Oregon Delphi User Group

There is no planned presentation tonight. However, if you want to influence this year’s schedule, discuss programming concepts, debate politics, or hear some home remodeling stories, meet me at the Lorenzen Center Monday night. I’ll be there around 5:30 PM. PRESENTER David Cornelius has been using Borland’s software development tools since the mid-80’s. He is the coordinator of the Oregon Delphi User Group, works for Retail Dimensions, and runs a contract software development business (CorneliusConcepts.

Less than half of our meetings this year have covered Delphi (1 month on FinalBuilder, 1 month skipped, 1 month on Java, and 3 months on PHP), so I decided it would behoove us to finish out the year with an actual Delphi presentation. While trying to figure out what would be a good topic and who I might be able to get up on the platform, I happened across an interesting blog.

Due to the high interest in Content Management Systems (CMSs) and PHP scripting, we’ll spend this month’s meeting discussing them. There won’t be a formal presentation, but there will be a laptop with a working copy of WAMP (Windows/Apache/MySQL/PHP) and at least Drupal and Joomla! loaded. To get you started on a good discussion, here are some web sites for reference you can browse beforehand: Read independent evaluations: CMS Watch Explore and test: Open Source CMS Compare and discuss: CMS Matrix PRESENTER David Cornelius has been using Borland’s software development tools since the mid-80’s.

In our continuing exploration on other programming langages and platforms, we cannot ignore Java. By using the JVM (Java Virtual Machine), the programmer can write once and run (almost) everywhere–at least more places than .NET can currently boast. Developers can write GUI client apps, enhance web pages, and build back-end server systems. Perhaps one of the more appealing aspects for Delphi Developers is the fact that Java is stronly typed and fully object-oriented.

This month, the topic will continue our exploration of PHP. Last month was an introduction, this month we’ll get more advanced. The topic will largely be directed by the audience, but will try to at least touch on the following topics: Setting up PHP, Apache, MySQL on Windows (WAMP) Configuration of PHP.INI (Development vs Production) How to control your web application with .htaccess Security issues We’ll also see some sample web pages generated with PHP and try to address any other topics the group wants to talk about.

PHP - that’s the P from LAMP - is essentially a scripting language used inside HTML code to build dynamic web pages. Tonight’s talk will be an introduction to PHP. Examples of different coding structures will be given, presented from the perspective of what the PHP equivalent is to the familiar Delphi structures. To illustrate these concepts in a practical way we’ll go through the steps to build a simple website for a small store.

If you didn’t get your copy of FinalBuilder in February, come to the meeting in April to learn about setting up batch files with command-line compiler options to automate your build tasks. And even if you do have FinalBuilder, come anyway to learn how to use a free, but commercial-quality setup-building tool, InnoSetup. David Cornelius has been maintaining his own scripts since he started programming in the 80s on DOS PCs.

FinalBuilder is a powerful Automated Build & Release Management tool which makes it easy for software developers to define and maintain a reliable and repeatable build process. FinalBuilder includes integration with version control systems, file and directory operations, iterators, source code compilers, testing tools, database systems, installation tools, as well as actions for deployment over the Internet and CD/DVD burning built in. Don’t forget we’d like to give away a free license of FinalBuilder 4 Professional worth $499 as a door prize.

There will be no “formal” presentation, but we’ll have a couple of laptops available and at least one member will be showing an application that “takes various text files as input, formats them into PDF invoices, statements, etc. and delivers them via email or fax to the customer.” We’d be interested to see what others are working on as well, so please come and share. PRESENTER David Cornelius has been using Borland’s software development tools since the mid-80’s.

Dexter is the next version of Delphi, Delphi 2006. It is a 64-bit compiler supporting the latest Win32 and .NET environments. Come learn about the next version of Pascal/C++/C# compilers from Borland and see ECO III in action (it’s child’s play!). There will be give-aways, including a copy of Delphi 2006. You won’t want to miss it! PRESENTER Anders Ohlsson from Borland Software Corporation (borland.com)

The topics that will be covered during this presentation include: Advantage TDataSet Descendant VCL for .NET, the BDP.NET provider and the native Advantage NET Data Provider. Advantage Database is one of the few database solutions that provide complete support for Delphi 2005. Advantage Version 8.0 is currently in Beta. The new version includes replication, on-line backup, scripting, transaction savepoints, and a newly re-designed Advantage Data Architect. Remember, the local server (peer-to-peer) is FREE and there is a low-priced, easy-to-use web server license.

This month, instead of a technical presentation, we will meet to discuss how to increase membership and participation. This forum serves an important place in the development community, not only for Delphi developers, but for all programmers. However, with attendance dwindling over the last couple of years, the burden of getting good speakers has risen. We will discuss how to make this group more beneficial to the members and what kind of topics are going to serve this commnuity best over the next year or two.

Alessandro Federici from RemObjects Software will present Chrome, the next generation Object Pascal language for the .NET and Mono platforms, and RemObjects Framework, the powerful RAD multi-tier solution. Chrome is the next Generation Object Pascal language for the .NET and Mono Platforms. It combines the elegance of Pascal with the power and flexibility of the Common Language Runtime. By borrowing some elements from languages such as C#, Java and Eiffel and by adding its own language innovations, Chrome greatly boosts the developer’s productivity by allowing to write less and better code.

