In this article I want to introduce you the new functionalities from the MBS Xojo Plugins in version 21.4.
DynaPDF
Let's starts with the news from DynaPDF. With the methods CreateTraceFile and AppendTraceFile you can create and append a file that log debugging information. The plugin writes debug messages to this file so you can check which methods you called. The AppendTraceFile method is practical because with this method it is possible to append debug information and not need to override it.
Another new method from the DynaPDFMBS class is the GetInIsTaggedPDF method. It returns true if the currently opened PDF is a tagged PDF.
Memory Block
We have the new method ReadFileMBS for FolderItems to allow you the transfer of a file into a memory block. In the parameters we specify the memory block element in which the result should be stored. As return of the method we get a true if the file was read as a memory block.
In this context, the new method FindByteMBS for memory blocks is also interesting . With this method we can search for given characters in a memory block. In the parameters we specify an array with the characters to be searched in UInt8. Additionally we can specify from which position in the memory block to search. The default is 0 (At the beginning). The method returns the first position in the memory block where there was a hit. In the following example the positions of the first two hits are determined.
Dim m As MemoryBlock = "Hello World"
Dim u() As UInt8
u.Append Asc("e")
u.Append Asc("o")
Dim pos1 As Integer = m.FindByteMBS(u)
Dim pos2 As Integer = m.FindByteMBS(u, pos1+1)
MsgBox "Found position: "+Str(pos1)+" and „+Str(pos2)
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In this article I want to introduce you the new functions from the MBS FileMaker Plugin in version 11.4.
Dictionary
Let's start with the new features in the Dictionary component. Here you can now filter the keys by their beginning or their end. With the function "Dictionary.KeysWithPrefix" you can now get a list of all keys that have a specific beginning. You may have entries like "person.123.firstname" and "person.123.lastname" and by using Dictionary.KeysWithPrefix you can look for "person.123." to find all keys starting with this prefix. The opposite is the case with the function "Dictionary.KeysWithPostfix". In this case the keys are filtered by their end. So, in the previous example, we could filter by .firstname and get "person.123.firstname". The postfix and prefix keys functions allows you to organize things in the dictionaries with e.g. dot notation.
SQL
With the new function SQL.FieldExists you can check if a given field exists that we want to query. To do this, we specify the command reference number and the name of the field in the parameters. If the field exists, we get 1 as return value.
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Stefanie shows how to use our MBS Xojo DynaPDF Plugin in Xojo.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions.
We like to explain everyone how to setup TeamViewer on macOS for remote support.
Go to teamviewer.com and download the Teamviewer app, e.g. teamviewer.dmg. As far as I see you can directly click download on the cookie dialog and then close the website, but the webdesign may change. No need to allow cookies!
Once downloaded, you open the disk image.
Please make sure the domain shown in the GateKeeper dialog is only www.teamviewer.com and nothing different.
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A client got a bit xml file from Swiss government with a list of all registered/permitted medications. A huge XML file with thousands of entries. In order to import those easily, we use our
XML.Import function in
MBS FileMaker Plugin.
We copied the XML Import example database included with our plugin to desktop. We copied the xml file to desktop and renamed it test.xml. Then we open the database and run the script. Since we didn't change it, it will simply look for a file named test.xml and import it. Since the XML file is 50 MB, this takes a while, but the
XML.Import function creates 18 new tables with a lot of fields:
The example has "Import2" as prefix for reasons, but you can change that. We got over 130000 records created within a minute.
The client asked how to get the ID from preparations into the other tables like the Pack table. But then we surprised our client with the magic of FileMaker's relationships. We connect the right parent entries to the UUID field of the parent table. Once all tables are moved in place and all connections are made, the graph looks like this:
As you see limitations table got duplicated, so we can connect it both to preparations and packs.
Once this is setup, we create layouts. A layout for a pack can now show fields from preparation to show which preparation it belongs to.
Also via all that relationships, the table for a preparation can show the first pack, substance and price on the same layout.
Let us know if you have questions and enjoy the magic of those functions.
