Delphi - 2008/05/04 C++Builder - 2008/04/28 Kylix - 2007/04/08 Delphi PHP - 2008/05/02 Delphi .NET - 2008/05/04
Bob Swart (aka Dr.Bob) - Medical Officer Delphi books at Lulu.com
 Dr.Bob's Kylix Kicks
See Also: Kylix Papers and Columns

2008/04/06 - Blaise Pascal Magazine
The first issue of the 44-page international edition of the Blaise Pascal programming magazine has just been published. People can register on the website to be able to download the free edition, or you can purchase the printed edition (for world wide delivery) for a special price of only 25 Euro for the first year.
The magazine contains several articles about Delphi but will also cover Kylix, Pascal and related languages. For the first issue, I've written an article about Delphi 2007 and VCL Component Building (with a follow-up article already planned for next issue). See the table of contents for the other articles, and please help spread the word by telling your Delphi programming friends about this new publication!

2007/09/25 - CrossKylix is discontinued
Simon Kissel has decided to discontinue his work on the CrossKylix project. CrossKylix allows you to integrate the Kylix compiler in the Delphi IDE, so you can compile Linux targets from a Windows environment. The latest version 1.0.0 from October 2004 is still available for download, supporting Delphi 6, 7, 8, 2005 and 2006 (but with the CLX designer only available in Delphi 6 and 7).

2007/01/14 - JVCL Team releases JVCL 3.30
JVCL is a library of more than 600 visual and non-visual components for Delphi 5, 6, 7, 2005 and 2006; C++Builder 5, 6 and 2006 (Borland Developer Studio). JVCL is distributed subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1 (http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/MPL-1.1.html) and is completely free for all developers (open source, shareware or commercial) and includes the full source to all components.

2007/01/13 - JCL Team releases JCL 1.98
The JCL Team is proud to announce that the stable release of JCL 1.98 is available for download at sourceforge. This release contains several changes, additions and bugfixes. The JCL supports C++Builder 5 and 6, Kylix 3, Delphi 5, 6 and 7, C#Builder 1 (experts only), Delphi 8 (experts only), Delphi 2005 (Win32 and .net), BDS 2006 (Delphi, C++Builder, and Delphi.net) and Turbo Delphi (Explorer and professional).

2006/12/11 - Free InterBase 2007 Developer Edition
InterBase 2007 Developer Edition (for Windows, Linux and Solaris) and InterBase 2007 Server Edition (trial) as well as InterBase 7.5 Server trial are now available for download from the CodeGear website.

2006/12/04 - Chat with Ben Smith, CodeGear CEO
On Monday, December 4th at 19:00 GMT/UTC, join Ben Smith, CodeGear CEO, and David I in an open community chat on the BDNradio internet site. A replay of the audio broadcast and the chat log will be posted on the Developer Network after the event.

2006/11/06 - The Unofficial Kylix Survey
Please participate in the unofficial Kylix survey. After submission, the survey CGI app will show you the current results and tell you the URL where you can read the updated results again.

2006/10/30 - Delphi Survey
Nick Hodges has just announced a Delphi Survey for 2006. In 12 sections of in total about 60 questions (it feels like 100), we are asked all kinds of useful information on the version/edition of Delphi we use, as well as the technologies used (and wanted, like .NET 2.0, UNICODE for VCL, CF, Vista), application types we develop, and much more.
Please do yourself and other Delphi developers a favour and take the time to fill out this survey!

2006/08/17 - InterXpress for Firebird 1.4.2 released!
Upscene Productions has announced version 1.4.2 of InterXpress for Firebird, their dbExpress driver for Firebird, available on Windows and Linux. A trial version for Kylix can be downloaded (limited to 20 command cursors or 30 transactions - whichever comes first (limitation removed in licensed version)).

2006/03/27 - RemObjects SDK 4.0 for Delphi
RemObjects Software has just announced the new RemObjects SDK 4.0 for Delphi (build 4.0.5.455). The RemObjects SDK is the essential remoting framework for Delphi and Kylix. allowing you to remotely access objects residing on a server from clients inside the LAN or across the Internet. Read more about the RemObjects SDK and download a free trial.

2006/02/08 - Borland seeks buyer for IDE division
Borland announced plans to seek a buyer for the portion of its business associated with the Integrated Development Environment (IDE), including the award-winning Borland Developer Studio (Delphi, C++Builder and C#Builder) and JBuilder product lines.
On Borland Developer Network, there's is a community letter by David I, as well as a letter from the CEO Tod Nielsen.

2005/11/28 - Advantage Database Server 8.0
Sybase has released Advantage Database Server 8.0, a client/server database system targeted at users of Borland’s Delphi and C++ Builder development environments. The tool, which it acquired along with Extended Systems in October, is being released under Sybase’s iAnywhere subsidiary and is available now for Linux, NetWare and Windows.
Since it took over the product, Sybase claims to have redesigned the user interface to streamline workflow and simplify development. Also new in Advantage 8 is the ability to replicate data across multiple servers and to create database backups while the system is active. A new ANSI SQL scripting language permits developers to create triggers, stored procedures and other common database tasks to simplify database queries.

2005/09/25 - Blogging about Delphi and Kylix
In case you haven't read it before, I've started to use my weblog as main means to share news and my feelings about Borland Delphi and Kylix.

