Southwest Xbase++/Fox Conference Report

[Cliff Wiernik]

Any report on the conference from attendees.

Cliff.

[bwolfsohn]

Couldn't get stepan's presentation here either...

Based on what i saw from the opening remarks, I think they said there are 29 xbase people at the conference, and i counted at least 7 or 8 speakers, so that doesn't leave many attendees... Overall, they said their total attendance is a little up over the previous year, but for awhile, it didn't look like the conference would even take place..

also disappointed we haven't heard a peep from anyone at the show.. i'm sure they're all tired from hangin' arond w/ bobby at the piano..

[sdenjupol148]

Hey Brian, Hey Cliff,

There were some late night sessions music wise, so we had fun.
Roger was even doing the twist one night...with a bad back no less!

But I have to say that I learned more this year than at any other conference.
And there are some things I can incorporate into my code right now.
The presentations have gotten better and clearer.

In one of Till's sessions, he introduced the rich desktop design concept, a way to program our screens through HTML and style sheets.
Of course this means that we can create xBase screens that run on local machines or on the web with all the back end stuff to connect to databases.

Andreas continued the CXP track which has evolved very nicely.
We can now add our own libraries to CXP as well.
The bulk of it is available under xBase 2.0.

Stephan gave us real insight into using ISAM and SQL and what to use when.
He also gave us the plan about where xBase is going.
He gave us a tour of some of the new feature sets and classes of 3.0 and if they pull it off, it will be amazing.

But right, they are looking to have 2.0 completed by mid-2014 and as I said, much of it is available now.

Overall, I enjoyed this conference more than I did last year's.
They're taking notice as well.

Here's hoping for a better future!

[skiman]

Hi Bobby,

Thanks for the update.

About that rich desktop design concept. Is it something that is provided with Xbase++, or is it with the use of Jquery, Angularjs, ...

[Tom]

But right, they are looking to have 2.0 completed by mid-2014

In other words: 2.0. will be delivered right after hell has frozen.

[skiman]

Last year at the devcon in Germany they promised end 2012. Then in Arizona they promised Q1 2013. Now they say mid 2014. Next year they can promise Q4 of 2015...

[unixkd]

If Alaska had follow Roger's approach, it would have been ok. But unfortunately, all CTPs are released without samples and documentation. CXP had been around for more than one year now and I doubt if anybody is using it.

Alaska appear to be following the roadmap anounced on 2012-03-01 and if you look at that road map you will see that the next CTP will cover Universal SQL for DBF tables, arrays and object PLUS SQLite DBE before the final release candidate. The December 2012-11-30 anouncement was wrong. It States and I quote:

Right now, the development team at Alaska Software is working hard to ensure that the next community technology preview (CTP3) is available for download before Christmas. This means that with the start of the new year, we will begin the final run towards the release of Xbase++ 2.0. We want to move forward with an agressive refresh schedule, like we did with the CXP CTPs. According to our current plans, there will be no CTP4. Instead, we intend the release candidate of Xbase++ 2.0 to be ready around Q1/Q2 2013.

The following is a list of the most outstanding features included in CTP3.

Universal SQL support: SQL for PostgreSQL, Advantage Database Server, dbf tables, objects and arrays.
PostgreSQL ISAM upsizing support: existing dbf/ntx/cdx-based applications become PostgreSQL client/server solutions with only a few code changes.
Object prototyping and DataObjects as the new way to transport your data between the application layers.
WebSocketHandler and WebHandler: create a websocket server with only a few lines of code, push data in real time between workstations or to the browser.
WebUI for windows: create views with HTML and CSS for your Win32 desktop applications.
CXP build and execution infrastructure: create web or connected mobile applications.
Xbase++ Workench, formerly known as Visual Xbase++ IDE.
New data model for the sample collection. Available as dbf tables, Visual FoxPro database, Advantage Database Server dictionary, PostgreSQL database and SQLite database.

Is there anybody using 2.0 to confirm the above claims ?

Joe

[TWolfe]

In other words: 2.0. will be delivered right after hell has frozen.

Hi Tom,

Perhaps the name 'Alaska' and the Polar Bear are appropriate!

Terry

[rdonnay]

Ok, it's time for me to pipe in to this conversation.

Over the years, I have been as skeptical as all of you about Xbase++ 2.0.
Fortunately, most of our software has survived through this long delay because we have found other client/server solutions such as ADSDBE or ODBC.

We all know that Alaska is technology driven (not market driven) and that they do not yield to marketing pressures to put out a product simply for the purpose of making money. That has been very obvious due to Steffen's behavior over the 15 years that I have known him.

To some, this is very frustrating because this is not how the rest of the world operates. There have been a few opportunists who saw Xbase++ as an opportunity to make money as dealers, only to be frustrated by this policy. They have gone on to other things.

It has been hard to understand Steffen's strategy until this year.

It became much more obvious at this year's devcon in Arizona, not only because of what was being said by Steffen, but also what was being said by Foxpro developers. The attendance at the devcon was higher than last year and the response to Xbase++ by the Foxpro community was dramatic as compared to last year.

Steffen explained, very cogently, why Alaska has delayed 2.0 for so long. There was a window of opportunity that had opened after Microsoft announced the drop of support for Foxpro. If Alaska had waited (until 2.0 was released) to embrace the Foxpro community, it would have been too late, both for Xbase++ 2.0 and Xbase++ 3.0. Both communities were at risk of fading away, but instead they have been revived. Why? Because programmers from Clipper, Foxpro and Xbase++ communities are beginning to realize that our common heritage gives us strength when we band together.

The Foxpro community has much to offer us Xbase++ programmers. Here are just a few examples:

1. They are much more organized than the Xbase++ community. They can teach us a lot in this area.

2. They have developed a large code base that can soon be shared with the Xbase++ community due to the new Xbase++ transpiler.

3. They will increase the number of Xbase++ licenses, thereby helping to insure that Xbase++ will continue to thrive and improve.

4. They will create new opportunities for Xbase++ programmers as consultants for teaching and conversion projects.

5. They have put pressure on Alaska to provide improved web solutions, now available in Xbase++ 2.0.

6. They have put pressure on Alaska to provide improved database language solutions (especially SQL), now available in Xbase++ 2.0.

The combined ISAM / SQL syntax in Xbase++ is revolutionary in that it supports the Xbase legacy and also the future.
This is good news. PostgreSQL for client/server and SQLite for local databases have been modified for this purpose.

I suggest that you all plan to attend next year's devcon in Arizona. I will be there and will be planning to show a lot of new features in eXpress++ that will take advantage of the new universal SQL language and the CXP\.

I am looking forward to spending the next 6 months preparing for the final release of Xbase++ 2.0. The CTP3 appears to be ready to use now and the docs have greatly improved.

[Auge_Ohr]

The Foxpro community ...

they are laugh about Steffen ... same procedure as last Year
they start to understand that nobody can trust what Steffen promise to deliver.

5. They have put pressure on Alaska to provide improved web solutions, now available in Xbase++ 2.0.

you know that CXP use HtmlLayout Engine API ? it is not made by Alaska !

6. They have put pressure on Alaska to provide improved database language solutions (especially SQL), now available in Xbase++ 2.0.

Phil Ide have present 2003 how to use PostgreSQL API ... 10 Year ago
ISAM Stuff for PostgreSQL is a big Overhead and make Xbase++ more slower and will limit Developer to use Power of PostgreSQL.

but make your own Experience and install CTP3R4 and try to upsize your DBF / Index to PostgreSQL Table.
if this 1st Step fail than you can´t use your Code without rename those fields and rewrite your IndexKey() and all SEEK / SCOPE.