Data Access Worldwide is pleased to announce the availability of Visual
DataFlex 12.1 - Alpha 1



You can download the latest build at:



ftp://ftp.dataaccess.com/pub/product...ftware/testing



We have placed the documentation directly into the help system (rather
than as separate files) so that it is easier to access during your use
of Visual DataFlex 12.1. When the installation is completed, the help
system will launch automatically. Please read the Alpha documentation
completely.



For information and discussion, use the Visual DataFlex 12.1 Testing
newsgroup:



news://news.dataaccess.com/visual-dataflex-12-testing



Best regards,



Data Access Worldwide



What's New in Visual DataFlex 12.1?



The main goal of the Visual DataFlex 12.1 project is to provide
developers with a way to give their existing applications an exciting
new interface through state-of-the-art menus, toolbars and statusbars.



In the Visual DataFlex 12.0 we used various Codejock controls to bring
just such an interface into the Studio. Codejock provides commandbars
(menu and toolbar controls), a skinning framework, docking panes,
property grids and various other high-quality components. They provide
them as both MFC classes (what we use in the Studio) and Active/X
controls (how you will use them in your applications).



Visual DataFlex 12.1 includes new menu and toolbar classes that use the
Codejock controls and a visual menu / toolbar designer in the Studio.



Components of the New Menu System



Codejock Xtreme CommandBars - Commandbars include a menubar, toolbars, a
statusbar and context menus. The underlying technology for the
commandbar system is Codejock Software's Xtreme CommandBars technology.
These COM classes have been imported using the Visual DataFlex Import
Active/x functionality.



You can go to the Codejock Software web site ( www.codejock.com ) to
read more about the company and their complete line of components.



New Classes - An additional layer of classes wraps the imported COM
classes. This provides an interface that is easy to use and easy to
convert existing menus. The class features include:

* Menu, toolbars, statusbar and context menus
* Support for Visual themes
* Supports MDI / client-area style applications and can be
embedded in other dialogs
* User configurable at runtime: Menubar and toolbars are dockable
and floatable and can be edited at runtime. You can save and restore
layouts
* Many styles of menu and toolbar items supported; Button (a
normal menu/toolbar item), Popup menu (sub-menus), Split Button,
Checkbox, Combo, Edit, Label and Radio.
* Menu and toolbar item support includes captions, tooltips,
statusbar descriptions and accelerator keys. It is easy to enable,
disable, hide and check items. Updates can be managed via a timer. There
is a simple selection process (OnExecute).
* Image Support to Bitmaps and Icons with automatic and manual
support for item's state (normal, disabled, selected, checked, pressed).
You can display text, images or both.
* Simple class structure makes it easy to visualize and easy to
maintain object structures
* Support for static and dynamic menus and toolbars
* Powerful sub-class menu item support with a library of standard
items provided
* Highly customizable
* The full Codejock COM interface is accessible

Visual Designer - The Studio provides full visual modeling of menubar
and menu items, toolbars and toolbar items, context menus and the
statusbar. The features include:

* Components can be dragged and dropped from class palette
* New menu, toolbar and statusbar items are easily created
* Items are visually added, moved, copied and deleted
* Support for all item control types
* Property Panel is used to maintain bar and item properties
* Menu items are created when view and reports are added
* Easy to manually add existing components to menus and toolbars
* Easy to select new items from sub-classes
* Templates provided for standard menu systems (plus you can
create your own custom templates)

Studio Enhancements

* Enhanced Component Testing - The Studio supports a more
streamlined method for stand-alone testing of View and Report
components.
* Multi-File Find and Replace
* Migrating Workspaces to 12.1

DateTime - Support for the DateTime data type in the database is
provided when a combination of Visual DataFlex 12.1 and the 5.0
revisions of the MSSQL, DB2 and ODBC Connectivity Kits are used. The
changes made to support this include:

* The connect wizard will always generate DateTime columns if the
native type is DateTime.
* Database Builder allows you to set a column's type to DateTime.


Examples - All of the examples have been converted to use the new menu
system.



Connectivity - The development and testing licenses for MSSQL, DB2 and
ODBC that are part of the Visual DataFlex Studio have been upgraded to
the 5.0 revisions.



General - All executable programs provided as part of Visual DataFlex
are digitally signed.