2005/08/26 - Kylix - Borland Classic Product
Borland Classic Products now lists Kylix 3 among classic products such as Borland Turbo C++ (which seems to include C++BuilderX Personal) and Turbo Assembler. For some people, this means Kylix is dead now, but I don't completely agree with that conclusion.
Sure, it may be the end for Kylix support and future development of Kylix itself, but as a developer I still use Kylix 3 (or rather Delphi 7 + CrossKylix with the Kylix 3 stuff from the CD) to write and deploy some Linux web server and web service applications for some of my clients.
So for me, the rumours of Kylix' death have been greatly exaggerated ;-)

2005/07/14 - The 24 Hours of Delphi as mp3
It was great fun to be part of the 24 Hours of Delphi event! If you missed it (or want to hear it again) you can already download and listen to the interviews in mp3 format.
One of the things that was mentioned was Highlander, the codename for the Delphi release that will support .NET 2.0. Nick Hodges alsos mention Highlander in his blog.

2005/07/13 - The 24 Hours of Delphi
On July 13th, I participated in The 24 hours of Delphi BDN radio event from 07:00am (GMT) to July 14, 2005 at 06:59am (GMT). There were 24 contiguous hours of live BDN radio interviews with Delphi R&D engineers, Borland partners, book authors, and community members such as myself and Brian Long.

2005/07/12 - Bob Swart and Brian Long Team-Up
Bob Swart of Bob Swart Training & Consultancy and Brian Long of Brian Long Consultancy & Training Services are pleased to announce they are combining their knowledge and experience and now offer a complete range of training and consultancy services world-wide.
"Our combined forces will be used to cover a wider area, both in location and knowledge", said Bob Swart. "Working in combination will help satisfy our customers' diverse requirements more successfully", added Brian Long.
Bob will be available across The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, and Brian will be available throughout the world upon request.
Training covers regular Win32 application development and various advanced topics focusing on specific Delphi and Win32 programming areas. Also .NET foundations, .NET application and component development, ASP.NET development, .NET Interoperability, migration and so on. Training will be based on the latest software, unless customers are bound to earlier product versions, and will use courseware manuals written and tested by ourselves.
Consultancy topics range from Win32 and Linux to .NET, using Borland Delphi, C++Builder and Kylix as well as C# and RemObjects' Chrome. Bob will continue to focus on web and database technologies, while Brian's specialities include general troubleshooting and debugging problems that elude home-grown solutions.

2005/05/17 - New Delphi Survey
Borland is offering us the chance to vote for what we think is important in the next version(s) of Delphi in a new Delphi Survey, which also includes questions on Kylix! This is your chance to have your say, so go for it!

2005/04/17 - Unofficial VisualCLX patch 3.8.1
The unofficial VisualCLX patch 3.8.1 is now available for download. It is a bugfix for the 3.8 patch.
At the moment only the 3rd party compatible patches are available. The Delphi 6, Delphi 7 (incomp) and Kylix 3 (incomp) patches will follow in some days.

2005/03/23 - ZipTV Compression for Kylix 3
Beta version of powerful compression components now available for Kylix 3. Easily add support for many compressed files to you application or easily migrate already existing Windows applications using ZipTV to Linux.
The project is in beta: most of the components and some demos are available (see the website for more details and contact information).

2005/02/28 - Next Unofficial VisualCLX patch
According to Andreas Hausladen, the following patches will be in the next unofficial VisualCLX patch:

The list is short, but the first six patches were very complex. Andreas hopes he can make the 3.8 patch the most stable one since patch 0.1. He thinks 3.8 should be the last patch based on CLX Qt2. Maybe a bugfix 3.9 will come out, but a 4.0 will never be released.
Andreas has other ideas for CLX in the future. Let's just wait and see what he will come up in the future (no it is not CLX for Qt3)

2005/02/10 - New Unofficial VisualCLX patch version 3.7
Andreas Hausladen has released the Unofficial VisualCLX patch version 3.7.

2005 February - The Delphi Magazine #114
For the February issue of The Delphi Magazine, I have written an article about Using .ini Files As Databases. In this article, I show how the humble .ini file can easily do duty for us in those situations where a database library or DBMS of some kind is needed but would in reality be overkill for your apps. Not only that, but they provide a cross-platform solution that works on Win32, .NET and Linux (with Kylix).

2004/11/01 - CrossKylix 1.0
Simon Kissel has released version 1.0 of CrossKylix, a free toolkit to integrate the Borland Kylix command-line compiler into the Delphi 7 IDE. CrossKylix allows me to develop cross-platform web/server/middleware applications with Delphi, and compile to a Linux native executable (without having to switch to my Linux box).
Read the CrossKylix webpage to understand how it all works (you need to own Delphi 6/7 and Kylix 3). I love it!

2004/10/05 - Kylix Exec-Shield Fix
As reported in the Borland Kylix Newsgroups, applications compiled with Kylix will crash on Linux distributions running the 2.6.8 Kernel including the exec-shield patch. Currently this is happening with Red Had Fedora Core 2, but soon other distributions probably will also be affected.
Simon Kissel has posted a detail analysis and fix on his CrossKylix website.

