| Delphi Clinic | C++Builder Gate | Training & Consultancy | Delphi Notes Weblog | Dr.Bob's Webshop |
 |
 |
 |
| Delphi Clinic | C++Builder Gate | Training & Consultancy | Delphi Notes Weblog | Dr.Bob's Webshop |
|
|
|
| ||||||
2010/02/01 - New Embarcadero Upgrade Rules
As of February 1st, 2010, there are new upgrade rules from Embarcadero.
Until this date, you can upgrade from any previous version of Delphi to a newer version of Delphi (i.e. from Delphi 6 to Delphi 2010).
As of 1-2-2010, you can only upgrade to Delphi 2010 if the version you upgrade from is no more than three versions older than the version you're upgrading to.
So from Delphi 2006 you can still go to Delphi 2010, but you cannot get an upgrade to Delphi 2010 if you have a version which is older than Delphi 2006.
2003/08/01 - Delphi 6 De-Supported
Delphi 6 is now officially de-supported, and is no longer eligible for Technical Support.
2003/04/11 - Delphi 6 Runtime Library Update 3
Registered users of purchased versions of Delphi 6 can download the Delphi 6 RTL Update Pack 3 (containing a fix for frame streaming) right now from the Delphi 6 Updates link in the Registered Users section.
Note: although the readme mentions installing Delphi 6 Update 2, you should install both the "General Update" and "RTL Update 2" (which are both available from the same web page) before installing this update.
2003/03/05 - Delphi 6 Runtime Library Update 2
Delphi 6 Runtime Library Update 2 is available to registered users of purchased versions of Delphi 6.
Note: you must install Update 2 (available from the same location) in order to run the Delphi 6 Runtime Library Update 2.
2003/01/09 - Delphi ActionBands Update
A new unofficial (read unsupported) update of ActionBands feature of Delphi is available on CodeCentral for both Delphi 7 and Delphi 6.
This patch effects both end user applications and the Delphi IDE since it uses ActionBand menus.
2002/12/31 - Delphi 6 Update: official run-time patch
The public beta of the Delphi 6 Variants code changes has completed.
This Update Pack resolves run-time errors with certain variant operations on Windows 95/98/NT4 systems that have original (unpatched) versions of DCOM. It also resolves a possible deadlock issue.
2002/10/18 - Web Services Development with Delphi
A new book has been published about Web Services Development with Delphi, written by Peter Darakhvelidze, and Eugene Markov.
I have ordered my own copy, and should be able to publish a review here soon, but in the meantime, here's some information from Amazon.com about this book:
"Intended for professional developers working in Delphi who are looking for a way to move into the sphere of new programming technology for e-business, this guide discusses specific Delphi tools and technologies and enables developers to take advantage of the RAD technique with the new version of Delphi for creating Web services.
Emphasis is given to the development of data processing using the XML and SOAP protocol and to the creation of Web services based on its capabilities.
Also covered are all aspects of working with databases-data presentation; local, client-server, and distributed systems; and technologies of accessing data, from BDE to dbExpress and dbGO."
2002/08/06 - Borland Delphi 7 Studio Announced
The official press release with the announcement is now published by Borland, and the Delphi 7 Studio information is available on the Borland website.
Kylix News: Kylix 3 Enterprise (only the Delphi language) will be included in the Architect and Enterprise box, while Kylix 3 Pro (again only the Delphi language) will be included with Delphi 7 Pro.
2002 July - The Delphi Magazine #83
My Under Construction column in the July issue of The Delphi Magazine is about Translating WebSnap.
In this article I continue my examination of some real-world WebSnap techniques, this month creating localisation options: the ability to dynamically switch display languages within your WebSnap applications.
NOTE: The complete source files from my previous Under Construction columns are now available.
2002/06/24 - Borland demonstrates .NET Technology
At the Visual Studio Developer Conference (VS Live) in New York City last week, the Borland Developer Relations team demoed Borland's upcoming support for Microsoft.NET, using Delphi for .NET.
2002/06/21 - Public Beta: Variants for Delphi 6
You can now download an updated Public Beta #3 (final?) of the files Variants.pas, VarUtils.pas and SysConsts.pas.
This code is for testing fixes for some of the issues discovered in Delphi 6 update 2. The zip file contains replacement files for those found in sources\rtl\sys and a test/demo application.
2002/06/20 - Delphi 6 Runtime Library Update Pack
There is a Delphi 6 post-Update 2 patch (available on the Delphi 6 Registered Users page) that repairs a problem with Delphi 6 that could produce deadlock.
Typically, this would happen in a web application when many web modules were being created due to a heavy load.
Once this occurred, the web application would stop responding to further requests and the CPU would typically be at 100% utilization.
This update will correct the problem.
The Borland Community website also contains this news now, including the fact that a new dbExpress driver for Informix 9.2.1 can be downloaded now.
2002/06/11 - Results of Borland Web Services Survey
Borland has released the results of the customer survey conducted at BorCon 2002 last month.
No less than 80% of respondents are either currently using Web Services or are planning to use them in the very near future.
Borland customers are using Web Services across many industries, but of those surveyed, a surprising 24% are in healthcare, 14% are in finance, and 14% are in government.
