a possible way forward ? - after Cologne 2017 !

[Phil Hepburn]

Hi Robert, Team, and all X# community and colleagues,

Now that the German xBase.Future conference is so close, and my preparation is all but done, I have started looking ahead to after the conference.

I wish to share with you some thoughts which I had very recently. These are to do with possible contributions I can make to helping promote X# / xBase and helping my friends and colleagues in that same community. Now that I am retired from paid work, I can contribute to making things easier for guys to get to grips with certain areas of X# and .NET - there are some areas where I have little to no knowledge however ;-0) someone else can cover those!

So far, since October last year (2016) I have explored X# and experimented with some new and exciting parts of the Roslyn based compiler, and placed working tests and snippets into a special appendix - named 'Appendix X' in my eVolume of eNotes called "ClickStartLINQ" - see a couple of images below (captured with SnagIt version 13) :-

NewNotes_01.jpg (43.11 KiB) Viewed 364 times

I started to put my new X# 'stuff' into this appendix simply because I was focused on doing a lot of good material on LINQ within the X# syntax - remember it was all new to me as previously I had to do my LINQ work in a C# class library. the rest of the 'ClickStartLINQ' eNotes had been done years before that and had therefore to be based on C# - this work has been left in the eNotes, as it was previously.

However, as time progressed from last October, I started doing many more areas of interest in X#, and these got added into the 'X' appendix. So at the moment, the existing sections and subsections are a bit mixed together - check below :-

NewNotes_02.jpg (111.83 KiB) Viewed 364 times

Okay then, the Conference guys will get all the X# working code I have generated - BUT - there seems to me to be a need for a new and better structured set of eNotes - possibly called "ClickSatrtXSharp", in which I try to add sub-sections on all of the topics I regularly use in my applications.

It would seem sensible to me if I made such a set of notes initially based on Desktop app technology (the stuff I have been doing for a while), but then moved to Windows Universal apps and .NET CORE apps, as well as Android and Cross-Platform types of stuff.

Another aspect of the eNotes could be that I show clearly how Visual Studio is used to create the X# apps, as it would seem that many guys need some support with VS work - there is plenty of support out there for Chris's XIDE, from both Chris and guys like Frank, Wolfgang and others. But we do need some support for X# with VS I feel.

I am afraid that it is so long since I did 'WinForms' that I would have to give that topic area a miss. Anyway, WPF and XAML seems to have plenty of life left in them for the Universal and Cross-Platform work, so VS will be needed for new technologies I feel.

Finally, I did also think of moving over my Printing class library to X# from Vulcan, as it still has a big job to play I feel. It was the first thing I did when experimenting with a move from VO to .NET and VN. Printing and printers still has a role to play in our coding I feel, and it was one of the larger sections under-pinning my 'Invoices' application from many 'DevShare's ago.

Are there any topic areas which you particularly think should be included in such a brave venture?

First of all, do you think it is worth me making the effort ? I may also acquire a new web site with a suitable new name.

Such a venture would be done on a basis of continual website updating, as fresh topics and sub-sections were added. So there would be no waiting around, or holding back of material until the whole thing was completed. We could even start with the whole Appendix 'X' being available in the new eVolume - I would leave it in place until all new folder structures came on stream.

Any thoughts ?

Phil.
Wales, UK.

[ic2]

Hello Phil,

I think your initiative is very useful. We have all read many of your contributions to Pearls on the Grafx NG and now that Grafx and Vulcan only exists "in name" it is good to see more and more of your valued posts here.

At the moment I can not say much about what I would like to have covered. Although I've renewed FOX for the 2nd year, I have only briefly checked out X#. VO still serves me well and saves me from using VS and most other programming has been C# (in VS). However a plan is emerging to port one large application maintained by one employee to X# so we have a better chance to have it maintained and developed by a successor of my employee who will obviously never have heard about VO. Someone who actually doesn't know better than that VS is a productive and nice development environment. So as soon as we know more about the clients wishes in here, I will no doubt do more with X# and can let you now which subjects would benefit from postings with your experience.

Dick

[Phil Hepburn]

Thanks Dick,

Your comments are most helpful to me, and hopefully for others.

Best Regards,
Phil.
Wales, UK.

... watch this space ! .....

[wriedmann]

Hi Phil,

there are a LOT of new things to explore: Universal apps, .NET Core on Linux, ...