2004/09/21 - Kylix Community Project
The Meet The Delphi Team session at BorCon was started by Michael Swindell with an announcement regarding Kylix, namely the Kylix Community Project (with both Michael Swindell and Allen Bauer from Borland involved, and people like Chad Z. Hower, Andreas Hausladen, Olaf Monien, and Charlie Calvert as well as yours truly associated to it). The purpose is to improve Kylix and CLX, support newer versions of Linux distributions, etc. We shouldn't expect new features (I think), but better compatibility with news distros.
John Kaster is working on providing more information on this, which will be made available on BND some time next week (hopefully, if everything goes well, nothing else comes up, etc.).

2004/09/11-15: Borland Conference 2004 Report
Like previous years, I have written a "live" Conference Report on this website including details of all major events, Borland and 3rd-party announcements and session details.

2004/09/03 - Use dbExpress to create/drop Tables
This article for the IBM DB2-Borland web portal illustrates the design and implementation of a Delphi application you can use to create or drop DB2 UDB tables. The article provides several examples of sending SQL DDL to the DB2 DBMS using Delphi and the cross-platform dbExpress data access technologies.

2004/08/13 - Senior Engineer for Delphi compiler on Linux
The comp.compilers newsgroup featured an interesting message regarding Compiler Design Engineers (2) for a *Confiential* Software Corporation, Bay area, California.
The most interesting part is the Job Description: Senior Engineering position responsible for research and development of the Delphi compiler for Linux. To work with entire team to deliver future versions of Delphi and Linux.

2004/08/10 - Unofficial Qt3 for Kylix
Andreas Hausladen, the author of the unofficial Kylix 3 patches has been working on a Qt 3 C-wrapper shared object. Apart from the shared object, he also wrote Kylix import classes and wrapper unit to support all what Qt 3.3.2 offers (not only the visual stuff like QWidget, QDialog, ... but also the tools (QString, QXml, ...) and internet classes (QUrl, QSocket, ...) and last but not least the database support (QSql, QSqlDatabase, ...) in the C-Wrapper.
Qt3 for Kylix Version 0.1 contains a precompiled libqtc.so (C wrapper for qt-mt.so), QtLibrary.pas (import unit that imports all functions into "handle-classes"), QtSignalHooks.pas (import unit for the signal hooks), QtUtils.pas (functions that return interfaces which are resposible for object destruction) and three examples that show how to use the QtLibrary, QtSignalHooks and QtUtils unit.

2004/07/29 - Dynamic Data-Entry Forms
This article for the IBM DB2-Borland web portal uses Kylix 3 on Linux and the Borland dbExpress data access drivers to analyze the DB2 UDB database tables, fields (names and types) to allow the user to select a specific table, toggle which fields should be shown, and dynamically view the output in both a datagrid and individual data-aware controls.

2004/07/16 - Thin clients connecting to Linux Web Services
This article for the IBM DB2-Borland web portal demonstrates how to build the user interface (a thin-client application) for a SOAP Web service engine with Kylix 3 on Linux, exposing the data from DB2 UDB database tables to the outside world. It's the follow-up of the DB2 Web Service engines on Linux with Kylix 3 article.

2004/07/11 - CrossKylix newsletter
As the number of CrossKylix testers has grown quite a lot, Simon Kissel has stopped sending individual e-mail messages, and started a special CrossKylix newsletter at http://crosskylix.untergrund.net/#newsletter.

2004/07/01 - Mono 1.0 Released
Novell is proud to introduce Mono 1.0: a portable open source framework providing advanced development capabilities and compatible with the .NET framework. Mono runs on Linux, Unix and Windows systems.
The "Delphi for .NET Developer's Guide" has a chapter about using Delphi 8 with Mono.

2004/06/25 - DB2 Web Service engines on Linux with Kylix 3
This article for the IBM DB2-Borland web portal (part 1 of two parts) demonstrates how to build a SOAP Web service engine with Kylix 3 on Linux, exposing the data from DB2 UDB database tables to the outside world. In this first part, I'll start by building the server-side "engine" on Linux, exposing the data from the DB2 UDB SAMPLE database, but without the presentation layer.
In the next part, I'll build the user interface for this presentation layer, which can be on either Linux or Windows.

2004/06/23 - RemObjects Software Data Abstract 3
RemObjects Software has announced Data Abstract 3.0 for Delphi, which is available for preorder now. RemObjects’ Data Abstract is a data access framework which allows you to work with databases in a DBMS- and driver-independent way, creating multi-tier applications with the professional editions of Delphi (and Kylix), and no need for those DataSnap licence fees.
I've reviewed the first version of Data Abstract (for The Delphi Magazine) and was impressed by the way in which it allows you to separate the data access layer from your business logic. In fact, Data Abstract allows you to write the business rules completely independent of the actual database, and enables you to switch from one data access technology to another, with support for dbExpress, IBExpress, IBObjects, SDAC, ODAC, DOA, and more. So you do not only have the choice between different databases that are supported (like SQL Server, InterBase, DB2, Oracle, MySQL, etc.) but also the actual data access technologies!

2004/06/10 - Unofficial Kylix 3 Patches v3.5.1
Andreas Hausladen has released version 3.5.1 of the unofficial VisualCLX patches - the unofficial VisualCLX patches 3.6 BETA is also available now.

