Best Software is running a customer satisfaction survey that they would like your input on. Please take a few minutes to fill it out as your input is valuable to them and can only help make ProvideX a stronger product.

Ok, so "Reloaded" is getting lots of use lately with the Matrix movies and with the recent changes to the X-Men lineup of comics @ Marvel - so ignore the title - but download the browser now!

    Check back soon for a review of how you can get the most out of this browser in your daily activities. [Note: Firefox is not a product of Nth Dimension, we're just in love with it]

    With Microsoft sending SP2 for XP gold on Friday and with it being available for download via WindowsUpdate (New Version 5) as early as next week are you ready for it to be in your customers hands? If you're a subscriber to MSDN, then you've probably already tested your application with an earlier beta version of it, but if not you'll want to schedule some time this week to make sure your application runs smoothly, and to have your technical staff review the new features to be ready for those calls from customers.

    Check out Microsoft's page for Windows XP Service Pack 2.

    On a related note, SP1 of Office 2003 has recently been released as well. Review this knowledge base article for the full contents of everything that was included in Office 2003 SP1.

    Tonight's meetup is still happening, even if we didn't get 5 RSVP's on the website in time. See everyone @ Yorkland Station around 8. If you've never been out to a meetup with the group before, drop me an email and I'll give you the details. It's lots of fun so come on out!

This is a slick little add-on that allows you to display pop-up messages just like Windows and MSN Messenger. These pop-up's are called 'toast' messages due to the way that they pop out of the screen with your information.

    Give updates to your users quickly and easily, in an unobtrusive way.

    You have complete control over the message itself, the colours, images, sound and background of the message so you can brand it and customize it as you wish.

    Hover over the screen shot to the right to see a demo of the Toast action. Note that this works on Unix servers as well via WindX. The placement of the toast message is dependant on the location of the users window start bar.

The voting is in, the ballots counted and this month's Business Basic meetup (Toronto Chapter) will be taking place at the 'Butlers Pantry'. See here for a map but it's just beside Honest Ed's @ Bloor and Bathurst. I've never been to this location, but it's always an adventure to try out new places. I'll see you all there on Wednesday the 12th @ 8pm.     If you're in another city, check out the site to see if there were enough votes to get a meetup scheduled, and if not, make sure you sign up and vote for your own meetup next month.

    I'd like to take this opportunity to announce a number of the new features that are now available here on Nth Dimension.

    Firstly, we are proud to unveil our articles page. This is a section, similar to our code and FAQ sections but will take a single topic and go indepth in reviewing it, with a focus on how it will be important to your business. To kick the section off we have our "Report on the Future of ProvideX - Version 7"

    Next up is our search feature. We've consolidated the articles, code, and faq's into a single database so that they are all quickly searchable for your keywords. Now admittedly it's not very smart just yet, we'll improve it as we go along - please send your suggestions.

    Now, you may notice that each of those new features does require one extra step on your part however, you must register (it's free!) and login to experience the full benefit. Another benefit of registering is you will get fewer nag messages as you proceed through the site. It was a bit unfortunate that I had to implemented these, but they are mostly unobtrusive and just serve as a reminder to you as you surf the site that it does require a lot of work on our part to maintain and that any contribution is worth while (see the Donation Button on the side bar).

    Speaking of the sidebar, you'll notice a few changes over there too! The news page headlines are now available at the top of the list so if you're like 80% of our visits and just stay on the example code page you'll still be able to stay on top of what's happening at the rest of the site. Below the headlines you'll see the rotating items of what's new or what's popular in the other sections. The google ads that used to be down the side bar are now displayed along the bottom of the page as well.

    Another thing along the bottom of some of the pages you'll notice are the 'Related Items' section which will try to cross-link you to other items on similar topics.

    A number of other minor, most cosmetic, some organization changes where made as well to make your stay with us more pleasant. Please let us know any feedback on the changes (especially if you notice any typos) - thanks!