These customers use Web Services for image retrieval, online tax preparation, e-filing for tax returns, 401K administration, medical record retrieval, e-learning, human resources facilitation, e-commerce, and financial aid, among others.
Contrary to what other reports have indicated; only 19% said that security was a main barrier to using Web Services.
Of the survey respondents, 36% were from large enterprises, 24% were individual developers and 24% claimed "other." Small to medium enterprises and value added resellers comprised 10% and 7% respectively.
2002/06/09-11: Delphi Conference on June 10-11, 2002
The Delphi Conference 2002 - also known as DCon 2002 will be held in Reading (UK) on Monday June 10th and Tuesday June 11th, 2002.
The day before, on Sunday June 9th, will feature 4 pre-conference training sessions (including one on Delphi 6 WebSnap).
With 12 hand-picked speakers, 44 technical sessions (36 different sessions, 8 repeats) and a superb 2-day schedule, this has been my favorite Delphi Conference (ever since the first time in 1999).
Not in the last place because of the really great "developer" atmosphere, good contacts and great ideas I get home with each time.
2002/06/04 - Dr.Bob Examines the XSLPageProducer
Ever wondered how you can convert one XML format to another format using XSL?
And how to write XSL in the first place?
In my recent Dr.Bob Examines article I show how we can use a new component in Delphi 6 (and Kylix 2 or C++Builder 6), called the TXSLPageProducer, to convert any XML data packet or document (using XSL Transformation rules).
I will also show where to get a few XSLT examples that are a bit "hidden" in Delphi 6.
2002 June - The Delphi Magazine #82
My Under Construction column in the June issue of The Delphi Magazine is about Real-World WebSnap Techniques.
This month, I discuss some real-world WebSnap techniques I've discovered in his web application development, including user logins, DataSetAdapter naming conventions, BDE hints and using Amazon's XML support.
NOTE: The complete source files from my previous Under Construction columns are now available.
2002/05/29 - Delphi OplossingsCourant - vol.4 no.2
Delphi OplossingsCourant is a Dutch newsletter (in PDF format) with articles about Delphi and Kylix, written by Bob Swart.
In this new issue, I write about the deprication of SQL Links (and dbExpress, which is recommended as replacement), as well as news from CttM 2002 (my interview with Jason Vokes from Borland EMEA), and especially the latest news from BorCon 2002 last week in Anaheim, covering Kylix 3, Delphi 7, and the much anticipated Delphi for .NET (of which a preview command-line compiler edition with "VCL for .NET FrameWork" will be included with Delphi 7).
2002/05/26 - BorCon 2002 Delphi News
Summary: Kylix 3 (codename Cortez) will ship in 2002, and will contain a Delphi as well as C++ IDE.
Delphi 7 (codename Aurora) will ship in (the second half of) 2002 (and will contain a preview edition of Delphi for .NET, consisting of DCCIL command-line compiler and VCL for .NET).
A .NET Development Studio (codename Galileo) will ship in 2003 - supporting multiple populair .NET languages (including Delphi for .NET).
Finally, Borland previewed a programming language for Web Services creation & scripting (codename Charlotte).
2002/05/18-22: Borland Conference 2002
The 13th annual Borland Conference is held this week from Saturday (May 18th) until Wednesday (May 22nd), in Anaheim, CA (USA).
I'm doing four sessions myself, with potentially an additional two bird-of-a-feather sessions, so stay tuned...
The latest news and updates will be reported "live" from BorCon in Anaheim and can be read in my special BorCon Report.
2002/05/15 - Future of BDE and SQL Links
An article is published on the Borland Community website in which the Borland RAD Team reveals the plans for future database access in Delphi and C++Builder.
Basically, dbExpress will replace SQL Links (which won't be included after 2002), and the BDE is 'frozen' (dBASE and Paradox tables are recommended to be migrated to InterBase 6).
2002/05/14 - Borland's .NET command-line compiler
At the CttM in The Netherlands, Jason Vokes of Borland EMEA talked about the .NET command-line compiler (that was also shown at TechEd in April 2002).
Jason even showed how to use the command-line compiler to produce a .NET Windows Forms application that can convert temperatures.
According to Jason Vokes, "the .NET compiler will be productised and made available in the second half of this year" (or when its ready).
For those who can read Dutch, I have written a more detailed report (which also mentions Kylix 3 with C++Builder for Linux) on my eBob42 website.
2002/05/03 - Using the Web App Debugger
Debugging Web applications has long frustrated Delphi developers (and prompted me to write IntraBob in the past).
However, these troubled days were over with the release of Delphi 6 Professional and Enterprise editions, which include Web App Debugger!
My latest article for TechRepublic (at Builder.com) shows how this tool will make your life easier.
2002/05/02 - Preview screenshot of Delphi.NET
Delphi.NET was previewed at SD West (where Borland received the Jolt Hall of Fame award), and we can now take a look at a screenshot of some Delphi.NET source code (using namespaces it would seem), the command-line compiler (called dccil), and a Delphi.NET compiled application ConvertIt.
More news will be made available at the Borland Conference, and will presented in my BorCon 2002 report (for those of you who will not be in Anaheim themselves).