The end is coming for
OmegaBundle 2021. Don't miss the chance to get this wonderful pack of add-ons for Xojo:
Once the day is done for the last time zones (greetings to our Hawaiian Xojo developers), we can tear down the ads and close the store.
Please make sure all pending orders are paid full until Monday.
Check out the FMTraining.tv website. Richard Carlton and his team do a daily free live stream about FileMaker to watch. And they have a huge library of FileMaker training material to watch and learn all about the Claris FileMaker product family.
A few days ago Christian Schmitz from Monkeybread Software joined a live episode to talk a bit about the MBS FileMaker Plugin. Watch it on YouTube.
We talk a bit about what's new in MBS FileMaker Plugin in version 11.4 and answer user questions.
Do you like this video?
Please let Richard know and send him your wishes or ideas for future live broadcast as well as topics for training videos. And check out the FileMaker Training bundles as well as their new book for FileMaker, updated for 2021.
Nickenich, Germany - (September 7th, 2021) -- MonkeyBread Software today is pleased to announce
MBS FileMaker Plugin 11.4 for macOS, iOS, Linux and Windows, the latest update to their product that is easily the most powerful plugin currently available for Claris FileMaker produce line. As the leading database management solution for Windows, macOS, iOS and the web, the Claris FileMaker Pro Integrated Development Environment supports a plugin architecture that can easily extend the feature set of the application.
MBS FileMaker Plugin 11.4 has been updated and now includes over 6600 different functions, and the versatile plugin has gained more new functions:
We updated our
WordFile functions to store the resulting word file into a container instead of a file with the new
WordFile.WriteContainer function. You can substitute any text in the word file with
WordFile.Substitute function or check whether some text is there with
WordFile.Contains function.
In this release we add thread pooling for Windows. This highly benefits some functions using threads like e.g.
CURL.PerformInBackground. We can reuse threads and lower the memory footprint.
If you have to read plist files on macOS, please check our new
PList functions. We return content as JSON and also allow to write back those plist files.
Our
SendMail functions got an upgrade to produce S/MIME signed emails with new
SendMail.Sign function. For this we also added new
PKey.ReadFromContainer function to read in private keys to sign.
For iOS we added
SharingPanel functions to run the sharing dialog for sending text, files, pictures or URLs to other applications or services, e.g. AirDrop.
We got a new function
Container.Screenshot to take snapshots for WebViewer controls. But this function can also be used for all other named controls on a layout to snapshot content like pictures of text fields.
For DynaPDF we got new functions to set printer settings via new
DynaPDF.Print.SetSetting function. You can check whether an input PDF is a tagged one with the new
DynaPDF.GetInIsTaggedPDF function.
For macOS you can now have the plugin prevent closing the database design dialog while relationship tab is selected. See
SyntaxColoring.DontOpenManageDatabaseDialogWithRelations.SetEnabled function to enable it.
We improved errors printed into trace log, got new
SQL.FieldExists and
SystemInfo.isWindows11 functions, allow backslash for escaping paths in
XML.GetPathValue function and added HEAD as verb for
CURL.SetupAWS and
CURL.SetupOAuth functions.
Finally we updated CURL library to version 7.78.0, DynaPDF to 4.0.58.153 and SQLAPI to 5.1.5.
See
release notes for a complete list of changes.
Nickenich, Germany - (September 7th, 2021) -- MonkeyBread Software today is pleased to announce
MBS Xojo Plugins 21.4 for macOS, Linux and Windows, the latest update to their product that is easily the most powerful plugin collection currently available for Xojo.
MBS Xojo Plugins have been updated and now includes over 2900 classes and 73,000 documented features, and the versatile plugins have gained more new functions:
We updated our
WordFileMBS class to substitute any text in the word file with Substitute method or check if some text is there with Contains method.
In this release we add thread pooling for Windows. This highly benefits some methods using threads like PerformMT in
CURLSMBS to recycle threads and lower the memory footprint.
For Windows we added a
WinMouseFilterMBS class to universally get mouse events for all controls in your applications. Our
WebView2ControlMBS control to use Microsoft Edge/Chrome browser control got new properties for preferences, e.g. to decide whether password fields auto fill.