     - Chris Nolan

    ProvideX will be releasing two significant items in the next couple of weeks. First is JavX 2.0 which is wrapping up it's beta cycle this week and the second, which we just heard about today, is an über manual download. They've collected all of the manuals, references, conference presentations and readme's into a single PDF download collection that is supposed to be fully searchable (apparently the download will be over 50mb). I'm excited about that! More about each as information is available.

    Today was a busy day for Best. They issued two new downloads on their site. The new ProvideX ODBC Manual, and an update to v6 for Windows and WindX only that corrects a couple of major issues (version 6.00.0009) (Don't worry that when you try to download the file and it says it was dated back in March, it really is the new download on the site).

    I haven't reviewed the new ODBC manual yet, but it has been described as

This brand new document covers the following topics in detail:

• Installation & Activation Procedures
• Local & Client Configuration
• Server Configuration (Windows and UNIX/Linux)
• Table Definitions (Data Dictionary & INI file)
• SQL Syntax Table With Example SQL Statements

    The changes to ProvideX are in the new readme file (still named pvx600.txt) and are the following items

    1.152 - Corrected an issue where PRINT 'PICTURE'() to a *WINPRT* device, did not always output the picture. The issue is very dependant on the Printer Drivers in use, and the revision of the GDI layer in Windows. Not every OS or installation will suffer from this issue due to a mix of dependancies.

    2.5 - Correction for ERR=41 occuring, when doing file I/O across a WindX connection, with V6 WindX.

    2.6 - Allowed for a longer (45 second) delay, rather than a short (5 second) delay for incoming data, when in the middle of a packet transmission. Previously this would show as a CRC error, rather than a timing error. A high-latency or congested network, could see spurious CRC Errors on WindX clients.

    2.7 - Corrected an issue where WindX in Telnet mode, may not complete its connection to a server, when setting the Terminal Type, and the telnet server daemon asked 2 or more telnet questions requiring responses at the same time, when those questions happened to arrive together, and the terminal type question was not the first question.

    11.5 - Corrections to the ASCII Character mode interface

    11.6 - Modifications to the Buffer Management within the App Server Daemon to allow for faster buffer draining to the outlying workstations, as well it now avoids giving "preferential" treatment to any given instance of ProvideX on any one workstation.

    11.7 - Corrections in WindX for using SSL connections to a UNIX/Linux App Server.

    11.8 - Corrected a problem where the Allow Client to Set Start-In Directory was not being saved when configuring an Application.

    11.9 - Corrections to App Server / WindX where a V6 WindX would not display log-in screens.

This weeks business basic meetup in Toronto is on at the Naughty Foxes again. Wednesday @ 8pm. See you there! If you haven't come out to a meetup yet, why wait? If you have any questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer them for you.

    I just came across a reference to ProvideX available on Builder.com. This is good to see, such a large and popular site like Builder.com having a listing for ProvideX (even if all it has is a short write-up and links to download the out of date version (they link to 5.14 instead of 6). Slowly and surely ProvideX is gaining popularity. You heard it here first.

    Just wanted to let you know that I'll be out of town (and country) on business this week so will not be able to response as quickly as usual to emails and phone calls. I appreciate the understanding in the matter. Happy Easter as well!

    I'll be boarding my plane in a little while. I'm all packed and have my laptop already, and a bunch of brochures printed. I'm looking forward to meeting many of you, and seeing some familar faces again over the next few days. I'm going to be stuck to my booth a lot so won't be able to roam, so be sure to come by and say 'hi!'. I'm @ booth #3, so as you enter the area, it's on the row to your left and the third down along the left (or so my map says, I haven't seen it yet).

    During the conference be sure to check out http://direxions.pvxhost.com/ for regular updates, photos uploaded direct from the conference, and some summaries about the sessions. Did you notice the new logo in the top left - just in time for the conference? Ok, so it looks a lot like the last one, but it's better resolution, and the text is a different font ;-)

    For all my customers that won't be attending Direxions, I want to apologize in advance if I'm unable to get back to you in a timely manner while I'm there. I'm not 100% sure if I'll be connected during the day or not, so may only have email in the evening and I believe my mobile can only make outgoing calls, it can't receive incoming so I'll have to check messages and do my best. I appreciate you understanding in this matter.

