SDSI - Synergetic Data Systems, Inc. launched a new website recently. If you haven't visited in a while, check it out. They are the makers of UnForm and General which many of you are familiar with.

    Allen of SDSI recently contributed an MD5 function to our code section.

    I just wanted to take a moment to thank Steve Litwak of Coast Data Systems for sending a donation in. Hundreds of visitors a week come to the site for information, example code and help with ProvideX - often saving themselves hours of struggle, or discovering something new that will benefit their business. Steve felt it was worth it. Do you?

    While I'm at it I'll thank past donators Stephane Devouard of Optims and Phil Whirley of BCS. There might have been one or two others a long time that have slipped my mind, if so please accept my apologies.

    If you're a fan of 'vim' (Popular variant of the Unix 'vi' editor) and want some syntax highlighting, you can find it here. Too bad the author of the file has a bad attitude about the language :-(

    Another syntax file we already have on the site for Ultraedit.

The Toronto Business Basic Meetup is taking place next week. Wed, Feb 9th @ 7pm @ Stoney's Bar & Grill at Yonge & Sheppard. If you haven't already, please RVSP at the meetup site so I can make sure to let the place know ahead of time in case we have a large group.

    Why might I suspect we'll have a larger than normal group? Well, Mike King and his wife Rosalba will be coming out to join us. Now that he doesn't have his monthly meetings in LA the same week he'll be able to come out more often to the user group.

    For those that haven't come out to a meetup before, it's very informal. Just a group of business basic programmers getting together to hang out. Some of us order dinner, others just order drinks. It's not all shop-talk either as most of the regulars are independants who are stuck in the office and/or at clients all day and don't get a chance to interact with their peers all that often.

    Hope to see you there.

    In follow-up to the announcement last week of Mike King leaving ProvideX, here is the note that George Riviere sent to all of the Master Developers with a bit more detail than what was in the first note. I know that it has helped answer many of my questions so I'm happy to be able to share it here for all of us non-MAS related people.

    Also, if you haven't already, check out Mike's new site at PVXPlus.com for even more information. I'm having lunch with him early next week and should be able to share some more news then.

     A good discussion was had on the mailing list today when Dave raised a question about where to go if netmeeting isn't available, as Microsoft as discontinued support for it as they replace it with some newer products.

    The major response has come back in favour of VNC, and there were opinions on the various versions and distributions available out there. RealVNC is the 'official' one, and they have a limited version that is freely available. If you want the security features, you need to go with the enterprise version (you can get a quote on their site). If you already have a VPN setup to the client, you probably don't need the security features (unless you're paranoid about local sniffers). A strength of RealVNC mentioned was the clipboard integration. As I type this on my Mac, I'm copying URL's from the emails on my PC and pasting them directly here - no fuss, no hassle. My understanding of VNC however is that it's an open standard (thus the proliferation of clients & servers) so the interoperability of each should be compatible back and forth.

    PCAnywhere which in the early 90s was the leader on the PC side seems to have not gotten too many votes. Perhaps it was the price point? A know a large # of people too that still just support off directly connecting to the unix server and anything PC related they just do over the phone. Perhaps this thread will give them the opportunity to explore a few other options. We all know that it can be difficult sometimes getting a user to type in PrintSpaceANineDollarSign. It only takes minutes to setup VNC the first time, and less after that.

    The 'Ask for Assistance' feature of MSN Messenger was mentioned. This can work if the user already has a passport account etc, which many won't have. Also, a number of organizations do not allow instant messaging applications as part of their corporate policy so you could hit resistance using this method. Not to mention having all your clients on your contact list could get disruptive.

    Thought not brought up in the conversation today, I know that a # of clients also have agreements with some of the web & java based providers of these types of services. In this case you pay the 3rd party a support agreement monthly and your staff have accounts on their system which they login to and start a session. The client then connects to the website and connects to your session. The benefit of these types of systems if you eliminate most of the connection/firewall related issues you'll run into occasionally with the others.