Our DynaPDF plugin got a DeleteOCGFromDisplayTree method to delete optional content. The GetInIsTaggedPDF method can tell you whether your import PDF is a tagged one. For our Graphics.DrawString integration in PDF we added better code to draw text condensed. Finally we enhanced our tracing feature to append to a log file.
For iOS we got a new
SharingPanelMBS class to show the sharing panel and e.g. post multiple pictures to photos application or send several files via AirDrop. We improved
NSViewMBS class for iOS (using UIView of course) and fixed issues with submitting to the App Store.
We added FieldExists method for
SQLCommandMBS class, the
FindByteMBS method for MemoryBlock taking an array of bytes to look for and we added HEAD as verb for SetupAWS and SetupOAuth method in
CURLSMBS class. The new isWindows11 function in
SystemInformationMBS module may be helpful in the future,
WKPreferencesMBS got more properties and
NSComboBoxControlMBS class got working keydown events.
Finally we updated CURL library to version 7.78.0, DynaPDF to 4.0.58.153 and SQLAPI to 5.1.5.
See
release notes for a complete list of changes.
7. September 2021 - Monkeybread Software veröffentlicht heute das
MBS FileMaker Plugin für FileMaker in Version 11.4, mit inzwischen über 6600 Funktionen eines der größten FileMaker Plugins überhaupt. Hier einige der Neuerungen:
Wir haben unsere
WordFile Funktionen aktualisiert, um die resultierende Word-Datei mit der neuen Funktion
WordFile.WriteContainer in einem Container statt in einer Datei zu speichern. Sie können jeden beliebigen Text in der Word-Datei mit der Funktion
WordFile.Substitute ersetzen oder mit der Funktion
WordFile.Contains prüfen, ob ein Text vorhanden ist.
In dieser Version fügen wir Thread-Pooling für Windows hinzu. Dies kommt einigen Funktionen zugute, die Threads verwenden, wie zum Beispiel
CURL.PerformInBackground. Wir können Threads wiederverwenden und den Speicherbedarf verringern.
Wenn Sie Plist-Dateien unter macOS lesen müssen, probieren Sie bitte unsere neuen
PList Funktionen. Wir geben den Inhalt als JSON zurück und wir können auch JSON als Plist-Datei ausgeben.
Unsere
SendMail Funktionen haben ein Upgrade erhalten, um S/MIME-signierte E-Mails mit der neuen Funktion
SendMail.Sign zu erzeugen. Dazu haben wir auch die neue Funktion
PKey.ReadFromContainer hinzugefügt, um private Schlüssel zum Signieren einzulesen.
Für iOS haben wir
SharingPanel Funktionen hinzugefügt, um den Sharing Dialog zum Senden von Text, Dateien, Bildern oder URLs an andere Anwendungen oder Dienste, z.B. AirDrop zu übergeben.
Wir haben eine neue Funktion
Container.Screenshot, um Schnappschüsse für WebViewer-Steuerelemente zu erstellen. Diese Funktion kann aber auch für alle anderen benannten Controls in einem Layout verwendet werden, um Snapshots von Inhalten wie z.B. Bilder von Textfeldern zu erstellen.
Für DynaPDF gibt es neue Funktionen zum Setzen von Druckereinstellungen über die neue Funktion
DynaPDF.Print.SetSetting. Mit der neuen Funktion
DynaPDF.GetInIsTaggedPDF kann überprüft werden, ob ein Eingabe-PDF ein getaggtes ist.
Unter macOS kann das Plugin nun verhindern, dass der Datenbank-Design-Dialog geschlossen wird, wenn die Registerkarte Beziehung ausgewählt ist. Siehe
SyntaxColoring.DontOpenManageDatabaseDialogWithRelations.SetEnabled Funktion, um dies zu aktivieren.
Wir haben die Ausgabe von Fehlern im Trace-Log verbessert, neue Funktionen
SQL.FieldExists und
SystemInfo.isWindows11 eingeführt, Backslash für das Escaping von Pfaden in der Funktion
XML.GetPathValue zugelassen und HEAD als Verb für die Funktionen
CURL.SetupAWS und
CURL.SetupOAuth hinzugefügt.