Lights! Sounds! Monsters! You know you’ve always wanted to be writing games instead of… whatever you’re getting paid for at the moment. Tonight we’ll look at doing graphics in Delphi. The talk will focus on using DirectX for Windows to create 3D graphics and the efforts of the JEDI team to make DirectX more accesable to Delphi programmers. We’ll also touch on input (keyboard, joystick, etc.) and perhaps sound. As for writing Doom 7… well, you have to start somewhere!

Because of dwindling attendance, it’s been difficult to convince anyone to present to the group. Instead of a formal presentation, David Cornelius will be available with Delphi 5, 6, and 2005 for creating sample applications as the group’s discussion leads. Also, he will be willing to show the code behind a new project he’s been working on lately, Project Timer. This small database application uses dbExpress and dbGo to connect to Microsoft SQL Server and helps him keep track of time spent on projects for various clients.

With no specific agenda, but with 3 different versions of Delphi (5, 6, 2005) on my computer and several 3rd-party vendors, bring your questions or a CD of your project and we’ll learn together. PRESENTER David Cornelius has been using Borland’s software development tools since the mid-80’s. He is the coordinator of the Oregon Delphi User Group and runs a contract software development business in Portland. Visit his web site at CorneliusConcepts.

In October, we introduced WebBroker in Delphi. Now, we’ll move those projects over to Kylix. We’ll go a little further in developing the ODUG web site using custom tags in a web template and will have time for general Q&A. Download: PowerPoint Slides Delphi project PRESENTER David Cornelius has been using Borland’s software tools for over 15 years, using mostly the Object Pascal language. He is the current coordinator of the Oregon Delphi Users Group and cofounder of Sohlius, Inc.

A lot has changed with Elevate Software’s popular database engine since we last looked at it. With server procedures, scheduled server events, online backup and restore, Kylix support, custom SQL and filter functions, improved documentation, and much more, DBISAM 4 takes a great database product and makes it incredible! Winning awards year after year, it is often touted as the best BDE replacement for Delphi. But even if you aren’t looking to move up to something more stable and easier to deploy than Paradox or Access, it’s reliability, speed, small footprint, SQL language, and royalty-free distribution license and many other features are reasons enough to choose it over other products.

The votes are in–a new template for the web site has been chosen! The new HTML pages will have WebBroker tags throughout and the resulting pages generated by OdugWebBuilder, a Delphi/Kylix application. The Pascal code contains a reusable base class that can be extended for a variety of databases. In fact, it was first designed to work with DBISAM a couple of years ago, but tonight’s presentation will describe the Firebird version.

Borland will be presenting Delphi 8 in locations throughout the US. We’ll show you all the reasons why you should make Delphi 8 part of your .NET plans. Here’s a very brief taste of what we’ll be looking at: ECO (Enterprise Core Objects) WinForms WebForms (ASP.NET) BDP for .NET (Borland Data Providers) VCL for .NET IDE features Compiler/language feature There will be a special discounted offer at these meetings. You do not want to miss out on the substantial savings!

Here’s your chance to participate in an interactive discussion with Pervasive Software experts Chip Izard and Jim Beecher as they discuss Pervasive’s Data Management Security and Data Integration solutions. What’s in it for you? Just by showing up you’ll learn how to: Reduce the security risks to the data in your apps Manage and integrate data across or beyond your enterprise Deliver timely access to corporate information Don’t know Pervasive? You should.

This month’s presentation will be an interactive discussion on Good Coding Practices. David Cornelius will launch the discussion covering the following topics: Indentation and spacing Good naming conventions Writing robust code And why everyone needs version control! Some example code, both personally written and commercially sold, will be shown–and you’ll get to help decide how well it was written! A free tool for quickly formatting poorly-written code will be shown and a few IDE tricks for speeding up development while preserving readable style will be revealed.

How do users perceive the difference between a rich application and an online resource? What processes should developers use to capture these differences? How are projects affected by the results of these processes? Leo Frishberg, a software developer, usability consultant, and user-centered designer, will talk about user-centered design in the context of the Web vs. the desktop. Using examples from projects in both environments, Leo will point out the similarities and differences in users’ expectations, approaches, and behaviors when faced with an application or online resource.

Many times when people talk about open source, they talk about Linux or having to download source archives, read lengthy HOWTOs and follow cryptic installation instructions. And when people want really easy-to-install and user-friendly tools, they often look first to high-priced ones from big-name companies. But there are two nearly indispensible products that many Delphi developers use which are not only user-friendly and easy to install, but also completely free! The two products discussed tonight are InnoSetup and GExperts.

Given the fact that I don’t have time to put together another presentation and that people are probably tired of listening to me anyway, I’m just going to host a general question-and-answer period, a networking session if you will. We can combine that with attempts stump-the-programmer where anyone can give or take a challenge, man the keyboard and test their Delphi skills. I’ll bring my laptop with Delpi 6 Professional, Firebird, DBISAM, Access, and several third-party components including the TurboPower libraries, Rave Reports, Raize Controls 3, InfoPower 3000, Indy, CodeSite, WPTools, and some custom components I’ve developed.