Release notes for 7.1A Beta Blitz
7.1A RELEASE NOTES
PLATFORM: MS-Windows v3.1
MEDIA TYPE: 3 1/2" Diskette
SOFTWARE RELEASE: 7.1A
EXTRACT COMMAND: none
INSTALL COMMAND: win drive:install
******************************* IMPORTANT ********************************
** **
** All databases created in PROGRESS Quickstart v7.OD/E must be dumped **
** prior to upgrading to v7.1A. The database(s) will then have to be **
** loaded into V7.1A. Refer to the System Administration section of **
** the documentation for details on dumping and loading PROGRESS **
** databases. **
** **
** All PROGRESS version 6 databases *MUST* have its before image file **
** truncated prior to converting it to a V7.1A database. Refer **
** to the System Administration section of the documentation for **
** details on truncating the PROGRESS before image file. **
** **
** There is other important information included in this document. **
** Please be sure to read this entire document prior to working with **
** PROGRESS v7.1A. **
** **
**************************************************************************
The 7.1A software is functionally equivalent to a PROGRESS 4GL/RDBMS
License. Runtime and Query/Runtime functionality is not provided in this
release.
The combined 7.1A product components are not meant to imply the
final packaging of the commercial PROGRESS Version 7 product. Components
such as the Translation Manager may well be separately purchased products
at commercial delivery.
1) 7.1A COMPONENTS
Included with this version of 7.1A are:
o Single-user PROGRESS 4GL/RDBMS for Microsoft Windows
o PROGRESS Application Development Environment (ADE)
o GUI Dictionary
o User Interface Builder (UIB)
o Procedure Editor
o Source-level Debugger
Via ADE Desktop:
o Translation Manager
o Database Administration (Character Dictionary)
o Compiler Tool
Note: The Report Writer icon exists on the ADE Desktop but this
feature is not included with this release.
2) 7.1A REQUIREMENTS
Version 7.1A requires the following hardware and software:
o An 80386 or 80486 IBM PC or compatible microcomputer.
o A hard disk with at least 20MB of available disk space.
o 4MB RAM
o MS-DOS Version 5.0
o MS-Windows Version 3.1 running in either standard or enhanced mode.
3) 7.1A NETWORKING SUPPORT
-----------------------
The 7.1A software does not include networking support and may be run
only in single-user mode by connecting to a local database.
Connecting to a local database from the editor can be done using the
"-1" startup parameter as follows:
CONNECT my_local_db -1.
Not using the "-1" startup option will result in a "NETBIOS must be
loaded and working before running PROGRESS (730)" error message.
Connection to a database can also be done from the ADE Desktop and
from the Tools menu in the UIB.
4) PROGRESS VERSION 6 FUNCTIONALITY IN 7.1A
Products:
---------
The following PROGRESS Version 6 products are not supported in this
version:
RESULTS, FAST TRACK, Gateways, HLI, HLC, SQL
Help System Functionality:
-------------------------
The V6 help menu is not available in this version.
Help for any PROGRESS message can be obtained by running
'prohelp/message.p'.
Help for recent messages that have occurred can be
obtained by running 'prohelp/recentms.p'.
PROGRESS Utilities
------------------
The following utilities are supported in V7.1A:
proutil conv67
truncate bi
language
idxbuild
prodb
prodel
NOTE: PROGRESS utilities such as _proutil.exe, _dbutil.exe & _rfutil.exe
use the Phar Lap DOS extender to run in Protected Mode. They run
correctly from within a Windows DOS box, but they require
Expanded Memory (approx. 1MB ) to run correctly when executing
them while Windows is NOT running.
5) PROGRESS 7.1A Help
In this version, online help is not yet complete but is available
in the following areas:
Data Dictionary
Compiler
Editor
Translation Manager
PROGRESS Language Reference
PROGRESS Utilities
Debugger Commands
6) GUI (GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE) SUPPORT
At present, an application developed under PROGRESS Version 6 for character
terminals and compiled under PROGRESS 7.1A GUI will require changes to
screen (form) layout. The rest of the application should run without
changes.
