View from the Edge

Check out the latest Forrester Consulting study

We wanted to find out more about the economic impact that Progress Partners may realize by building applications with OpenEdge versus using a non-Progress platform. To help us, we enlisted Forrester Consulting to do some research. You can see what they discovered in this new report:  The Total Economic Impact™ of Progress Software OpenEdge Platform. Among the revealing findings:

• Developing with OpenEdge was shown to be 40% more  productive than alternative platforms
• ISVs choosing OpenEdge are able to deliver their  application 30% faster to market than when using an alternative platform
• Once deployed the support staff productivity gain is 80%  as compared to alternative platforms

Get the full report to learn more.

Our New Year’s Gift to You…

Now that the holiday rush is over (phew!), we wanted to remind you that the latest version of OpenEdge is now available!   This release, version 10.2B, builds on previous OpenEdge 10 releases to further increase developer productivity, while still reducing the total cost of ownership of the business application.  We’ve added capabilities to fortify application security and compliance – a must have for SaaS. Other new features and enhancements will enable you to: 

·     Deliver applications that comply with the latest data privacy regulations

·     Simplify the deployment of applications via the Web

·     Increase visibility into operations

·     Accelerate delivery of service-based applications  

Making the upgrade is a no brainer. As one customer, Carl Verbiest from CCE NV says “As always what I love most about a new version, is you just change the executable and you’re up and running with existing code in a new OpenEdge version. You can use the new 10.2B features where needed without the need to rewrite you existing application – the migration is quick and easy”. 

So check it out.   Contact your account rep for more information or visit Progress.com.

Australia The Tour, Part 2: Brisbane

Today we swapped sun soaked Brisbane for rain soaked Melbourne as we continue on our 3 city Australian Exchange tour.  Our final set of presentations are tomorrow (Friday) before we make the long journey back to Boston. OK, I know, you have no sympathy :)

But back to yesterday.  Brisbane was completely booked with once again 50+ people attending the day long event.  Brisbane certainly has it's own vibe, a little more relaxed than Sydney, but no less eager to participate.  During the tour I've been fortunate enough to share the OpenEdge roadmap detailing some of our thoughts and ideas for the next generation of OpenEdge.  Out of the potentially many new features, the one stand out proposal that generates the most questions & excitement is that of Multi-Tenancy.  Even for those not yet considering Software as a Service (SaaS), the thought of OpenEdge as a platform having built-in Multi-Tenancy capabilities right out of the box is a game changer.  Especially, if as hoped, it can be introduced in such a way that means little to no application changes for the thousands of OpenEdge applications out there today.  This feature alone would consolidate OpenEdge's leadership in the SaaS space offering end-users a huge library of Multi-Tenant applications almost over night.

As we've seen from other conferences, including the recent Exchange Online, the current hot feature in the product today is the OpenEdge GUI for .NET.  Shelley is constantly presenting to packed rooms, full of partners & direct customers eager to know how to make use of this great feature.  I had no personal involvement in the project that created it whatsoever, but each time I sit at the back of the room and listen to Shelley go through her pitch, my mind is always blown away by the engineering triumph that basically allows the running of a Visual Studio environment in OpenEdge Architect which is based upon Eclipse.  Not only that, but the fact that you can mix & match existing OpenEdge GUI with this next generation OpenEdge GUI for .NET is just a testament to the technical skills within Progress.  

As with Sydney, it was also good to see by show of hands how many people are currently using OpenEdge 10 and OpenEdge Architect.  I won't get on my soapbox again, but still it's good to see!

From a purely personal perspective, I'm also impressed by the number of people that have taken the OpenEdge Reference Architecture (OERA) to heart and are really embracing it's principles as they take their applications forwards.  One of the challenges we always face is knowing how well our best practices materials are being received, and used, so events like this give me the opportunity to talk to partners and gauge feedback.  So if you ever see me at any of our events feel free to grab me and give feedback.  I won't bite, promise!

We had a fantastic time in Brisbane and certainly from the feedback at the end of day Cocktail party, the attendees were going home happy after a full days content. Or maybe that was just the free booze talking!!

So tomorrow is our final day and if it's anything like the past few days it will be a blast.  We did by the way gain our hour back when we flew south from Brisbane to Melbourne, not that I still understand how it works.  I had some discussions at the cocktail party about this, but again all the reasons seemed to tie back to the cows!  Either that, or it's all about reducing the hours of sun light so as not to fade curtains!!

As always, thanks for reading

Mike

Leveraging all the OpenEdge Architect Has to Offer

I recently came back from a trip to Europe where I presented the OpenEdge Strategy and Roadmap at the ProAlpha user conference held in Frankfurt, as well as at the OpenEdge 10.2A Partner Technical Forum held in Frankfurt and Vienna.  And while it is always fun to be able to talk about our strategy and roadmap with customers, let me say what I found most impressive was seeing the way that our strategy is really starting to payoff for many of our customers specifically in the way they have enhanced and extended the functionality that is provided by OpenEdge Architect to provide their own purposed tools in OpenEdge Architect’s Eclipse-base framework.

For example, Gunnar Schug from ProAlpha discussed with me how they are working on building their own tools Eclipse-based tools for OpenEdge Architect that do code analysis to ensure that they fit in with ProAlpha’s coding conventions.  ProAlpha is also leveraging the Mylin Eclipse plugin to improve and automate task management as part of the SDLC lifecycle.