Schließlich haben wir die CURL-Bibliothek auf Version 7.78.0, DynaPDF auf 4.0.58.153 und SQLAPI auf 5.1.5 aktualisiert.
Alle Änderungen in den
Release Notes.
Today we want to look on seven different ways on how to implement a function to count the number of space characters in a string. Sounds simple, but depending how you code it, the performance will be much different.
All examples here use BackgroundTasks and NilObjectChecking disabled to avoid extra overhead. If background tasks are enabled, Xojo would insert a call to check for other threads due and we usually disable that in a tight loop as the check needed could take more than what the code inside the loop does. And when we deal with memory blocks below, we don't need to check whether the Memoryblock is nil on every access.
Using Middle
Let's start with the most high level view by using String.Middle function:
Private Function Count1(s as string) As Integer
#Pragma BackgroundTasks False
#Pragma NilObjectChecking False
Dim l As Integer = s.Length-1
Dim c As Integer = 0
For i As Integer = 0 To l
If s.Middle(i, 1) = " " Then
c = c + 1
End If
Next
Return c
End Function
The Middle() function does some more on text processing here like looking how many bytes one UTF-8 character takes. Since our space we look for is just one byte, we don't need that and can optimize by using MiddleBytes later.
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Since some of you are on vacation, the offer got a final extension till 10th September 2021:
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Omegabundle for Xojo 2021 is a collection of the most useful tool sets, add-ons, digital books and components for use with Xojo Inc's Xojo development environment. If purchased separately and not including any additional offers, the total cost would be over $3871. Omegabundle for Xojo 2021 costs $399.99.
Xojo is an award-winning, cross-platform development tool for the Desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux), Web, iOS (iPad/iPhone) and Raspberry Pi. With Xojo, you can create native applications by using drag-and-drop to build your user interface and then one straight-forward programming language to enable the functionality. Xojo is powerful and modern, yet easy to use and learn.
Included Products
- Ohanaware App Wrapper (UPDATED). Prepare your application for the Mac App Store or Web Distribution (macOS only app)
- Ohanaware App Kit (UPDATED). A huge collection of declares and objects that Ohanaware has created over the years to help us with crafting better macOS applications. Your next macOS app starts here!
- ExeWrapper (NEW). Microsoft Authenticode Signing - right from Mac! ExeWrapper enables you to code sign Windows executables on a macOS machine. (macOS only app)
- DMG Canvas (NEW). Drag, drop and design your disk image's appearance and to easily and quickly create a fully assembled disk image ready to ship. (macOS only app)
- GrafittiSuite Desktop Edition (UPDATED). 55 (up from 53 from 2020!) incredible user interface controls for Xojo that add value and improve the professional appeal of your Xojo applications.
- XDL Library (NEW).Get some of the best articles from xDev Library, a brand-new ebook, Xojo Database Collection(XDL-0019), that weighs in at over 400 pages
- MBS Chart Director for Xojo (UPDATED). Professional, interactive, real-time charts in your Xojo applications on Mac, Windows and Linux. Desktop, Console and Web projects.
- MBS DynaPDF Starter Edition for Xojo (UPDATED). Create PDF files with your applications on Mac, Windows and Linux. Desktop, Console and Web projects.
- Paradigma Software Valentina Studio Pro 11 (UPDATED). Ultimate reports designer, database administration and forms creation tool that runs on all three operating systems - Windows, macOS, Linux. Select one OS version.
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- Paradigma Software Valentina Reports ADK 10for Xojo (UPDATED). Generate visually rich reports as graphics, web pages or PDF from your Xojo applications on Windows, macOS, Linux including Raspberry PI! Also works with local SQLite files and as a client to Valentina Server.
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- xDev Magazine (UPDATED). Get back issues and a year’s subscription to xDev Magazine, the professional's magazine for developing with Xojo.
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New in this prerelease of the 21.4 plugins:
- Added ReadFileMBS for reading file data into MemoryBlock.
- Updated SQLAPI to version 5.1.5.
- Added FieldExists method to SQLCommandMBS class.