7) PROGRESS DATA DICTIONARY ISSUES
Several different dictionary interfaces are provided with 7.1A. To access
administrative utilities (e.g. dump and load), it is necessary, at this
time, to run the Version 6 Data Dictionary. Schema modifications can be
executed via the ADE Dictionary. These Data Dictionaries can be accessed
by defining the PROPATH environment variable accordingly. They are found
in their own sub directories of the DLC directory which look like this:
DLC
|
|
-----------
| |
| |
adedict prodict
Where:
dlc/adedict ==> ADE GUI Data Dictionary location
dlc/prodict ==> WINDOWS character mode Data Dictionary
location
The directory dlc/adedict contains a compiled version of the PROGRESS
Version 7 Data Dictionary with GUI interface. For purposes of clarity
this is referred to as the ADE Dictionary in this document.
The directory dlc/prodict contains source code (.p's) for the PROGRESS
Version 6 Data Dictionary. Compiled code for this Dictionary is also
in this directory.
To access the version 6 Data Dictionary from the editor, run admin.p,
for the ADE Data Dictionary from the editor, run dict.p.
8) KNOWN PROBLEMS/ISSUES
Some of the known problems in the 7.1A software are listed below.
The list is an attempt to make you aware of the most serious and most
common errors you are likely to encounter. Some of these items are
bugs while others are simply functionality issues. You are encouraged
to document other bugs that you discover and submit them to the
PROGRESS Beta Blitz team via the Problem Reporting form so that they can
be addressed in time for the Version 7 commercial release.
GPF errors
==========
* It is strongly advised that you run Microsoft's Dr. Watson utility
while you use this version of PROGRESS. If a GPF (General Protection
Fault) occurs while you are using PROGRESS, Dr. Watson will prompt you
for additional information. Please use this opportunity to document
what you were doing when the GPF occurred. After the first occurrence,
please try to duplicate the GPF again to insure that you understand
what steps are needed to cause the error to occur. These steps along
with the stacktrace that Dr. Watson writes to a file called
DRWATSON.LOG are important to the Beta Blitz team in order to document
the problem.
You will find the Dr. Watson utility in your Windows 3.1 directory
(DRWATSON.EXE). You may create a Program Item in your Windows Startup
group for DRWATSON.EXE so that it's run everytime you start Windows.
NOTE: Windows may become unstable after one or more GPF's. You should
restart Windows if this occurs.
We have provided the symbol tables for _prowin.exe and
prodebug.exe, so that the Dr. Watson utility can provide
valid a stack trace in the event a GPF error occurs. These
files are called %DLC%/_prowin.sym and %DLC%/prodebug.sym.
Please do not delete these files.
Installation
============
* Please disable disk caching software before attempting to install
PROGRESS 7.1A. We generally do not recommend the use of disk caching
software. For installation, it was discovered that a disk cache
may interfere with the installation process.
Utilities
=========
* Performing an index rebuild via the Proutil "idxbuild" utility may
generate an MS-Windows General Protection Fault error message when
the "some" option is chosen. In this case, rebuild all of the
indices associated with the database by choosing the "all" option.
* Prior to running "proutil v6_dbname -C conv67" to convert a version 6
to a version 7 database, the before image file must be truncated.
* Messages relating to version 5 to version 6 conversion may appear
while running 'proutil v6_dbname -C conv67'. Please disregard these
messages.
Language
========
* Displaying data in some instances may result in frames being either
not completely painted or represented by a black rectangle when
working in GUI.
DEFINE VARIABLE a as CHARACTER INITIAL "ABCDE".
DEFINE VARIABLE b as CHARACTER INITIAL "BCDEF".
DEFINE VARIABLE i as INTEGER.
COLOR DISPLAY MESSAGES a b WITH FRAME x.
DISPLAY a WITH FRAME x.
DISPLAY b WITH FRAME x.
/* do some work*/
DO i = 1 to 500:
a = a.
END.
/*pause.*/ /*uncomment the pause and frames appear correctly*/
HIDE FRAME x NO-PAUSE.