2004/06/03 - The Future of Kylix?
In an answer on a question regarding a post in his blog, Danny Thorps says the following on Kylix: "Kylix is included in the 3 year outlook. Nothing I can announce as yet."
Dr.Bob says... At least the "no update in 2004" may be followed by something concrete in 2005 or later.
Thanks for keeping up the spirit, Borland!

2004/05/22 - Kylix 3 and DB2 with WebSnap
I have just published another article on the IBM DB2-Borland web portal, about DB2 Web Server applications on Linux with Kylix 3 (and WebSnap). This article shows how to build a Web server application using Kylix 3, exposing the IBM DB2 UDB SAMPLE database on the Web.
See also the complete list of articles that I wrote for the IBM DB2 - Borland web portal.

2004/04/29 - Kylix 3 for C++ and DB2
I have just published another article on the IBM DB2 - Borland web portal, about Kylix 3 for C++ and IBM DB2 UDB v8.1 on Linux. This article shows how to use the C++ edition of Kylix 3 to work with IBM DB2 UDB tables.
See also the complete list of articles that I wrote for the IBM DB2 - Borland web portal.

2004/04/20 - RemObjects SDK 3.0
The RemObjects SDK is the award winning remoting framework for Delphi and Kylix. It allows you to remotely access objects residing on a server from clients inside the LAN or across the Internet. It supports object pooling, asynchronous invocation, compression, encryption, and a variety of protocols such as TCP/IP, HTTP, UDP, POP3/SMTP, NamedPipes, etc. It includes the RemObjects Service Builder and allows you to expose your services as SOAP web-services.
RemObjects SDK 3.0 is available for Borland Delphi 7, Borland Delphi 6, and Borland Kylix 3.

2004/03/19 - TeeChart Pro VCL / CLX version 7
Steema Software has released version 7 of TeeChart Pro VCL / CLX (including free and evaluation versions). New features include Delphi 8 VCL.NET support, 360 degree rotation, new Series styles, improved GIS-Mapping features, more Tee Functions and Chart Tools, Themes and color palettes, OpenGL gradients and export to SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics).

2004/02/13 - What to Do With Kylix?
Nick Hodges has written an interesting weblog entry about his views on what to do with Kylix. I have to agree with him that Kylix desktop applications are unwieldy. However, this very week I helped deploy a command-line (XML processing) application on Linux, which was compiled with Kylix 3.
More often, however, I use the web server or web service capabilities of Kylix on Linux - using Linux as the server, and Kylix as a development environment for (web) server applications. For me, Kylix is already a server development tool.

2004/02/06 - The 2004 Delphi Survey
Borland is looking forward to receiving your feedback in the new 2004 Delphi Survey. This is your chance to provide valuable input to the Delphi team on a variety of Delphi topics. The survey should take approximately 10 minutes on average to complete. Your feedback has a direct influence on future versions of Delphi (and Kylix).

2004/01/27 - New unofficial VisualCLX patch & QThemed unit
Andreas Hausladen just released a new version (3.1) of the unofficial VisualCLX patch and updated QThemed unit since the last patch is about one month old and he had received some important bug reports. The changelog for this patch is as follows:

2003/11/14 - Kylix in Limbo?
Paul Krill's article in InfoWorls wonders about Borland's Kylix in limbo, and the fact that Borland seems to be pushing C++BuilderX as the alternative (at least for Kylix C++ developers). Ray Lishner is also convinced: Kylix is dead, long live C++BuilderX. One thing is sure: it was announced at BorCon (read my report) that no updates for Kylix were planned in 2004, so at least until 2005 the product will remain as-is.

The Kylix Kicks website at http://www.drbob42.com/kylix will remain open until that time at least (although it may disappear from the top-level menu in 2004).

2003/11/1-5: Borland Conference 2003
The 14th annual Borland Conference (and Borland's 20th Anniversary) was held from Saturday (Nov 1st) until Wednesday (Nov 5th), in San Jose, CA (USA). I've done a pre-conference tutorial (on XML & SOAP), a session about dbExpress, and a Birds-of-a-Feather session on RemObjects SDK.
The latest Kylix news was reported "live" from BorCon in San Jose and can be read in my special BorCon Report at http://www.drbob42.com/BorCon.

2003/10/14 - Borland C++BuilderX available for download
I just noticed that both the Enterprise Trial Edition as well as the Personal Edition of Borland C++BuilderX are now available for download.
For more C++BuilderX (and cross-platform C++) specific news, please bookmark my C++BuilderX section at http://www.drbob42.com/CBuilderX

2003/10/12 - Advantage Database Server 7.0
The Advantage team at Extended Systems has announced that Advantage Database Server 7.0 is now available. Significant new functionality incorporated into version 7.0 includes triggers, communications compression, full text search, a type 4 JDBC driver, money field data type support, plus SQL and other enhancements.

2003/09/01 - Borland Conference Europe
The 2003 European Borland Conference, has been rescheduled to November 10-12 in Amsterdam. I'm part of the Advisory Board, and we've selected good sessions from well-known and respected Speakers, for Borland Developers from all over Europe, enabling access to the latest information on .NET and Borland.