Stay tuned for more news...
2002/04/30 - Experience Delphi at BorCon
According to the Borland website, there should be a lot of Delphi news at BorCon 2002, including "the first look at the future of Delphi for the Microsoft .NET platform and get a sneak peek at what's coming in Delphi 7".
For those of you who cannot make it to BorCon - I'll make sure to have an on-line BorCon Report (with daily updates of the latest news).
2002/04/23 - Dr.Bob Examines... Euro WebService
Two months ago, we used Kylix 2 Enterprise to build a special Euro-conversion Web Service with two methods: FromEuro and ToEuro.
This time, we'll consume this web service by writing a client in Delphi 6 Enterprise as well as Kylix 2 Enterprise.
2002/04/19 - Amazon.com XML interface
Amazon.com now offers an XML interface to Amazon.com associates (like me), so we now have the flexibility to display dynamic product information in any way you choose.
Take a look at my example how to search Amazon.com using XML and WebSnap (implemented in Delphi 6 and Kylix 2).
2002/04/18 - Public Beta: ActionBands Update for Delphi 6.02
This is a Public Beta update to the ActionBands feature of Delphi 6.02.
It includes bug fixes and several feature enhancements to improve the usability and extensibility of ActionBands.
2002/04/15 - Delphi/Kylix Database Development
I've finally finished my review of Delphi/Kylix Database Development, a new masterwork from Eric Harmon about dbExpress (available in both Delphi 6 and Kylix 2).
The book covers many topics, ranging from setting up a database connection to single as well as multi-tiered (DataSnap) database applications.
2002/04/11 - Borland Development Studio for .NET
Borland has just announced that it will preview a development studio for the Microsoft .NET Framework at the 2002 Microsoft Tech-Ed Conference.
More information will follow later...
2002/04/10 - BobAdapt: Custom WebSnap Adapters
WebSnap developers already know that there are a number of Adapter components available, but I often feel the need for custom adapters (much like the LoginPageAdapter), such as a CreditCardValidationAdapter, or a CustomerInfoAdapter.
For this, I have written BobAdapt: a special WebSnap Custom Adapter Generator, which is now available to try on-line.
2002/04/02 - ExpressWeb Framework and IntraWeb
The Borland Community website has published links to tutorials and information regarding ExpressWeb Framework (from Developer Express) and IntraWeb (from AToZed Software).
Both IntraWeb and ExpressWeb Framework can work together with (and extend) WebSnap.
2002/04/01 - Guessing using WebBroker
Some of you may have seen the discussion of IntraWeb and WebSnap, where a simple application (a number guessing game) was implemented in both IntraWeb and WebSnap.
The application was meant to show the differences in the tools (for a simple application).
Personally, I found this example so simple, that I would implement it using WebBroker (and not using WebSnap) if it were up to me.
In fact, I just did.
So here's my WebBroker implementation (in Delphi as well as Kylix).
2002/03/29 - Public Beta: dbExpress MySQL 4.01 driver
You can now download a public beta test version of the new dbExpress driver for MySQL 4.01 for use with Delphi 6 or C++Builder 6 Enterprise from CodeCentral.
2002/03/27 - Updated SOAP and DataSnap papers
My latest Delphi WebBroker application is the updated dynamic paper configurator and generator.
The new version shows lots of different ways for a SOAP Server Application (in Delphi 6.02, C++Builder 6, Delphi 6/6.01, or Kylix 2 Enterprise) to use a SOAP Data Module to export the Biolife dataset to a SOAP Client Application (again in Delphi 6.02, C++Builder 6, Delphi 6/6.01, or Kylix 2 Enterprise) using a SoapConnection component.
2002/03/22 - Kylix Developer's Guide
I have been working on an BizSnap chapter for the Kylix Developer's Guide - adding more coverage of Kylix 2 to this book.
As of this week, the BizSnap chapter will be published on my website (in six weekly parts), covering XML Document Programming and Web Services support.
2002/03/21 - Public Beta: dbExpress Informix IDS 9.2 driver
You can now download a public beta test version of the new dbExpress driver for Informix for use with Delphi 6 or C++Builder 6 Enterprise from CodeCentral.
2002/03/18 - Unofficial SOAP Bug Fixes
A Borland Developer Support document on the Borland Community website lists WebServices/SOAP updates by Bruneau Babet, one of the WebServices R&D developers at Borland.
2002/03/13 - Delphi 6.02 Warning Expert Update
As some of you already experienced: Update 2 of Delphi 6 breaks the Warning Expert.
Therefore, a new version of the Delphi Warning Expert has been made available on CodeCentral
2002/03/12 - dbExpress InterBase 6.5 driver
Now available for download from the Delphi 6 Updates & Patches page for Delphi 6 Registered Users: the new Delphi 6.0x dbExpress drivers for InterBase 6.5.
This patch installs new versions of the InterBase libraries, and refreshes both dbexpint.dll and dbexpint.lib in your current Delphi 6 installation.
2002/03/11 - Public Beta: Updated ISAPIThreadPool
Now available as Public Beta: an update to the ISAPIThreadPool.pas unit which was originally included with Delphi 6.0.