    Viva Las Vegas!

    Today Best Software Canada announced the release of version 6.00 of ProvideX! Nth Dimension would like to congratulate them on this great release, and all the exciting new features that have been included.

    Please visit our example code area to find a number of example programs showing off some of the new features, with more to come over the coming weeks after we return from DireXions.

    Here is a partial list of the new features

ProvideX Language:

    - EFF - Enhanced File Format

        - Single file up to 504GB each

        - 64-Bit File structure

        - Increased number of keys and segments 

        - Uses new Shadow Page technique

    - Output directly to PDF

        - Built-in support for Postscript Document Format

    - Program Libraries 

        - Single library file that contains entire sets of 

          ProvideX programs

    - User-customizable message box

    - Major enhancements to Grid and Tree View controls

    - Load-On-Demand for List Boxes and List Views

    - 255-Colour support for the Text Plane

    - Gradient Fills

    - Remote object support through WindX

    - 2 billion character data lengths to WindX

    - Enhanced picture and icon support

    - Printer margin support

    - DSN-less ODBC connections

    - Dynamic loading Oracle OCI interface

    - Dynamic loading SSL for UNIX/Linux

    - Bi-direction pipe support for UNIX/Linux

    - Enhanced debugging

    - 10 million element arrays

    ... and much more.

    

    
NOMADS:

     - Load-On Demand Lists

     - Background Grid and List Box loading

     - Object persistence

     - COM controls

     ... and much more.

    

    
ProvideX Report Writer - New for Version 6

    
ProvideX Web Server

     - Character mode configuration support

     - Logging

     - Virtual paths

     - SSL usage under UNIX/Linux

    

    
ProvideX Application Server

     - Character mode configuration support

     - SSL usage under UNIX/Linux

    

    At the seminar I was at yesterday the idea of globalization was quickly mentioned. I thought it was a good idea so have quickly implemented a tiny bit of my own on the site. Up in the header, next to the date, you'll now be greeted with a "Welcome" message in your preferred language. So far I've added English, Canadian English, Australian English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian as those are my majority of my site's visitors. If you notice I've spelt your greeting wrong, or have selected the wrong word even (My Apologies in advance), please let me know.

    Just a quick notice. I'm going to be tired up in seminars the 25th (Microsoft: Securing Web Applications, Keynote by Steve Ballmer), and 27th (IBM: Web Services) of Feb so won't be able to get back to you in a timely fashion. Thank you for your patience.

    If you missed the version 6 preview presentation this afternoon online, or didn't register in time to make it in, check out the slide show screen over @ the Direxions Attendees Page

    Voting is closed, and it was a tie again between Naughty Foxes (the cop bar) and SpaHa, Naught Foxes won out. I'm not sure how they handle ties, but the last 2 times it's gone to the Naughty Foxes. And really guys, if you haven't come out yet it's a pub, not a strip club. See http://bbasic.meetup.com/ for the details, or if you're not in the Toronto area to see where your local meetup is.

    Nth Dimension is pleased to announce it is co-sponsoring the Direxions Attendees Page again this year. Check the site out if you are going to be attending Direxions this year or are just a regular poster on the ProvideX support mailing list to view, and join, a list of your fellows. All the code is done using features of PVXHost so if you like what you see, head over there to sign up for your first month free to experience it yourself.

    Although not the primary focus of Nth Dimension, we are able to providex customization, consultation, and support to PointForce's WinSol application so I've created a sub page here to give some information about how we can customize WinSol for you.

Nth Dimension and PVXHost will be sharing a booth at this year's Direxions - The Best Software/ProvideX Technical Conference - taking place in Las Vegas, NV March 6-10. Be sure to visit our booth to get free copies of the toolkits, and to sign up for your first month free on PVXHost - also to enter the draw for extended free time on PVXHost. Look forward to seeing everyone again, and meeting all the new faces!