2003/08/22 - The Delphi Magazine Collection 2003
The Delphi Magazine Collection 2003 CD-ROM contains issues 1 to 96 (April 1995 to August 2003) in the convenient Adobe PDf-format, plus all source code for the articles, additional trial software, shareware and freeware. The CD comes complete with an easy-to-use browser which allows you to search and view articles, source code, companion disk contents and the bonus material, all from one place.
Even if you subscribe to The Delphi Magazine, I can highly recommend this CD-ROM (which is a much easier way to search for an article or topic than the big stack of 96 issues).

2003/08/11 - Codeville Chronicles 001 by J.D. Hildebrand
J.D. Hildebrand is back on the Borland Developer Network with his Codeville Chronicles 001: "I read the news today, oh boy... LinuxWorld and SCO's assault on Linux".

2003/07/17 - Data Abstract
RemObjects Software Inc, the makers of RemObjects SDK (among others), have just announced a new data access framework called Data Abstract. Read my analysis and comments, or check their website if you want to know more (a more detailed review will be available later).

2003/07/12 - RemObjects SDK 2.0
RemObjects Software, Inc. has announced the immediate availability of the RemObjects SDK 2.0 for Borland Delphi and Kylix. This is the second version of the RemObjects SDK remoting framework, and includes many enhancements and new Enterprise-level features such as advanced new channels, session management, server discovery, asynchronous communication, and more.
RemObjects Client SDK for .NET is also available (as well as on the C#Builder Partner CD), allowing developers to take the step to .NET and build native RemObjects clients for the .NET Framework and the Compact Framework, now. RemObjects Client SDK for .NET is the first step in providing a seamless cross-platform solution for both Delphi/Kylix and .NET, client-and server-side.
For more information of the previous version of RemObjects, you can read my review of RemObjects SDK 1.0

2003/06/25 - Fixes for Kylix 3 on newer distros
Andrés Colubri has uploaded a collection of fixes for some of the problems observed when using Kylix 3 on newer distributions (Red hat 8+, Mandrake 9+), available from CodeCentral. A readme file with instructions is included, as well as header files that must be copied into the include directory. Two short example projects that should work afterwards are provided.

2003/06/02 - TurboMail e-mail Client
TurboMail is a powerful open source database-driven cross-platform e-mail client written in Kylix, using TurboDB from dataWeb.

2003/05/09 - DB2 UDB and SOAP: Database Web Services Follow-up with DataSnap
This new article shows how to add authentication to DataSnap applications using a special Login method; points out that the importance of combining this with SSL certificates for increased security; and describes how to deploy the DataSnap server application on a Web server machine.

2003/05/05 - Hardcore Web Services
You know Web Services will cross tools and platforms, but have you actually done it? In this article for Hardcore Web Services, I show how Web Services written in C# can be consumed and used by Borland's Delphi (on Windows) or even Kylix (on Linux). Using a simple Echo Web Service, I show how the Delphi and Kylix clients can connect and interact with the C# Web Service.

2002/05/05 - Simple Programming Tip #1 by Charlie Calvert
This article by Charlie Calvert contains the explication of a simple programming tip that can be read in a few minutes: Avoid writing code that does anything substantial inside a visual container. Instead, create separate classes for your working code.

2003/04/24 - glibc update for Kylix 3 C++ package loading
Linux distributions using glibc 2.2.x may encounter issues loading the database and SOAP packages for the Kylix 3 IDE for C++. This patch resolves that issue.

2003/03/28 - Data Entry Input Validation
This new DB2 article from me, published on the new IBM-Borland portal shows you how to build data entry forms on top of IBM DB2 Universal Database as database tables and records, and how to perform data entry input validation using Delphi, Kylix, and C++Builder.

2003/03/26 - Kylix Developers Guide in Simplified Chinese
I was pleasantly surprised to receive a copy of SAMS' Kylix Developers Guide in the Simplified Chinese edition (not that I can read Simplified Chinese, but it's a nice book to look at - next to the Polish edition ;-)

2003/02/28 - Kylix 3 Companion CD on-line
The companion CD submissions for Borland's IDE products are now available for download - you can now browse the Kylix 3 Companion CD (with two submissions from me).

2003/02/05 - Problems Programming Qt from Kylix 3 C++ Apps
Kylix 3 (C++) provides a Qt.hpp header to permit access to the Qt API that underlies the VisualCLX components. However, it is generated in a manner that does not support cross-platform source compatibility.
Brian Long has written an article with code about a replacement version of Qt.hpp that allows cross-platform Qt code to be written in Kylix 3 (C++).

2003/02/03 - Free TeeChart version 6 for Kylix 3 Open Edition
TeeChart version 6 customers can now download a free version of TeeChart version 6 for Kylix 3 Open Edition.
Visit the Steema website for more information and download details.

2003/01/29 - InterBase 7.0 Trial Available
An article on the Borland Developer Network reports that the trial version of InterBase 7 is now available for download for Linux, Solaris and Windows. For more information, see the InterBase 7 Trial Technical Specifications.

2003/01/24 - C++Builder 6 to Kylix 3 (for C++)
Borland Kylix 3 registered users can download a new "update" for Kylix 3, which consist of a Project Conversion Utility - capable of converting a C++Builder 6 project to Kylix 3 (and back). The same download is also available on the Borland C++Builder 6 registered users updates page.