Personally I have to invest time in normal business applications, and in the migration from VO (another big project for the next 24 months...)

Wolfgang

[FFF]

...Finally, I did also think of moving over my Printing class library to X# from Vulcan, as it still has a big job to play I feel.

Might be a good idea. As X# is now open source, it should/could attract also "non big business " folks. Helping them with neat building blocks for the universally necessary jobs might be really useful. Next to data access/view, i feel the "dark matters", i.e. printing (not only invoices) certainly is one of the most important ones...

[Phil Hepburn]

Hi Karl, Wolfgang, Dick et al,

Here is an image of the collapsed contents of the new eNotes for the web area. I did it this afternoon.

NewNotesXS_01.jpg (80.8 KiB) Viewed 364 times

There are quite a few sub-folders entered as well, but this reduced view should be OK for now.

If anyone has any suggestions as to what topic seems to be missing then please say so, and at least give me the chance to say 'NO' !

Regards,
Phil.

[Frank Maraite]

Karl,

i.e. printing (not only invoices) certainly is one of the most important ones...

I would second this. I never got a clear idea on how to do this.

Frank

[wriedmann]

Hello,

yes, IMHO printing is very important - but to be used by all it shoould not implicate the use of some complicated or expensive report writer.

Wolfgang

[robert]

Phil,
Thanks for you continuous work !

Can I suggest some topics

- Moving to X# from
- Visual Objects
- Vulcan.NET
- (x)Harbour
- Visual FoxPro
- Clipper
- etc

Robert

[Phil Hepburn]

Hi Frank, Karl, Wolfgang, and all,

Well guys, I have looked back at my old websites and found the eNotes I wrote way back at the end of 2008 - these are called "Reports and Printing" and can be found at the moment at :-

http://www.clickstartvulcan.net/WebNote ... rtRnP.html

So you could have been printing in .NET for almost nine years ;-0)

This (the class library described) currently is a full .NET version of a simpler printing class I made for VO. Yes, I was one of those strange people who printed for years in Visual Objects without using anyone else's report writer. Everything was/is my own code. In my time we printed off millions of doctor's letters and invoices etc., from my big medical / patient app in Cardiff - based on DBFs at the time.

We even used to automatically add signatures to the letters, from a library of signature files.

Here is what the link will show you :-

Printing_01.jpg (121.22 KiB) Viewed 364 times

What is not obvious from the contents list is that I have a whole section in my class library and somewhere in the eNotes which allows aligning the point in columns of figures (numeric) which handles proportional fonts, as opposed to the simpler fixed space font cousins.

Please be aware however, printing is NOT, and never will be, an easy task. It is complex and we need to do a lot of ground work in order to print our own stuff. It often gets very customised.

However, it is VERY satisfying when it works, and paper comes out the way you wished it to. Oh! and even from the correct printer across the network, as we used to direct output to registered printers - all done in VO and NOT in Windows 98 which was being used at the time. So a delivery note would appear from a printer in the warehouse for example.

Please also be aware that Chris got me going with .NET printing, probably at 'DevFest' in early 2008. Thanks Chris, I have come a long way since you helped me get going, but you made it all possible.

You all have re-motivated me as regards to printing.

When I resurrect my code for the Printing class library, you will be able to use this as a basis to build your own fancy stuff specifically designed to fit your apps and business needs.

Oh! - I should mention that I got into printing in VO after studying (and following) Alwyn's book (the black bible) on Visual Objects. Took me weeks from scratch (zero beginning), AJB did wonderful stuff with printing, and motivated me to do stuff all my own way - yes, he gave me that much confidence, well done Alwyn - my first printing class came from your VO inspiration.

Now then, time to go and rescue my old code and eNote files.

Oh! and guys, don't play down printing invoices, when you print all the lines and grids, columns and rows, as well as the data areas and icon / images etc., it is quite a printing task. Here is a blank example - the data has not as yet been layered onto the final print sheet :-

Printing_02.jpg (73.08 KiB) Viewed 364 times

Hope this interests a few dinosaurs out there ;-0)

There are some benefits to going 'paperless', especially when you don't know how to print!

Well, that not exactly true, in order to get my invoice displayed on the screen, we still actually need to print it the old fashioned way, its just seen in the print preview .NET 'tool', as opposed to a named printer.

So we can't even go paperless without printing ;-0((

Regards,
Phil.
Wales, UK.