* If you have strings in a procedure that have either right or center
justification and a length, PROGRESS misses the length when
translating it. For 7.1A, don't use lengths or only use left
justification.
* Forgetting to end a OS-ESCAPE, OS-DELETE, or OS-CREATE-DIR command
with a '.' may cause undesirable results.
For example,
OS-DELETE afile.txt /* note, no '.' */
OUTPUT TO keep.dat APPEND.
When this code is executed, the file keep.dat will be deleted.
* RCODE-INFO:LANGUAGE returns "" instead of the unknown value if the
.r was not compiled with any languages.
WORD QUERY
==========
* Word queries are prohibited in a CAN-FIND.
IF CAN-FIND (FIRST customer WHERE address CONTAINS "st")
THEN DISPLAY "yes".
GUI
===
* Cursor position in GUI environments may seem inconsistent.
The cursor sometimes appears one character too far to the right.
Other than the visual feedback it should work correctly.
* Modal dialog boxes may allow you to do other things like bring another
window to the front. It may appear that your application is locked
when all you really need to do is to find and clear the dialog box.
* In a multi-window application, dismissing a dialog or alert box may
bring the wrong Progress window to the front. This can cause the
correct window to be overlaid and give the appearance that a window
has been hidden or destroyed. You can still cycle through your windows
until you find the correct one.
* Under MSW you will not always be able to see the highlight around
widgets when moving or resizing them. This appears often when using
the UIB. The UIB does however let you resize and move widgets by using
a property sheet. In addition, you may not receive the appropriate
visual feedback when creating a new widget in the UIB, normally you
would see a dashed line which conveys the size and position.
* Selection list sizing may be inaccurate. The visual representation
you see when moving or resizing may appear larger than the actual
widget.
* You may be able to resize a widget larger than its frame and have
trouble getting back to its resize handles. If this happens in the UIB
you can resize the widget from its property sheet.
* If you have a PROGRESS.INI without a valid font section, starting
Progress will yield a memory violation. To avoid this, make sure
you are using a valid .INI file.
* Deleting a window widget inside of its own CLOSE-WINDOW trigger may
cause a memory violation. Avoid doing this.
* '?' is returned when querying the filename of an Image widget.
* Data may not display properly within a Fill-in widget depending
on the font being used.
* The size of a selection-list will be line longer than was
specified with INNER-LINES.
* When displaying a string that contains the '&' character, the
'&' is not displayed and the character to the right of it displays
with an underline below it.
* The BLANK attribute does not work.
* The scrollbar thumb may behave erratically for a Browse widget.
ADE (General)
=============
* You may encounter errors in the PROGRESS Editor when running a
program, or in the UIB when running or saving a .w, if you do not
have your current directory set in the PROPATH environment variable.
To avoid this situation, add ';.;' to PROPATH in AUTOEXEC.BAT or
whichever batch file you use to set up the DOS environment.
ADE EDITOR
==========
* In GUI, you can block off text for deletion and then hit the <DELETE>
or <BACKSPACE> keys to delete the text. Be advised that if you hit
any other key, the text will also be deleted; this is standard
behavior in a windowing environment. In this context, beware that
there is not yet a function that allows you to undo your deletion.
* If you copy or cut text which contains "\t", "\n", "\r", or "\\", the
following translations are made when you Paste this text:
"\t" becomes TAB
"\n" & "\r" become CR/LF
"\\" becomes "\"
This should be corrected in the commercial release.
* Errors will occur when resizing the editor window to a large number
of columns and rows.
* When replacing text, trailing spaces are removed from the 'Find Text'.
For example, globally replacing 'a ' with another string causes all
'a's to be changed.
* Garbled output may occur when selecting Print from the File menu.
* Extended ASCII characters may be lost when they are copied and
pasted.
* Choosing not to replace an occurrence of a string during a search and
replace causes the search to stop.
* The Save alert-box is not presented if the user selected Close on a
file in which the contents were deleted.
User Interface Builder (UIB)
============================
* Changes to the width of database fields displayed as fill-ins
are not recognized or saved.
* .W files containing database fields cannot be re-opened unless all
dependent databases are connected.
* Attachment of a widget to a database field is not supported in 7.1A.