2003/01/20 - Maximize DataSnap efficiency in Delphi
Delphi's DataSnap technology, formerly known as MIDAS, enables you to construct multitier applications. In this article on CNET TechRepublic's Builder.com I explain how to get the DataSnap Server and the DataSetProvider components to work together.

2003/01/15 - RemObjects SDK 1.0.7
Version 1.0.7 of the RemObjects SDK is available for download, and contains - among other new features - Kylix 3 support, which was one of my wishes in the RemObjects SDK review I wrote for the UK-BUG Borland User Group Developer's Magazine.
There are lots of other new features, enhancements, and bug fixes, so check out the RemObjects SDK website.

2003/01/10 - TurboPower at SourceForge
A number of SourceForge projects have been started for TurboPower products, such as:

2003/01/07 - TurboPower discontinues retail business
It is my sad duty to report that - as stated in the press release at http://www.turbopower.com - TurboPower Software Company is immediately withdrawing from the retail component and developer tools market, after almost 18 years!
TurboPower Software intends to open source our VCL and CLX component libraries to the maximum extent possible. The resulting open source projects will be hosted at http://sourceforge.net and the SourceForge forums associated with those projects will replace the functionality of newsgroups hosted at news://news.turbopower.com.

2002/12/31 - IBM's DB2 and DataSnap
I've written a new article on the IBM DB2 - Borland portal: DB2 and Delphi/Kylix — SOAP and Database Web Services. This article shows you how to create a cross-platform Web service with SOAP using IBM DB2 and Borland Delphi & Kylix.

2002/11/27 - Dr.Bob Examines IBM DB2 UDB
A new portal has been created to support the cooperation between IBM's DB2 and Borland's RAD development environments such as Delphi and Kylix. I have written five articles for this web portal, of which four are already published and available online and described in my latest Dr.Bob Examines column.

2002/11/13 - Kylix 3 on Newsforge
A review (by Gavin Melhuish) of Kylix 3 has appeared at Newsforge. The conclusion of the review is that Kylix 3 has plenty of 'programming power'.

2002/11/07 - Kylix 3 C++ Seminar
Join Borland and IBM for a free one-day technical Seminar (in the USA), customized for software professionals who are interested in leveraging the power of C++ on Linux. Get the details and register here for the events in Chicago (Nov 14) or Washington (Nov 19).

2002/10/31 - Borland considers Mono in Kylix?
According to The Register, Borland is investigating use of Ximian Inc's Project Mono in Kylix, as a possible means for Windows developers to move .NET applications to Linux.

2002/09/26 - Kylix 3 eXtreme Toys
Registered users of Kylix 3 can now download Kylix 3 eXtreme Toys, consisting of Apache 2 support for Kylix 3 (Delphi only, no C++), which contains 3 units necessary for creating Apache 2 DSOs on Kylix 3 (40,161 bytes).

2002/09/18 - ProKylix profiler for Kylix 3
Version 3.1 of ProKylix, the high accuracy profiler for Kylix 3 is available. New in this version (Freeware and Professional Mode) are two little bugfixes.
ProKylix measures the runtime of Delphi applications with the granularity of 1 CPU-cycle. A sophisticated correction algorithym and the principle of source code instrumentation guarantee accurate measurement results. The low measurement overhead allows even to profile time critical applications.

2002/09/10 - Book Review: Kylix 2 Development
It took a while to get it, but reading the book made up for everything; Kylix 2 Development is a very good book about well, Kylix 2 Development. But since Kylix 3 doesn't change much in the way Kylix 2 works (apart from the fact that Kylix 3 also includes a C++ IDE), the book can still be used with the Kylix 3 for Delphi IDE.
I especially liked the WebSnaps chapter written by Nick Hodges, but you can read the full review to get all details yourself.

2002/09/06 - LinuxPlanet: Kylix 3 is a winner
According to this review published by LinuxPlanet, Kylix 3 is a winner. The author even writes: "Kylix answers the needs of most Linux programmers by fully supporting C++ with the same development environment. The result is a RAD that should quickly become Linux's most popular integrated development environment (IDE)."

2002/08/31 - Kylix 3 Open Edition
Kylix 3 Open Edition is now available for download. Originally, it was a 319MB download, but the OS-patches have been removed from it, and the new download is only 90.7MB. It contains both the Delphi and C++ language!
From the same location, you can also download an update to the Kylix 3 Open edition, which fixes the problem of "the inappropriate locale sensitivity that caused the compiler to expect a comma as a decimal separator".

2002/08/30 - PDA Online Kylix 2 Certification
The Personal Delphi Agents on-line Kylix 2 Certification is now available. Also, until September 30th, anyone that purchases an online PDA Certification for $49.99 gets a second one for FREE! This may be worthwhile for programmers who want to be certified in different levels or within different versions.

2002/08/28 - dataWeb announced TurboDB 4
dataWeb announced TurboDB 4, a major update for its industry-strength database engine for Delphi, Kylix and C++Builder. The new version features full Unicode support, multi-session and multi-threading capabilities and the ability to store all database objects within one single database file. These features enable TurboDB developers to build up-to-date Web Services and Web applications running under Windows/IIS as well as under Linux/Apache.

