
Removed the early exits.

oStartupTaskVarsTool/$initialize_errlog (2008-03-06 Doug K.)
Removed the early exits.

oStartupTaskVarsTool/$initialize_fn (2008-03-06 Doug K.)
Removed the early exits.

oStartupTaskVarsTool/$initialize_icns (2008-03-06 Doug K.)
Removed the early exits.

oStartupTaskVarsTool/$initialize_local_prefs (2008-03-05 Doug K.)
Call the new $:PathUserAppPreferencesFolder oPaths method. Removed early exits.

oStartupTaskVarsTool/$initialize_local_prefs (2008-03-05 Doug K.)
Add exception for unicode. Unicode must have a different df1 data file.

oStartupTaskVarsTool/$initialize_pths (2008-03-06 Doug K.)
Removed the early exits.

StudioTips - Crossplatform - Modifications

@00 About ;; Crossplatform/@50 Carriage Returns and Line Feeds (2007-12-18 Doug K.)
Added crossplatform tips on carriage returns and line feeds.

@00 About ;; Crossplatform/@50 Carriage Returns and Line Feeds (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Added tip and sample code for using replaceall() to convert all text files to just kCr new line for consistent processing.

StudioTips - Modifications

@00 Internet/@50 TCPName2Addr (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Added tip and demo on the TCPName2Addr Omnis command.

@00 Internet/@50 TCPPing (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Added tip and demo on the TCPPing Omnis command.

@00 Internet/@50 Whois (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Added tip and demo on the getting whois domain name information using the Omnis TCP commands. Thanks goes to Rainer Greim for the code snip used in this tip.

@00 Reports ;; About/@50 Send to screen - Title (2007-12-03 Doug K)
Added tip for setting the send to screen window title using Omnis command or notation.

@10 Unicode/@00 About (2008-03-12 Doug K.)
Added a new section for Unicode.

@10 Unicode/@05 isunicode() Function (2008-03-12 Doug K.)
Added tip for isunicode() function.

@10 Unicode/@50 Register DLL - Unicode Folder Paths (2008-03-12 Doug K.)
Added tip for Register DLL file paths gotcha with unicode version.

@10 Unicode/@50 sys(2) and Unicode (2008-03-12 Doug K.)
Added tip for sys(2) gotcha with unicode version.

@50 FTP/@00 About (2008-0-19 Doug K.)
Added tip and documentation on FTP commands an the oFTP object class avaiable to StudioTips members.

@50 Sys Functions - Hardware/@50 sys(215) Omnis Executable pathname (2008-01-02 Doug K.)
Added tip and demo for this sys() function added in Omnis Studio 4.3.

@50 TCP/@50 TCPName2Addr (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Added tip and demo on the TCPName2Addr Omnis command.

@50 TCP/@50 TCPPing (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Added tip and demo on the TCPPing Omnis command.

@50 TCP/@50 Whois (2008-03-19 Doug K.)
Added tip and demo on the getting whois domain name information using the Omnis TCP commands. Thanks goes to Rainer Greim for the code snip used in this tip.

StudioTips - GUI - Modifications

@00 Windows ;; About/@60 $framehwnd and $hwnd (2008-03-07 Doug K.)
Added documentation and demo for understanding $framehwnd & $hwnd for windows and objects.

@10 Complex Grids/@50 Complex Grid Field $height (2008-03-07 Doug K.)
Added tip that you can't change the $height property of a field in a complex grid.

@10 Complex Grids/@50 Complex Grid Field $width (2008-03-07 Doug K.)
Added tip that you can't change the $width property of a field in a complex grid.

StudioTips - SQL - Modifications

@10 MySQL/@50 Create Database (2008-01-22 Doug K.)
Added tip for creating and dropping a database in MySQL.

@11 Installing PostgreSQL on Mac OS X/@15 Install PostgreSQL and pgAdmin (2007-12-11 Doug K per Josh L.)
Correction to the postgres URL. Should be 'postgresqlformac.com'

@50 phpMyAdmin/@11 Installing PHP on Mac OS X (2008-03-15 Doug K.)
Updated instruction for enabling PHP on Mac OS X to include Mac OS X 10.5

Version 2007-11-30

The following is a summary of the key updates included with this version of StudioTips.

MySQL - Added MySQL tips in the StudioTips - SQL group. Complete instructions for installing and configuring MySQL on MacOSX.
MYSQLDAM Binary Columns Error - Added MySQL tip in the StudioTips - SQL group for solving an error when fetching binary data columns.
PostgreSQL - Added PostgreSQL tips in the StudioTips - SQL group. Complete instructions for installing and configuring PostgreSQL on MacOSX. (Thanks to Arts Management)
User Preferences - Changed the preferences path so user preferences are stored in the platform based user preferences folder rather than a
Preferences folder inside the Omnis folder. Updates were made to the oPaths object.
Treelist Methods - Added $movenode tip for 4.3 release. Replaced $mutlipleselect workaround tip with the new $selected method tip for getting selected nodes.
Working Messages - Added tip and demo on performance problem with redraw working message in loops.
Resizeable Windows - Added kEFposnMenuBar and kEFposnStatusBar to the Resizable Windows demo.
Horz and Vert Scroll - Added tip on converting the $hscroll or $vscroll property to pixels.