It further enhances the version included with Delphi 6.02 so we recommend downloading it even if you have the update.
To use this unit it must appear in the uses clause of your main project file after the unit ISAPIApp.
2002/02/25 - Delphi 6 Container Classes
Once you know how container classes work, you can use them to store items in various meaningful ways.
In my latest Delphi article on TechRepublic, you'll see what the Delphi 6 container classes can do and when to use them.
Then download a sample demo app that puts them through their paces.
2002/02/22 - Web App Debugger
The Web App Debugger in Delphi 6 (or 6.01 or 6.02) has a bug in it where it incorrectly formats dates based on the current regional settings.
If you are doing web development with the Web App Debugger, you should apply this bug fix to insure you are correctly simulating a web server.
2002/02/21 - Midaslib with Resource Strings
CodeCentral contains new versions of midas.res and midaslib.dcu (compatible with Delphi 6.02).
Replace the midas.res and midaslib.dcu in the lib directory with the versions in the archive and your error messages should no longer be blank.
2002/02/20 - Delphi 6 Update 2
Delphi 6 Update 2 has just been released.
This is an important update, since it not only fixes a number of defects, but also makes sure that Delphi 6 and C++Builder 6 can co-exist on the same system!
The Borland Community article contains the list of fixes.
Among others, a number of SOAP issues have been resolved, and we can now write SOAP Clients with Delphi 6.02 Professional (but not SOAP Servers, for which you still need the Enterprise edition).
2002/02/13 - Borland's .NET Strategy
Borland has announced its .NET Strategy, which can also be read on the Borland Community website.
According to this, the Borland strategy for the .NET platform features Delphi, C++Builder, Kylix and JBuilder, that support the capabilities of the Microsoft .NET Framework, including ASP.NET and application interoperability through XML Web Services.
During the second half of 2002, Borland plans to release development products that support the .NET platform optimized on Intel Architecture.
For more information, read the comments by SD Times, and the FAQ on the Borland .NET website, or my own .NET section.
2002/02/12 - Dr.Bob on DevX #8 - XML and XSL
I have written my 8th article in the Delphi 10-Minute Solution column (as Delphi Pro) on DevX.
This new 10-Minute Solution shows how to convert XML Documents into different formats with the XSL Template language - a feature available in Delphi 6, Kylix 2 and now also C++Builder 6.
XML documents contain content and definitions but little information about how you should display them (e.g., inside a browser).
However, with an XML eXtensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) template or transformation file, you can convert an XML document into a different (usually HTML-compliant) format.
In this 10-Minute Solution, we'll use the XSLPageProducer component to accomplish this file conversion with Delphi 6 or Kylix 2 Enterprise (or C++Builder 6).
2002/02/04 - Delphi 6 and Kylix 2 Web Services
The latest issue of WebServices Journal features an article from me about Delphi 6 and Kylix 2 Web Services, implementing and consuming the IRoman Web Service, converting roman numerals into integers and back.
2002/01/24 - The Chess WebService is Back!
The Chess WebService IBorlandChess, implemented by Borland Software Engineer Dan Marinescu, is back in the new domain www.danmarinescu.com and listed on xmethods.
The Chess WebService implements an extremely scalable SOAP interface to a fully featured, high performance (competition level) Chess Engine, which is completely stateless.
The Chess WebService is currently written in Delphi 6.
Soon, we will have the very same WebService written in Kylix 2 & C++Builder 6 - very soon!.
I've check out the source code for the client and server, and played a few games with the client binary, and am (again) very impressed by this amazing WebService. Well done!
2002/01/16 - Dr.Bob Examines... XML Mapper
Delphi 6 contains new XML features in the form of XML document programming, XML Data Binding Wizard, XML Mapper and BizSnap (SOAP/XML Web Services).
My most recent Dr.Bob Examines column follows the coverage of XML document programming and the XML Data Binding Wizard with an article about the XML Mapping Tool (also known as XML Mapper).
2002/01/09 - Borland Enterprise Studio for Windows
Borland has just announced the first version of Borland's Enterprise Studio for Windows, consisting of Delphi 6 Enterprise, Rational Rose, Bold from BoldSoft, and (optionally) Macromedia Dreamweaver UltraDev 4.
The Enterprise Studio also contains a developer license of Borland Enterprise Server, Web Edition.
2002/01/03 - Delphi 6 Developer's Guide
It's available: Delphi 6 Developer's Guide by Xavier Pacheco and Steve Teixeira.
You can download/read a sample chapter in PDF format (chapter 3 about Adventures in Messaging).
With a little help from my friend Micha Somers, I have written the Active Server Pages/Objects chapter for this book.
For more information (and the topics of the co-authors Ray Konopka, Dave Sampson, Dan Miser, Nick Hodges and me), see the Table of Contents of Delphi 6 Developer's Guide.
2001/12/04 - Web Services e-Learning
There is a nice SOAP resource available on CD-ROM from Borland and Referentia, called The Borland e-Learning Series, which has a new title for Web Services written by Lino Tadros (and with me as Technical Editor, so I know it's good :-).
2001/12/01 - Kylix Developer's Guide
Now available: Kylix Developer's Guide by Charlie Calvert, Marjorie Calvert, John Kaster, Bob Swart, and David Intersimone.