2002/08/19 - IBM's DB2 with Borland's RAD Tools
IBM and Borland will team-up and bundle trial editions of Borland's RAD tools with IBM's DB2 and vice versa. IBM will bundle Borland's Delphi 7 Studio Architect, C++Builder Enterprise and Kylix Enterprise 30-day trial versions with the most current version of DB2 Universal Developer's Edition and Personal Edition.
Borland will offer DB2 Universal Developer's Edition with Delphi 7 Studio Architect and Enterprise, C++Builder Enterprise and Kylix. Borland said bundling would begin "later this summer".

2002/08/13 - Kylix 3 Trial Download
Borland just announced that Kylix 3 is now shipping, and the Kylix 3 Enterprise Trial edition is now available for download (at 111 MBytes). A Trial Edition of InterBase 6.5 is also available (to use with Kylix).

2002/08/12 - Kylix 3 Companion Tools CD
The Kylix 3 Companion Tools CD will contain two of my Linux utilities for Kylix 3, now also available on CodeCentral:

DrBobCGI 3.2 can be used with all versions of Kylix, while BobAdapt is specific to Kylix 3 Enterprise (a Kylix 2 Enterprise version of BobAdapt is available upon request).

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.

2002/08/02 - Delphi 7 DataSnap License
Great News: John Kaster (Borland DevRel) has posted a message in the borland.public.delphi.non-technical newsgroup about the upcoming Delphi 7 DataSnap License. In short: Delphi 7 Enterprise will include an unlimited deployment license for DataSnap servers. Delphi 7 Pro users get permission to use ClientDatasets as a local database (as long as that data is only stored locally and does not get resolved back to a persistent store on another machine).
According to another message from John, this new license is also valid for Kylix 3 Enterprise developers!

2002/07/24 - Borland Kylix 3 Announced
Borland has announced Kylix 3 - the Delphi and C++ IDE for Linux. Apart from the press release, there's now also Kylix 3 information available in PDF-format, such as the Data Sheet, the FAQ, the System Requirements, the Features & Benefits, and the Feature Matrix itself.
Also available now is a PDF-file with information about What's new in Kylix 3

2002/07/23 - Kylix 3 will be Announced shortly
According to eWeek and The Register, and InfoWorld Borland is about to announce Kylix 3 - containing both a Delphi and C++ IDE for Linux. With Kylix 3 we will be now also be able to write C++ applications for Linux, using CLX to turn them into cross-platform applications (for Kylix 3 and C++Builder 6), apart from the usual cross-platform Delphi/ObjectPascal applications (with Kylix 3 and Delphi 6).
Kylix 3 information is now available on the Borland website

2002/07/03 - Builder.com Reader's Choice Awards
You can now cast your vote for the Builder.com Reader's Choice Awards, which contains seven categories. Kylix 2 is nominated in the Best Linux IDE category.

2002/06/15 - WebSnap CGI with Login and Sessions
Some of you may have read my article in the March 2002 issue of The Delphi Magazine already. In this article, I'll explain that WebSnap session management using the TSessionsService component is not available for every possible target (not without using the alternate TCookieSessionsService). Specifically, you'll find it won't work at all for Kylix web server applications on Linux. In this article, I'll explain what the problem is, what to do about it, and how I solved it for my own situation using WebSnap CGI web server applications written in Kylix 2 Enterprise. The article also covers a number of deployment issues (specifically on Linux).

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 Kylix.

2002/05/31 - Personal Delphi Agents
PDA Delphi & Kylix Certification™ is a unique online exam created by experts in the Delphi community to test your knowledge of Delphi or Kylix. Each 60-question exam consists of true/false and multiple-choice questions. Select from four different levels of certification including Junior, Intermediate, Senior and Guru level (it's the only Delphi certification in the world that offers four levels).
To learn more about online Delphi™ certifications, visit Personal Delphi Agents™ at www.personaldelphiagents.com

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 Kylix News
Summary: Kylix 3 (codename Cortez) will ship in 2002, and will contain a Delphi as well as C++ IDE.

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.

2002/05/14 - Kylix 3: C++Builder for Linux
At the CttM in The Netherlands, Jason Vokes of Borland EMEA talked about Kylix 3, which will combine Delphi (Kylix) and C++Builder for Linux in one box! Jason even showed how to build a WebService using C++Builder for Linux. According to Jason Vokes, Kylix 3 could be expected in "Summer 2002"!
For those who can read Dutch, I have written a more detailed report (which also mentions the .NET command-line compiler from Borland) on my eBob42 website.

2002/04/30 - Experience Kylix (for C++?) at BorCon
According to the Borland website, there should be a lot of Kylix news at BorCon 2002, including "how you can use Kylix with either C++ or Delphi programming languages to deliver ultra high-performance natively compiled Internet, Web, Web Services, database, client/server, and GUI desktop applications for Linux which are cross-portable to the Windows platform".
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), so stay tuned.

2002/04/23 - Kylix 2 BizSnap Chapter (XML & SOAP)
I have been working on an BizSnap chapter for the Kylix Developer's Guide - adding more coverage of Kylix 2 to this book. The BizSnap chapter is now published on my website (in six parts), covering XML Document Programming and Web Services support.

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).