- Fixed Graphics.DrawString to better draw condensed text for DynaPDFMBS class.
- Added isWindows11 function to SystemInformationMBS module.
- Fixed problems with AVFoundation Plugin and a conflicting function name for iOS apps.
Download:
monkeybreadsoftware.com/xojo/download/plugin/Prerelease/ or
from Dropbox.
Or ask us to be added to our shared Dropbox folder.
New in this prerelease of version 11.4 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
Download at
monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in
Dropbox folder or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.
The September/October (19.5) issue of xDev Magazine is now available. Here's a quick preview of what's inside:
Often-Used Calculations by Markus Winter
Markus explores how to create an interface for frequently-used calcuations.
How to Make a Bad App by Marc Zeedar
It takes great effort to make a truly bad app. Marc explains just how to do it!
A Xojo Business Solutions Platform by Steve Pardoe
More than a year in the making, Steve explains how he built a business platform using Xojo.
Exploring Cryptography, Part 3 by Eugene Dakin
In his series on cryptography, Eugene explores something called the Polyalphabetic Substitution Cipher.
An Idea Xojo's Future by Markus Winter
Markus presents a radical proposal for Xojo's future.
Plus: Xojo 2021R2.1, rotating PDFs, SQLite, embedded Javascripts, native versus not, machine unlearning, and much more!
About 14 years ago we started the development of our DynaPDF Plugin.
After a year of development, the plugin was released to the public on 1st Sep 2007 with MBS Plugin 7.6pr1.
This plugin has been a big success for us and provides the PDF engine to thousands of Xojo applications around the world. Based on user feedback we got a lot of functions over the years like the raster engine, PDF/A conversion and ZUGFeRD support.
Please make sure you try the plugin, make it part of your toolbox and start to enjoy all the PDF features you can add to your application.
PS: The
OmegaBundle 2021 includes a DynaPDF Starter license and is a great way to get a license.
Have you noticed changes in the
Xojo Roadmap?
There is a new item showing up since today:
Build macOS apps from Windows and Linux
The ability to build and remote debug macOS apps from Windows and Linux
As you may know running the macOS linker running on Windows was not supported by LLVM for the last years. Since Xojo uses LLVM to power their compiler, they had to wait till this project comes to a point, where it is working.
This change may also help to get remote debugging working from Windows to macOS.
Also on the horizon is the dark mode support for Windows, which is also listed there.
Let's look what shows up in the 2021r3 pre-release version soon.
If you like to be pre-release tester, you can contact Xojo as shown in
this blog post.
New in this prerelease of the 21.4 plugins:
- Add thread pooling for Windows to be used for multi threaded methods.
- Added SharingPanelMBS class for sharing on iOS.
- Fixed a crash in JSONMBS class returning big JSON arrays.
- Fixed problem on Windows with GraphicsMagick initialization.
- Updated DynaPDF to version 4.0.58.153.
- Moved WindowsQOSMBS class into its own plugin part, split from WindowsProxy plugin part.
- Implemented thread pool for Windows to be used for our MT methods, so threads get reused.
Download:
monkeybreadsoftware.com/xojo/download/plugin/Prerelease/ or
from Dropbox.
Or ask us to be added to our shared Dropbox folder.
New in this prerelease of version 11.4 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
Download at
monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in
Dropbox folder or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.
For our
MBS Xojo Plugins we add a thread pooling for Windows. Instead of having the plugin create threads if needed for doing work and reuse them if needed.
That may help for all the MT methods we have. For example if you use
MBS Xojo CURL Plugin and the PerformMT method there. If you run multiple transfers in background using this, we will now recycle threads. Also for some of our functions doing multi threaded processing like TransformMT for LCMS, it may use multiple threads to do work in parallel.
We use one thread pool for all our plugins. As Windows manages that thread pool, it can add and remove threads as needed and adjust it depending to the system load. Another benefit seems to be that Windows leaks memory per thread, so creating and destroying a lot of threads can be a problem, which should now be fixed.
For macOS and iOS, we had thread pooling before via
Grand Central Dispatch.
Please try next pre-release version of the plugin to see how it works for you.