The CD contains Kylix 2 Open Edition and a bonus chapter "What's New in Kylix 2", introducing the so-called "Snap" technologies in Kylix 2 such as DataSnap, WebSnap and BizSnap - see also the Table of Contents.
You can now download (or read on-line) a sample chapter in PDF format (chapter 3 about Basic Pascal Syntax written by Charlie Calvert).
I have written three in-depth chapters about web server development with Kylix (using NetCLX, also known as WebBroker), namely: chapter 19 (Apache Web Server Applications), chapter 20 (Web Server Development), and chapter 21 (Advanced Web Server Development).
2001/11/28 - TurboPower ProActivate
TurboPower has announced the availability of ProActivate; a tool for software licensing and distribution.
With ProActivate, you can protect virtually any Win32 EXE in a compressed security envelope that only a ProActivate license can access (DLL and OCX support will be added later).
2001/11/26 - Mastering Delphi 6
This 70-page chapter covers Delphi's database components, Database access alternatives (BDE, ADO as well as dbExpress), using data-aware controls, the DBGrid and multirecord objects, manipulating table fields and database applications with standard controls.
2001/11/21 - Delphi/Kylix SOAP & DataSnap papers
My latest Delphi WebBroker application is a dynamic (short) paper configurator and generator.
The new version shows 14 different ways for a SOAP Server Application (in Delphi 6 or Kylix 2 Enterprise) to use a SOAP Data Module to export the Biolife datasets to a SOAP Client Application (again in Delphi 6 or Kylix 2) using a SoapConnection component.
2001/11/19 - Unofficial WebSnap updates and bug fixes
Corbin Dunn has again updated his article on the Borland Community website describing a number of unofficial WebSnap updates and bug fixes for various issues.
The article also contains a list of WebSnap resources and additional information,
such as Jimmy "used-disks" Tharpe's WebSnap Pack.
2001/11/09 - Delphi 6 and .NET Web Services
John Kaster has written a new article about Delphi 6 interoperability with .NET Web Services that use Document Literal encoding.
John demonstrated improved Delphi 6 support for the "document literal" (Doc|Lit) invokation method for SOAP at Microsoft's Professional Developer's Conference earlier last month.
2001/11/05 - XML Document Programming & Data Binding
Delphi 6 contains new XML features in the form of XML document programming, XML Data Binding Wizard, XML Mapper and BizSnap (SOAP/XML Web Services).
My most recent two Dr.Bob Examines columns describe these XML features in Delphi 6 (also available in Kylix 2 Enterprise), starting off with XML Document Programming and now also XML Data Binding.
2001/11/02 - Delphi's SOAP Interoperability
Borland is participating in SOAP interoperability testing with vendors providing other SOAP protocol implementations like Apache SOAP, EasySoap++, GLUE, .NET, SOAP Lite, and others.
According to an article on the Borland Community website, they have put up a Delphi-based SOAP server machine that everyone is welcome to test.
2001/10/25 - Updated Delphi 6 Shell Controls
The updated Delphi 6 Shell Controls demo components are available as "Public Beta" on CodeCentral.
2001/10/24 - Kylix 2 Announced (and Kylix 1 Patches)
Borland has just announced Borland Kylix 2, the first RAD development environment to deliver web services for Linux, and other new features such as BizSnap, WebSnap, DataSnap, VisiBroker 4.5, and more.
Kylix 2 will be available in three editions: Kylix 2 Enterprise, Kylix 2 Professional, and a Kylix 2 Open Edition (available later in Q4).
At the same time, a number of patches have been made available for Kylix 1.
See Dr.Bob's Kylix Kicks for more information and updates of Kylix, as well as some upcoming articles using the 60-day trial of Kylix 2 Enterprise.
2001/10/23 - Delphi 6 Code Completion Missing Feature
Brian Long has written an article that explains how to enable an excellent, new Code Completion feature in Delphi 6 (namely the display symbols from additional RTL units even if they are not used by the current unit), which does not work in a standard installation of Delphi 6 - with or without the Update pack #1.
2001/10/17 - Dr.Bob on DevX #6 - ActionBands
I have written my sixth article in the Delphi 10-Minute Solution column (as Delphi Pro) on DevX.
This new 10-Minute Solution shows how to Use ActionBands to Enable End Users to Customize Your Delphi Applications - a new feature of Delphi 6.
You can now download the source code for this solution.
2001/10/08 - Tomes of Delphi: Algorithms & Data Structures
Anyone who ever attended one of my annual BorCon Delphi Efficiency sessions will remember that the most important subject of performance optimisation (apart from finding the bottle-neck) is often the algorithm and/or data stucture used.
Consequently, it shouldn't come as a big surprise that I've been really looking forward to Julian Bucknall's book Tomes of Delphi: Algorithms and Data Structures, published by WordWare, now reviewed in detail on this website.
If you're only half serious about data structures and algorithms (or efficiency for that matter), then you should read this book.
Trust me, you won't be sorry!
2001/10/05 - Delphi 6 XML Document Programming
With Delphi 6, new XML features have been added in the form of XML document programming, XML Data Binding Wizard, XML Mapper and BizSnap (SOAP/XML Web Services).