2002/04/15 - 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 - BobAdapt: Custom WebSnap Adapters
If you like the LoginFormAdapter, then you must have considered building your own custom adapters as well (like a CreditCardValidationAdapter, or a CustomerInfoAdapter). However, it takes a lot of source code to write a good custom adapter (and sometimes a bit of debugging as well) - I know, I've been there, done that, and now got myself a custom adapter source generator: BobAdapt.

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.

2002/03/21 - Kylix Developer's Guide
The original book is: 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 read two sample chapters in PDF format (chapter 3 about Basic Pascal Syntax and chapter 7 about CLX Architecture and Visual Development 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).
Kylix Developer's Guide can be ordered now from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (with nice discounts and a small commission for me, so thanks in advance for ordering through these links).

2002/03/13 - dbExpress MySQL 4.0 Beta Driver
A public beta of a Kylix 2 dbExpress MySQL 4.0 beta driver is now available for download from CodeCentral. This driver will work only with MySQL 4.0.1 (Alpha) Client and Server.
To connect from Kylix 2, change the LibraryName to "libsqlmy4.so.0.0" and the vendorLib to "libmysqlclient.so.11.0.0" in the TSQLConnection component.

2002/03/12 - Additional dbExpress Drivers
John Kaster has compiled a list of available third-party dbExpress drivers for Delphi, Kylix and C++Builder.

2002/03/04 - Kylix 2 WebSnap and Login/Sessions
The Delphi Magazine issue #79 prints my article about WebSnap Session Management For CGI, in which I explain that WebSnap session management using TSessionsService is not available for CGI applications or Kylix web apps.
In this article, I explain what the problem is, what to do about it, and how I solved it to provide full session management for all web app targets - as you can test using the WebSnap CGI application on a Linux web server (login as guest with password guest).

2002/02/27 - Kylix 2 and IBM DB2 & Informix
Apropos Retail Management Systems, has chosen Kylix 2 and IBM Informix as the development and deployment combination for their Linux-based retail solutions. The combined solution includes a new dbExpress driver for the IBM/Informix database with Kylix 2.

2002/02/25 - Object Pascal 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 Object Pascal container classes can do and when to use them.

2002/02/24 - QuickUML Linux 1.0
QuickUML, by Excel Software, is an object-oriented design tool that provides integration and ease-of-use for a core set of UML models. An entire project is accessible through a tabbed window with integration between use cases, class models, object models, dictionary and code. The project is saved as an XML file that is compatible with QuickUML Windows so design work can be shared between platforms.

2002/02/23 - QuickHelp Linux 1.0
QuickHelp, by Excel Software, is a development tool for quickly creating and distributing online help for Linux applications. QuickHelp consists of a QuickHelp Builder for creating help systems and a QuickHelp Viewer for deploying them to end-users. The help information resides in a single XML file distributed with the QuickHelp Viewer.

2002/02/22 - Delphi 6 and Kylix 2 Web Services
When Borland shipped Delphi 6 in May of last year, one of its new features was support for SOAP - most notably in the form of Web Services. Kylix 2 is now also available with the same capabilities, and in an article for Web Services Journal, I demonstrate the ease of use of Delphi 6 and Kylix 2 by developing a Web service in a Delphi 6 server (running on Win32) and consuming it in a Kylix 2 client running on Linux. The example I'm using is the IRoman Web Service, converting roman numerals into integers and back.

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.

2002/02/04 - Dr.Bob Examines Kylix 2 Web Services
With Kylix 2 (and also Delphi 6), new BizSnap (XML and SOAP) features have been added in the form of Web Services (among others). This is the first part of a 2-part article on building, deploying and using (consuming) Web Services in Kylix 2 & Delphi 6, starting with the IEuro Web Service written in Kylix 2 Enterprise.

2002/02/01 - Kylix 2: Best Developer Tool
According to the latest news, Kylix 2 has just won the Best Developer Tools Award at LinuxWorld.

2002/01/28 - Kylix: The Professional Developer's Guide and Reference
This is probably the Kylix book with the longest title, but don't let that put you off. I've read it, and can honestly say (in my review) that I like it - even considering it doesn't contain any database or web development topics at all.

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!.
Dr.Bob says... 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!

2002/01/19 - Official Kylix 1 Patches
There have been no issues reported with the public beta patches for Kylix 1 that were available for download on CodeCentral (the "Debugger patch for Linux 2.4 kernel" and "dbExpress driver update for MySQL 3.23").
These patches are now official Kylix 1 update patches, available for download from Borland developer support.

2002/01/16 - Dr.Bob Examines XML Mapper
Kylix 2 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).

2002/01/05 - Borland C++ RAD for Linux
LinuxWorld Conference & Expo will contain some interesting sessions this year, including one about Rapid C++ Development for Linux by John Ray Thomas (JT), Borland's Linux RAD Product Manager, giving a special sneak preview of the upcoming Borland C++ RAD support for Linux.
Borland would also like to extend a special invite to Linux gurus with tons of C++ experience to get a chance to be part of their Field Test program for the C++ version of the Kylix product.

Also available: older Kylix News (2001 and earlier).

This webpage © 1999-2008 by Bob Swart (aka Dr.Bob - www.drbob42.com). All Rights Reserved.