* Database fields that are painted on a frame will display as
Fill-in widgets regardless of any VIEW-AS phrase defined for them
during design time. At runtime, fields with VIEW-AS phrases will be
displayed properly.
This being the case, fields having widths exceeding the width of the
frame they are painted to cannot be manipulated in the UIB.
* The TAB order of widgets cannot be changed in the UIB.
* The UIB's Main Window may lose it's Menubar if ESC is hit just
after launching the UIB from the ADE Desktop.
* Buttons cannot be resized while they are initially painted on top of a
Rectangle widget. Finish painting the button, and then resize it.
* Multiple widgets cannot be box-marked while they reside on top of a
Rectangle widget. Either move the Rectangle to gain access to the
other widgets, or paint Rectangle widgets last, after all other widgets
are in place.
* There is currently no UNDO function in the UIB.
* Occasionally, after an error, the mouse cursor changes to an
hourglass. All functions continue to work properly. Restart the
UIB to reset the mouse cursor.
* The DELETE key does not currently delete a marked widget(s). Select
DELETE from the Edit menu, or click the 'eraser' button from the
Main Window to delete the widget(s).
* The default window size cannot be saved in the UIB. However, it is
retained until the UIB is exited.
* Scroll bars cannot be removed from a frame.
* Turning off the ENABLED attribute for a field in the UIB's attribute
editor is ignored.
* Comma's (,) entered as part of data in a selection list through the
Attribute Editor are replaced with spaces.
* After a .W is run in the UIB, all other iconified UIB windows (if any)
are restored.
* User code is not recognized and lost if a .W is re-opened in the UIB.
Enter user code for the window under the WINDOW-INITIALIZATION and/or
CLOSE-WINDOW events in the Trigger Editor.
* Join definitions are not saved correctly for the UIB Browser.
* When selecting 'NO-LABEL' for a database field, the NO-LABEL option
is erroneously stated twice in the generated 4GL code.
* The following fatal error may occur during a UIB session:
System Error: fmconv - bad source type. (58).
In this instance, it is advisable to restart PROGRESS.
* ESC cannot be part of a menu accelerator definition, doing so causes
a Windows GPF to occur.
* The -s startup parameter should be increased if an error with the
following text is encountered: 'FSA Stack too small'. (e.g. -s 24)
DEBUGGER
========
* On-line help is not available from inside the debugger.
* The saving of Macro Definitions is not yet implemented.
* The command queue is not cleared after the 4GL command:
DEBUGGER:CLEAR = YES is executed.
* The INPUT command is not being logged to the debugger log file.
DATABASE ADMINISTRATION (Character Dictionary)
==============================================
* Fields are generally not aligned properly.
* Mark/Unmark functionality does not work when it's presented.
COMPILER TOOL
=============
* Specifying the same filename for XREF as the procedure name will
cause the procedure to be overwritten without warning.
TRANSLATION MANAGER
===================
* Cannot translate buttons which contain format information in its
label (e.g. ... LABEL "OK":C10 ... )
* Translated strings will only display in the format of the original
string.
ADE (GUI) DICTIONARY
====================
* Deleting an index and a field during the same transaction cause
these changes to be discarded. Delete them in separate sessions.
* The datatype of a new field is not automatically changed when
selecting "Copy - Modify First" to copy another field.
ADE DESKTOP
===========
* The 'Minimize on Use' option from the Options menu does not always
work.
9) Changes between 7.0E and 7.1A
=============================
** This section is meant only to highlight major changes. The software
may contain changes which are not mentioned here.
New default keybindings
-----------------------
F1 = Help
F2 = GO
ESC = END-ERROR
Note: Other keybindings can be set in PROGRESS.INI under [Keys].