My Dr.Bob Examines column is the first in a series of articles about Delphi 6 XML support, starting off with XML Document Programming in Delphi 6.
2001/10/04 - Borland Delphi 6.01 Update (fixed)
If you registered your copy of Delphi 6, then you can now use the registered e-mail address and password to download the first (fixed) update to Delphi 6 from http://www.codegear.com/downloads/free/delphi.
Read this article on the Borland Community website for information how to verify your patch version and a list of fixes.
2001/09/21 - Enterprise Studio for Windows
On Monday, at the opening keynote of the European Borland Conference in London, some interesting pre-announcements were made by Nigel Brown of Borland UK.
Nigel Brown showed a time-line and mentioned the upcoming releases of Kylix 2 (Q4 2001) and JBuilder 6 (Q4 2001) and the Borland Enterprise Studio for Java version 3 (with JBuilder 6) and a new Borland Enterprise Studio for Windows (containing both Delphi and C++Builder), both for Q1 2002.
Nigel Brown called Delphi 6 the first development environment from Borland with SOAP and Web Services support, but made it clear that this [SOAP and Web Services] would be available in the next versions of JBuilder (6) and Kylix (2).
Also, when asked, Jason Vokes (from Borland UK) confirmed that the next release of C++Builder is also in the works, with SOAP and Web Services support, of course.
No press releases or further information had been made available, but the announcement itself came from a reliable source (Nigel Brown and Jason Vokes, Borland UK), and was made at a public conference.
2001/09/16-22: BorCon Europe 2001 (UK/NL)
This is the week of the European Borland Conference in London, UK (Sept 16-19) and Noordwijkerhout (Sept 10-22) in The Netherlands.
I'll be doing three sessions: VisiBroker 4 for Delphi 6> (Mon/Thu, 15:25-16:25), Cross-platform Development with Delphi 6 and Kylix (Mon/Thu, 16:35-17:35), and WAP with Delphi 6 and Kylix (Tue/Fri, 11:00-12:00).
2001/09/09 - Mastering Delphi 6
I've just received my copy of Mastering Delphi 6, written by Marco Cantù, and I must say I'm quite impressed.
This is the first book that's really about Delphi 6 and at 1129 pages covers a lot (although there's more in Delphi that "only" 1129 pages can cover, so some specific topics only get a little coverage),
If you already have the book, then you may be interested in the short list of corrections Marco has published on his website.
2001/09/07 - TopGrid 2.20 for Delphi 6
Version 2.20 of TopGrid was primarily released to address various Delphi 6 issues, as 2.01 was not compatable with Delphi 6.
This new version provides a new more powerful and more intuitive designer, as well as several new runtime features such as built in grid printing, exporting, and cell properties.
2001/09/03 - Delphi Developer's Guide to XML
Delphi Developers Guide to XML by Keith Wood, published by WordWare is designed for the Delphi developer who wants to learn about XML; covering all aspects of utilizing the power of XML with Delphi.
This book provides a solid introduction to the technologies that make up XML and its related specifications.
In-depth coverage of the Document Object Model (DOM) includes investigation of the basic specification and three implementations: Microsoft's DOM, CUESoft's DOM, and Open XML's DOM.
Similarly, both Microsoft's version and a native Delphi implementation are described for the Simple API for XML (SAX).
Generating XML documents is detailed using simple text, Delphi's Web modules and XMLBroker, each of the DOMs, and SAX.
Developing applications that make use of XML is also covered, including XSLT and SOAP examples.
2001/08/28 - Web Services for Linux
Borland will provide Web Services support for Linux with "a RAD solution for Web Services that will expand the Internet capabilities of Apache web servers and applications for Linux using the Borland Kylix RAD development platform."
In other words, we'll probably see an announcement for Kylix Enterprise or something along those lines, with XML/SOAP/WSDL support in Kylix just as we can find in Delphi 6 Enterprise today.
2001/08/17 - LStrCatN bugfix for Delphi 6
There is a bug in System._LStrCatN in Delphi 6.0.
As a temporary, unofficial, use-at-your-own risk workaround you might want to take a look at the patch unit provided by Hallvard Vassbotn.
Just use the unit in your project file and it will patch the buggy version of _LStrCatN with a corrected version (it works with or without runtime packages).
There is also a sample project that demonstrates the bug and the bugfix.
2001/08/16 - Building Web Services with Delphi 6
The second part of a 2-part article about Delphi 6 Web Services has been published on the TechRepublic website.
In this second part, I show how you can build (new) Web Services with Delphi 6.
2001/08/14 - Delphi 6 WebSnap
Nick Hodges has published two new articles on Delphi 6 WebSnap.
The first one covers Login techniques and the second one shows how to maintain session data.
2001/08/08 - Using Web Services with Delphi 6
The first part of a 2-part article about Delphi 6 Web Services has been published on the TechRepublic website.
In this first part, I show how you can use (existing) Web Services with Delphi 6.
2001/08/06 - Delphi 6 Personal Edition
Borland just announced that Delphi 6 Personal Edition is now available for download from the Borland website.