    Another products mentioned: Remote Adminstrator (AKA "radmin")
TridiaVNC - Tridia was known in our cirlces years ago for the DoubleView software on unix systems which would allow you to take control of a terminals session and provide support, so they know the business well.
tightVNC
DameWare Mini Remote Control
UltraVNC

    Any of us that carries a laptop always has the worry in the back of their mind that it'll get stolen. A couple of Brits have thought up a way that they think will help prevent potential thieves casing your computer. Instead of carrying around your normal Targus case or similar brand, throw it in a Power Pizza box. That's right, they have you put your laptop in a specially designed pizza box and carry around. When you leave the house, pretend you're taking out the trash. When you come home @ night, act as if you've got a hot one for the family. Don't worry about the neighbours thinking you eat pizza 7 days a week. Or the clients who want a slice every time you show up for a meeting.

    The first thing that crossed my mind was: this will just help thieves! In larger offices it's not uncommon for a pizza delivery to come in around lunch time. Pretend that's what you're doing, walk around to an empty cubicle, load up the laptop and out you go with the trash. Or, even if one wanted to steal from their own company where you'd normally never be able to get a computer out past security it'd make it take much easier.

     As you may have noticed the site looks a little bit different this morning. I've upgraded the blogkit to my new version 2. I'll get around to documenting that soon, but you can see some of the features already. You'll notice that along the header of each news item is a link to comments, and a list of categories. You can click on the "comment" and be taken to the input form where you can leave your thoughts about each of the posts. Currently this is only available on the news items and not the articles/code/faq. Sorry it's not integrated with the site login yet so you don't have to re-enter your information. For any category listed, you can click on it to see previous posts in the same category.

    Along with the kit, comes the archive. Here you can see all posts every made, or grouped by category, or date. There is also a feature to search the posts. Note again that this isn't integrated with the main search bar above yet.

    Another feature, is the RSS Feed. For those of you that read lots of sites and like to stay up to date you may already be familiar with this technology. Review the specs and get some more details. If you're using Firefox you can click the RSS icon in the bottom right corner too.

    Please let me know if you find that I've broken any of the other features of the site with this change, or if you have any questions.

    A colleague sent over this link to an article titled So you want to be a consultant...? By Steve Friedl

    It's all stuff most of us already know... but it can't hurt to review every once in a while either.

    Here's the intro: ...I've been a consultant of one form or another since 1985 when I started my old company, V-Systems, with a friend from college, and actually did bits and pieces of consulting as early as 1982. I have been asked often about the business, and I decided to write this up

    The following announcement was made on the mailing list this evening

It is with mixed emotions I announce that Mike King is stepping down as V.P. & G.M. of the ProvideX Division at Best Software to pursue further entrepreneurial opportunities. As the founder and original developer, Mike has seen the ProvideX language flourish, and he will continue to play an important role in its on-going growth through his next career move to the distribution and development side of the business. The ProvideX product will continue to benefit from Mike's talents and expertise as he works with us to enhance and support our development efforts on a consulting basis. Please join me in wishing Mike further success in his new endeavors.

    I am very pleased to announce that Alan Bryant is expanding his role as Vice President of Extended Solutions to take on the additional responsibility of heading up ProvideX. Alan's proven leadership, extensive understanding of channel sales, and familiarity with both ProvideX and Best Software will be an outstanding benefit to us all. Alan's wealth of experience within Best Software and as a very successful business partner and developer prior to joining the Best Software family makes this a natural transition. Please join me in congratulating Alan Bryant on his promotion.

    We are excited about the continuing relationship we will have with Mike King, and the new leadership that Alan Bryant brings to ProvideX. As always, we look forward to your continuing support and thank you for the successes we've built together.

    Best regards,
Himanshu Palsule
Senior Vice President and General Manager
Mid-Market Accounting Solutions

    Needless to say, it has come as a bit of a shock, but not completely un-foreseen. The challenge ahead will be to not let this change effect the way ProvideX is run. Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

    And of course the rumours will start to fly too until we hear more about what Mike has up his sleave.

    I've only worked with Alan once or twice in the past, and that was before he moved over to Best. Maybe they'll have a little welcome party next time he comes to town?

    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!

    Check out the "Top Downloads" bar to the right, this will keep track of the most popular ProvideX code downloads on the site and is automatically updated. As well as the "New Downloads" bar which will show you the newest, or the most recently updated additions to the site.

    Please check out the Zip Toolkit page for full documentation on this new kit and to download a demo version!

A sister venture to Nth Dimension has been launched over at http://pvxhost.com/ to enable you to host ProvideX based websites affordably! Check it out