New 4GL Syntax in 7.1A
======================
Statements
----------
CREATE DATABASE
CREATE WIDGET-POOL
DEFINE BROWSE
DEFINE FRAME
DEFINE SUB-MENU
DELETE WIDGET-POOL
DISABLE TRIGGERS
GET-KEYVALUE
LOAD
PROCESS EVENTS
PUT-KEYVALUE
UNLOAD
USE
* Important information about some statements:
* Menus
* The definition of menus has changed. The 'menu-element-descriptor'
SUB-MENU must now defined with DEFINE SUB-MENU, as shown below:
DEFINE SUB-MENU m_File
MENU-ITEM m_New LABEL "&New"
MENU-ITEM m_Open LABEL "&Open"
MENU-ITEM m_Save LABEL "&Save"
MENU-ITEM m_SaveAs LABEL "Save &As"
MENU-ITEM m_Exit LABEL "E&xit".
DEFINE SUB-MENU m_Help
MENU-ITEM m_About LABEL "&About...".
DEFINE MENU MENUBAR-WINDOW-1 MENUBAR
SUB-MENU m_File LABEL "&File"
SUB-MENU m_Help LABEL "&Help".
ASSIGN WINDOW-1:MENUBAR = HANDLE(MENU MENUBAR-WINDOW-1).
* UNLOAD, LOAD & USE
* The following 7.0E statements were replaced by new 7.1A
statements:
7.0E 7.1A
==== ====
UNLOAD COLOR UNLOAD
UNLOAD FONT UNLOAD
LOAD COLOR LOAD
LOAD FONT LOAD
USE COLOR USE
USE FONT USE
Also, the following statements have been removed from the 4GL:
SAVE COLOR
SAVE FONT
Options
-------
DEFAULT has been added to DEFINE BUTTON
BGCOLOR and FGCOLOR has been added to DEFINE RECTANGLE. The previous
syntax is no longer supported.
STREAM-IO has been added to COMPILE.
NO-ERROR has been added to several statements.
'AS PRIMARY' has been added to the USE-INDEX option of DEFINE TEMP-TABLE.
NO-WAIT has been added to OS-ESCAPE.
FOCUS has been added to WAIT-FOR.
Functions
---------
OS-DIR
OS-DRIVE
OS-GETENV
PROVERSION
RETURN-VALUE
Phrases
-------
ON QUIT
Attributes
----------
tab-count
tab-item(n)
tab-position
MAX-DATA-GUESS
SCROLL-VERT-VALUE
SCROLL-HORIZ-VALUE
BROWSE
SHOW-CURRENT
Events
------
ITERATION-CHANGED
DATA-REFRESH-LINE
DATA-REFRESH-PAGE
LINE-UP
LINE-DOWN
SCROLLBAR-DRAG
System Handles
--------------
ERROR-STATUS
FILE-INFO
RCODE-INFO
PARAMETER has been added to the SESSION system handle
The DISPLAY handle is now the SESSION system handle
Changed 4GL Syntax in 7.1A
==========================
System Triggers can now be defined in the 4GL. The syntax is:
ON <event-list> ANYWHERE { <statement> | <block> | REVERT |
PERSISTENT RUN <procedure-name> [input parameters] }.
System triggers are scoped to the procedure they are defined in and are
not associated with a widget. Persistent system triggers are scoped to
the session.
The following code may now be written for blanket event trapping:
ON ALL-EVENTS OF <widget> ...
RETURN now accepts a return-value of any PROGRESS data type.
Widget label strings can now include an imbedded '&' character to denote
a mnemonic character for that widget.
The general form of the DDE syntax has changed to the following:
DDE <command> <int-expr> <other parameters> NO-ERROR.
The commands are: EXECUTE, GET, SEND, REQUEST. This change was made
to make the syntax consistent with existing PROGRESS 4GL.
PUT CONTROL and IMPORT UNFORMATTED will now allow the use of a RAW
datatype.
New PROGRESS startup options
============================
-debug
-mmax
-sgdes
-trig
Misc changes
------------
All executable programs and batch files formerly located in %DLC% have
been moved to %DLC%\BIN.
The -l startup option has been removed. This memory area now is
dynamically allocated.
TEMP-TABLEs created with a default index will now return records in the
order in which they were created.
The r-code directories have been renamed for 7.1A. All directories
formerly named "gui-r" have been renamed "gui", and those named
"char-r" have been renamed "tty".