2001 August - The Delphi Magazine #72
My latest "Under Construction" column in the August issue (#72) of The Delphi Magazine is about SOAP and Web Services.
Web Services is very much the buzz phrase of today and this month I show how to use the new SOAP capabilities of Delphi 6 to create your very own Web Services as easy as pie.
2001/07/28 - Dr.Bob on DevX #5
I have written my fifth article in the new monthly column (10-Minute Solution) as Delphi Pro on DevX.
This new 10-Minute Solution article shows how to Update and Maintain dbExpress's Unidirectional, Read-Only Datasets in Delphi and Kylix.
2001/07/26 - XP-Style ActionBands
Steve Trefethen has implemented XP-style menus and toolbars for use with the ActionBands components included in Delphi 6.0 Professional and Enterprise.
2001/07/21-25: BorCon2001 Conference Report
The Borland Developers Conference 2001 will be held from July 21-25 in Long Beach (CA).
Like previous years, I'll present a "live" Conference Report on this website including details (and photos) of all major events, Borland and third-party announcements and session details.
I'll be performing three Delphi sessions at the BorCon in Long Beach:
2001/07/21 - Delphi 6 Evaluation Edition Available
You can now download the 60-Day Trial Edition of Delphi 6 Enterprise.
I expect that the trial edition of Delphi 6 will be given away at the Borland Conference as well.
2001/07/19 - Delphi 6 eXtreme Toys
Registered users of Delphi 6 can now download the first of the Delphi 6 eXtreme Toys (consisting of CompilerWarnings.zip, invokable.zip, and SearchWiz.zip).
2001/07/17 - Delphi 6 Romulan WebService
It's not Star Trek related (and in fact it's not even rocket science), but I've just finished my third Delphi 6 Web Service called Romulan, converting roman numerals into integers (and back).
2001/07/16 - Community TV: Delphi 6 Video/Audio
Delphi 6 interviews on the Community TV are made available as .avi/.mov video and now also as .mp3 audio files!
2001/07/14 - Delphi 6 Tic-Tac-Toe WebService
I've just finished my second Web Service, a Tic-Tac-Toe web service.
The description/instructions are available on xmethods and a more detailed article will be available shortly.
You can already download and try a little Web Service client to see if you can beat the computer...
2001/07/12 - Delphi 6 Personal
There is a small problem with the Delphi 6 Personal "Quick Start" guide (which claims to be good for all editions of Delphi 6).
One of the examples is using the ActionManager component, which unfortunately is not part of Delphi 6 Personal.
Borland is working on a correction.
2001/07/10 - Sip From The Firehose: Web Services
In his recent Sip From The Firehose, DavidI takes a look at the hot topic of Web Services.
Publishing your web application interfaces over the Internet is the next great evolution in the developent of distributed objects and applications.
2001/07/06 - WebSnap Server-Side Scripting
Jim Tierney, architect of WebSnap, has written a draft reference document for WebSnap server-side scripting.
It will be part of the updated documentation for WebSnap that will be released as soon as possible.
Jim is publishing it on the community site in the interest of making more information on WebSnap available (thanks Jim!).
2001/07/04 - Dr.Bob Examines #19: Delphi 6 New Language Features
In my Dr.Bob Examines column I examine some of the new Kylix and Delphi 6 language features, such as constant typed constants, enumerated enumerations, and more.
2001/06/22 - Active Server Objects
Bob Swart has written the Active Server Objects chapter for the upcoming Delphi 6 Developer's Guide (now available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk).
Micha Somers has offered helpful assistance, especially in the section on debugging Active Server Objects (in the Delphi 6 IDE) using MTS and COM+
2001/06/15 - TechRep: Creating NT services in Delphi
An NT service application is a 32-bit Windows application that can run without requiring a user to be logged on.
In fact, NT service applications seldom interact with the desktop at all.
In this article on TechRep, I will show you how to create, install, and configure NT services written in Delphi.
2001/06/07 - Delphi 6 Registration
Delphi 6 will start shipping tomorrow (June 8th).
David I has written a new article for the Borland Community in which the new Delphi 6 Internet registration process is presented with text and screen shots.
2001/06/05 - Open Letter on Internet Registration
In an open letter to the Borland Community, David Intersimone Vice President of Developer Relations, outlines the new Internet registration process for JBuilder 5 and Delphi 6.
2001/05/31 - Delphi 6 Launch in The Netherlands
Yesterday, Delphi 6 was officially launched in The Netherlands (and we can also expect the first versions to be available shortly after June 8th).
Right after this event, I did a write-up of everything that was shown and demo'd during the launch, and just published the next issue of our Dutch "Delphi OplossingsCourant" (Dutch readers only, sorry)...
2001/05/30 - Borland promotes Cross-Platform Development
In a press release, Borland promotes cross-platform Windows (with Delphi 6) and Linux (with Kylix) application development.
The main reason for the attention is the special promotional pricing for Kylix Desktop (which lasts until August 23rd), which coincides with the release of Delphi 6.
I expect a number of white papers on Kylix/Delphi cross-platform development using CLX to be published shortly.
2001/05/26 - Dr.Bob Examines... #17
In my Dr.Bob Examines article, I'll show how to analyse BDE Aliases and dbExpress Connections and produce HTML-based documentation reproducing tables, fields, types and indices.