Version 2007-11-30 Details

tipsBase - Modifications

oPaths/$:LogFilesFolderPath (2007-09-04 Doug K.)
Chnaged method so that the 'logs' folder is put in the platform dependent user preferences folder.

oPaths/$:PathUserDesktop (2007-07-04 Doug K.)
Revised to use private methods copied from the StudioTips 'FolderPaths' library.

oPaths/$:PathUserDocuments (2007-07-04 Doug K.)
Revised to use private methods copied from the StudioTips 'FolderPaths' library.

oPaths/$:PathUserHome (2007-07-04 Doug K.)
Revised to use private methods copied from the StudioTips 'FolderPaths' library.

oPaths/$:PathUserPreferencesFolder (2007-07-04 Doug K.)
Added method '$:PathUserPreferencesFolder' which supercedes the poorly named '$:PathPreferencesFolder_user'. The new method uses the platform dependent location for the user preferences folder, not the Omnis Studio folder. By default an /Omnis/[$ctask().$name]/ folder is created inside the platform's 'user preferences' folder. You can override this method in your main library oPaths object to use your own app name for the subfolder(s).

oPaths/$:PathUserPreferencesFolder (2007-07-17 Doug K per request by Mike Matthews)
Use the $:PreferencesParentFolderName method value as the parent folder name, allowing developers to set this in the startupsettings.txt file.

oPaths/$:PathUserPreferencesFolder (2007-07-17 Doug K)
Check for an $:AppName property method in the startup task. If it exists, use the return value as the name for the actual preferences folder.

oPaths/$:PreferencesParentFolderName (2007-07-17 Doug K per request by Mike Matthews.)
Added assignable property method to allow developers to change the 'Omnis' preferences folder name to their own brand name using the startupsettings.txt file or the Startup_Task.

oPaths/$:PreferencesParentFolderName.$assign (2007-07-17 Doug K per request by Mike Matthews.)
Added assignable property method to allow developers to change the 'Omnis' preferences folder name to their own brand name using the startupsettings.txt file or the Startup_Task.

oPaths/trimPath (2007-07-05 Doug K.)
Added new method which trims double quotes off file paths (from Applescript) and trims trailing path delimiters.

StudioTips - GUI - Modifications

@00 Windows ;; About/@50 Resizable Windows (2007-09-12 Doug K.)
Added kEFposnMenuBar and kEFposnStatusBar to the Resizable Windows demo.

@05 Treelist Methods & Properties/@50 $movenode (2007-09-12 Doug K.)
Updated the $movenode tip for v4.3 which uses kMoveNodexxx constants.

@05 Treelist Methods & Properties/@50 $multipleselect (2007-09-12 Doug K.)
Update the tip to include the $selected node property which was introduced in v4.x of Omnis Studio.

@10 Misc/@50 $hscroll & $vscroll (2007-10-22 Doug K.)
Added tip on converting the $hscroll or $vscroll property to pixels.

@11 Tree Node Methods & Properties/@50 $selected (2007-09-12 Doug K.)
Changed the old undocumented $mutlipleselect node property tip to use the proper $selected node property that was introduced in v4.x of Omnis Studio.

@50 Working Messages/@00 About (2007-10-18 Doug K.)
Added tip on working messages.

@50 Working Messages/@50 Speed Tests (2007-10-18 Doug K.)
Added performance tip and demo on working messages.

StudioTips - SQL - Modifications

@10 MySQL/@50 Create my.cnf File (2007-09-12 Doug K.)
Added to for creating a my.cnf file on the Mac OS X platform.

@10 MySQL/@50 Lower Case Table Names (2007-11-28 Doug K.)
Added MySQL tip on setting lower_case_table_name in my.cnf file to avoid export/import headaches.

@10 MySQL/@50 Problems with Blobs (2007-11-30 Doug K.)
Added tip about problems with binary data and the MySQLDAM and the solution.

@10 MySQL/@50 Stop/Start MySQL server (2007-11-28 Doug K.)
Added MySQL tip on for starting and stopping the server from the terminal.

@10 MySQL/@50 Transactions Settings (2007-11-28 Doug K.)
Added MySQL tip on transaction settings in the my.cnf file.

@10 MySQL/@50 Wait Timeout (2007-09-12 Doug K.)
Added tip about MySQL server wait_timeout and setting it in the my.cfg file.

@10 MySQL/@50 mysqldump --no-create-info (2007-11-28 Doug K.)
Added tip on mysqldump without create table info. Handy if you want to import the data to an empty prepared database without constraints.