The PRODB utility now recognizes the "ade" database in the same way that
it recognizes the "demo" and "empty" databases.
The ade template database called "ade.db" has been moved from
%DLC%\ADEDB to %DLC%.
Planned changes between 7.1A and 7.1B
-------------------------------------
This section documents all the planned changes to date between 7.1A and
7.1B. Please be aware of these issues for the future.
* Pseudo widgets, such as DISPLAY and COMPILER will return a widget type
of "PSEUDO-WIDGET".
* CREATE statement will process attribute assignments in order.
* Disallow the 'mouse-cursor' attribute to the following widget-types:
MENU (popup or menubar)
RECTANGLE
IMAGE
VIEW-AS TEXT
LABELS
FIELD-GROUP
* 'READ-ONLY' will be defined only for the editor and the menu-item
widgets.
* The HANDLE function will be replaced by the HANDLE attribute.
* The CLIENT-DATA attribute will be renamed to PRIVATE-DATA.
* The following keywords will be disallowed for BUTTON, IMAGE and
RECTANGLE definitions:
NEW
SHARED
GLOBAL
* DISABLE will now accept 'IN WINDOW' and 'WHEN'.
* VIEW-AS SLIDER and VIEW-AS RADIO-SET will be changed to allow both the
HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL keywords. The default will be HORIZONTAL for
SLIDERs and VERTICAL for RADIO-SETs. The HORIZONTAL attribute, by
default, will be TRUE for SLIDERs and FALSE for RADIO-SETs.
* The preprocessor symbol &WINSYS will be renamed to &WINDOW-SYSTEM.
* New preprocessor symbols &BATCH-MODE and &TODAY will be added.
* New attribute called 'batch-mode' will be added to the SESSION system-
handle.
* The event 'CLOSE-WINDOW' will change to 'WINDOW-CLOSE'.
* The keyword 'CHECKBOX' will change to 'CHECK-BOX'.
* Add keyword 'IMAGE-SIZE' to DEFINE BUTTON.
* The additional attributes will now be supported for Dialog-boxes:
BACKGROUND (r/o)
FIRST-CHILD (r/o)
LAST-CHILD (r/o)
PFCOLOR (r/o)
* Add 'MODIFIED' attribute (read-only) to the following widgets:
FILL-IN
RADIO-SET
SLIDER
SELECTION-LIST
VIEW-AS TEXT
TOGGLE-BOX
* Change the MODIFIED attribute to be read-only for Editor widgets.
* Support for the MEMPTR datatype will be removed from Temp-Tables and
Workfiles.
------------------------------- CUT HERE -----------------------------------
7.1A Problem/Comment Report
===========================
I. Customer Information:
From: ______________________ V7.1A Serial #: ________________
Company: ___________________ Internet Address: ______________________
Address: ___________________ Phone #: ( ) - ext.
____________________________ Fax #: ( ) -
II. Platform (check one):
SCO Unix: ___ SUN Sparc: ___ MS-Windows v3.1: ___
III. Area of Functionality (check all that apply):
* Application Development Environment (ADE)
CDICT: ___ EDIT: ___ GDICT: ___ PCOM: ___
TMAN : ___ UIB : ___ DEBUG: ___
* Utilities
PROCOPY: ___ PRODB: ___ PROUTIL: ___
* Graphical User Interface (GUI)
BUT : ___ MBAR : ___ RADIO: ___ RECT : ___ BROWSE: ___
SLDR: ___ SLIST: ___ TOGS : ___ UI-TRIG: ___
* Data Base
DB-TRIG: ___ IDX: ___ QBS: ___ QBW: ___
* Language
V6: ___ V7: ___
* Documentation
Chapter and Page Reference: _______________
* Other
Other: ___
IV. Problem/Comment Description (Please include error message(s), error
number(s) and the severity of the error.):
V. Please answer the following questions by indicating 'yes' or 'no'.
Did the problem produce a General Protection Fault? ___
If so, are you including a Dr. Watson stacktrace? ___
Are you including with this report the procedure that
produced the problem? ___
Are you including with this report a work around for this
problem? ___
Progress Software Technical Support Note # 11477