Quite handy when reverse engineering legacy code (or just when you want to create some documentation for existing systems).
2001/05/23 - Kylix Desktop price down to $199
For a limited time only, the price of Kylix Desktop Developer has been cut down to $199 (compared to $999 previously) until 29th August 2001.
2001/05/21 - Dr.Bob on DevX #3
I have written my third article in the new monthly column (10-Minute Solution) as Delphi Pro on DevX.
This new 10-Minute Solution article shows how to migrate your BDE applications to Linux with dbExpress.
2001/05/14 - Delphi 6 Screenshots
Anders Ohlsson has posted the first Delphi 6 screenshots on the Borland Community.
You can see screenshots of the installer, the component palette and also the IDE and a Web Services demo.
2001/05/08 - Delphi 6 Announced
Borland has just announced Delphi 6, as what they call the industry's first RAD Web Services Development Platform, supporting XML, SOAP, WSDL and XSL.
Delphi 6 contains many new features such as dbExpress/DataCLX, DataSnap, WebSnap and BizSnap.
Delphi 6 will be shipping (on June 8th) in three editions:
2001/05/01 - Borland Preps Delphi 6.0 For Release
In an article from SD Times, we can read how Borland is preparing Delphi 6 with native XML and SOAP support for web services to augment Linux portability.
2001/04/30 - AQTime 2.0 from AutomatedQA
AutomatedQA is proud to announce the release of AQtime 2.0.
For those who know the AQA family, this is the successor to Qtime, includes all the functionality of MemProof, and automatically integrates five profilers into AQtest.
2001/04/18 - Dr.Bob on DevX #2
I have written my second article in the new monthly column (10-Minute Solution) as Delphi Pro on DevX.
This second 10-Minute Solution article shows how to obtain all values from multivalue input fields in WebBroker applications.
2001/04/08 - Dr.Bob Examines .NET and C#
In this Dr.Bob Examines column I'll share my first experiences with Microsoft Visual Studio.NET Beta 1, and especially C# (writing a classic demo).
2001/03/31 - Building Delphi 6 Applications
Available from Amazon.com (with a nice discount): the first book about Delphi 6 (or at least the first title that appears with Delphi 6 in the title - even before Delphi 6 itself is announced or available): Building Delphi 6 Applications by Paul Kimmel.
I have ordered this book myself, received it yesterday, and can only say one thing:
There is no real Delphi 6 information (a few mentions of Delphi 6 Beta 2 features), and even for a "regular" Delphi 5 book, it never raises above the "intro" level.
The topics of the chapters are interesting, but the content itself is very disappointing.
2001/03/22 - More FreeCLX Info
A new article on the Borland Community website contains more information about FreeCLX, the Open Source project for Borland's CLX Component Library for X-platform development.
2001/03/20 - Dr.Bob Examines... #14: BDE Data to Linux
In this Dr.Bob Examines article I'll show you how you can move your BDE data (like dBASE and Paradox tables) from Windows to Linux (i.e. from Delphi to Kylix) by transforming data into XML.
2001/03/16 - Dr.Bob on DevX #1
I have started a new monthly column (10-Minute Solution) as Delphi Pro on DevX.
The first 10-Minute Solution article explains how to dynamically load components from packages at run-time.
2001/03/12 - Delphi 6 in the Newsgroups...
John Kaster has again mentioned Delphi 6 in the borland.public.delphi.non-technical newsgroup.
This time, when asked about new features in Delphi 6 (apart from CLX), John answered:
"SiteExpress, SOAP support, dbExpress, better CORBA support, new components, improved VCL components, hundreds of new run-time functions, ..."
We'll get details next quarter, so stay tuned!
2001/03/09 - Heard in the Newsgroups...
Last week, someone asked in borland.public.delphi.non-technical a question about file case sensitivity in Delphi 6 (so that files in a USES clause become case-sensitive).
That way, if you get the filename right but the casing wrong while working in D6, you wouldn't have to wait until you went over to your Linux box with Kylix to discover the problem.
John Kaster's public answer: "Delphi 6 gives you warnings when file cases mismatch.
On Linux, of course, it's an error."
2001/01/29 - Kylix Released Feb 15 - Delphi 6 in Q2
On the eWeek website, Roberta Holland writes in her article "Borland's Kylix tool for Linux comes into focus" that Borland will announce that Kylix will be released Feb 15th!
Moreover, Ted Shelton said that "the Windows version [Delphi 6] is due out at the beginning of the second quarter."
This means just over two more months before we'll see Delphi 6.
2000/07/17 - Apache Support in Delphi 6
At the Borland Conference in San Diego, Inprise/Borland announced upcoming Apache support for both Kylix (Delphi for Linux) and the next release of Delphi for Windows (Delphi 6).
Support for Apache will be included in NetCLX, the new cross-platform web development architecture (part of CLX).
2000/06/27 - BORLAND CLX
Today at PCExpo, Inprise/Borland introduced BORLAND CLX the Next-Generation Cross-Platform Library and Component Framework (to be used with Delphi and C++Builder, producing native Windows and Linux applications).