@10 PostrgeSQL/@00 About (2007-10-19 Doug K per Dave McKeone)
Added new topic for PostgreSQL.

@11 Installing PostgreSQL on Mac OS X/@00 About (2007-11-14 Doug K per Dave McKeone)
Added instructions for installing PostgreSQL on Mac OS X.

@12 Installing PostgreSQL on Windows/@00 About (2007-10-19 Doug K)
Added new topic for PostgreSQL.

Version 2007-06-30

The following is a summary of the key updates included with this version of StudioTips.

StudioTips - Crossplatform - Added a new tips group for crossplatform topics and platform specific items.
Bug Fix Fixed a display text bug related to $separators which affected German and other localized versions of Omnis Studio that use something other than the comma character separator in functions.

Version 2007-06-30 Details

Version 2007-06-05

The following is a summary of the key updates included with this version of StudioTips.

Studio JS 202 Tutorial - A second tutorial has been written for the new web app series tutorials. The tutorial takes you step-by-step through monitoring and recording web app usage. The web monitor created by the Omnis Studio wizard is a visual monitor. If you close the window the web app stats are lost. In the Studio JS 202 tutorial you will build a non-visual web monitor which writes the web stats to a database and emails a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly summary report to the administrator using a timer object. The Studio JS 202 Tutorial is only available to StudioTips members.

Multiple Monitors - Added a tip and sample code that checks for multiple monitors on the Mac platform and reopens the window in the correct position on the external monitor if it was last closed there. The same code is used for positioning the StudioTips Browser window.

Omnis Startup Folder - Added documentation on the new goto_Omnis_Startup.lbs utility which lets you create an Omnis Startup folder inside the Applications or Program Files folder. The Omnis Startup folder mimics the behavior of the startup folder located deep inside the Omnis executable's folder and adds some extra features. See StudioTips - Tutorials > Utilities > Omnis Startup Folder.

Convert Number to Text - The free utility has been refactored to make it easy to add more languages. The German language has been added to the converter thanks to Rudolf Bargholz. You can download the latest converter from the downloads page at studiotips.net.

Version 2007-06-05 Details

tipsBase - Modifications

oCodeDocDisplayMethodDesc/$retMethodDescDisplayText (2007-06-05 Doug K.) Call the new combined 'convertHTML_<ol><ul>' method rather than the separate methods. This fixes the problem with converting nested lists to display text. oCodeDocDisplayMethodDesc/_convertDeepest_

(2007-06-05 Doug K.) Added method to drill down to the deepest <ol> or <ul> list group in a string and convert the it to the appropriate list. oCodeDocDisplayMethodDesc/convertHTML_

(2007-06-05 Doug K.) Added method to process both <ol> or <ul> list groups, rather than processing them separately. oFTP/$:Connected (2007-05-28 Doug K.) Don't do the 'FTPList' Omnis command if we the iFTPSocket has not been set.

StudioTips - Modifications

@50 Omnis Startup Folder/@00 About (2007-05-17 Doug K.) Added tips and documentation for the new 'goto_Omnis_Startup' utilty available as a free download.

StudioTips - GUI - Modifications

@50 Multiple Monitors/@00 About (2007-04-09 Doug K.) Added tip on positioning windows with multiple monitors.

StudioTips - SQL - Modifications

@31 Statement Objects ;; SQL/@00 About (2007-04-05 Doug K.) Added tip and sample code on getting a table class's $statementobject. @31 Statement Objects ;; SQL/@50 $sqltext (2007-04-05 Doug K.) Added tip on the statement object property - $sqltext.

StudioTips - Tutorials - Modifications

@00 Introduction ;; Studio JS 202/@00 About (2007-05-15 Doug K.) Wrote Studio JS 202 Tutorial - Monitoring and recording web app usage and emailing the stats summary to someone. @10 Getting Started ;; Studio JS 201/@05 Create Ping Remote Task (2007-05-24 Doug K per Peter van Rooij) Removed line of code which didn't belong in the 'retPingReplyHTMLContents' method. @13 HTML Tools ;; Studio JS 201/@23 Add HTTP Content Header (2007-05-30 Doug K per Peter van Rooij) Changed 'Add HTML Content Header' to 'Add HTTP Content Header' and the method name accordingly. @27 Keeping the Search Form/@41 Submit Form 3 - URL with Parameters (2007-05-30 Doug K per Peter van Rooij) Corrected the name of the search entry field in the JavaScript from "SearchEntryField" to "SearchValue".

Modification Tags

Modifications and new methods which are added to StudioTips are noted at the end of each method using comment lines. The syntax for the modifications is as follows:

; @MOD:1 Added cached list to speed up building the treelists and searching. ;; 2006-02-28 Doug K.

Using a standard format allows developers (including myself) to search for modifications made on a certain date, or between a set of dates. The oVersions objects are used to compile modifications in each library and generate the release modifications pages.