Robert Prediger from ic4b AG demonstrated his Web4Biz framework and showed how he used the BackBase Eclipse plugin to build an Ajax interface for his OpenEdge Content Management System application.  The back-end architecture is all OpenEdge ABL and Application Server driven.

Klaus de Vries and Klaus Erichsen from IAP demonstrated their OF-1 framework which allows an OpenEdge developer to generate an OpenEdge GUI, an OpenEdge GUI for .NET, Java, and an Ajax UI from a common model, based on common visual designer, and have integrated this all into OpenEdge Architect.

Mike Fechner  from  Consultingwerk  focuses his time  on mentoring application partners to embrace the new OpenEdge 10.2A capabilities. During the forum he demonstrated his Dynamics for .NET framework showing how he has extended the Dynamics framework to support the OpenEdge GUI for .NET interface.

He also introduced “WinKit – Windows Integration Toolkit”, which simplifies the programming model when using the new OpenEdge GUI for .NET feature by adding a “productivity layer”,  and also takes advantage of  smart coexistence capabilities to run classic OpenEdge GUI Windows in an OpenEdge GUI for .NET MDI container. 

He built and developed these controls using the OpenEdge GUI for .NET capabilities built into OpenEdge Architect, but the other great thing is because the visual designer built into OpenEdge Architect is so extensible, he can access these new controls directly in the visual designer itself.

But a slick user interface needs a powerful business application in order to be useful, and Mike is working very closely with Thomas Wurl from Taste IT Consulting for that part. Together they have set up a joint project to merge the concepts of ADM2 and OpenEdge Reference Architecture (OERA)  with the OpenEdge GUI for .NET and Object-Orientation.  This framework and set of design tools includes Mike’s Smart Component Library – “Smart” GUI for .NET Components – with Thomas’ “tic-Enterprise” Developer and Framework.

It generates  an object-oriented OERA (O3ERA) backend from an imported Database Schema, defining Business Entities and generating classes and everything needed to have a full OERA Implementation.  

The above are just a few examples of why the value of OpenEdge Architect is greater than just the functions and features that you get with the product.  If you are using OpenEdge Architect then great.  Start leveraging some of the more advanced features, learn about the OpenEdge GUI for .NET, and try building something with the Visual Designer.  And now is a great time to start learning all that the Eclipse community has to offer so head on over to the Eclipse Web site.

If you are not using OpenEdge Architect, then it’s time to get started.  Work with your Progress account team to figure out the best way to introduce OpenEdge Architect into your environment, and checkout the OpenEdge Developers Corner for lots of good content on how you can get started with OpenEdge Architect.

 

Ken

 

 

GUI presentation models - more than just look and feel

While working on a new ABL sample using OpenEdge GUI for .NET, I started thinking about the different presentation models that are available to an ABL programmer in 10.2A. While much of Microsoft geeks are focused on the cool new features of Vista, OpenEdge stays focused on real world business applications. Business applications need a productive, full-featured user interface whose purpose goes beyond catching the user’s attention. Since these applications must be functional above all else, the need for Vista’s multimedia effects (video, animation, graphics) might be nice but not critical. Business applications have a typical set of features that are often reused over and over again. These features include:

• Support Create, Read, Update, Delete (CRUD) capabilities – data entry and persistence
• Data managed in a grid or multiple entry fields

One of ABL’s core strengths has always been its ability to manage the backend data easily, with built-in and native data awareness and transactional support in the language. Now with OpenEdge GUI for .NET, you have even more choices available to select the right presentation model for your applications. In general business applications have many different screens to show to their users and often there is need to show more than one simultaneously. There usually is a central way of managing the various screens (a window manager), as well as some means of transitioning between them. It is crucial that users can easily navigate the application, and can use it in a flexible way that fits with their needs.

The presentation models to consider are:

• Single Document Interface (SDI)
• Multiple Document Interface (MDI)
• Tabbed Document Interface (TDI)
• IDE Style Interface (IDE)

Single Document Interface

SDI organizes graphical user interface applications into individual windows that the operating system's window manager handles separately. Each window contains its own menu or toolbar – there is no concept of a “parent” window. Applications which allow the editing of more than one document at a time, e.g. word processors give the user the impression that more than one instance of an application is open instead of a single application with multiple documents. Each window displays as an individual entry in the operating system's task bar or manager – which might group windows of the same application.

          Microsoft Word and Excel are examples of an SDI application.

Multiple Document Interface

MDI organizes graphical user interface applications into many windows that reside under a single parent as opposed to all windows being separate from each other like SDI. A single menu bar and/or toolbaris shared between all child windows, reducing clutter and increasing available screen space. In MDI a single instance of the application is shared and the child windows all float within the parent (container) window.

The disadvantage of MDI is that it is easy to “lose” a child window when many windows are open simultaneously. In order to view the list of windows open in MDI applications the user typically has to go to the menu bar, moving their focus out of the child window area.

Tabbed Document Interface

This is a specialization of the MDI model. Like MDI, TDI organizes graphical user interface applications into many windows that reside under a single parent window. Unlike the floating child windows of MDI, in TDI each “window” is displayed in its own tab. This makes it much easier to find open windows than traditional MDI. TDI windows must always be maximized inside their parent window, and as a result only one tab can be viewed at a time.

The disadvantage of TDI is with only a single window available at a time, comparing information or copy-and-pasting between two windows is more difficult. Additionally although tabs make it easier to find open child windows, if there are a large number of windows opened simultaneously there are many tabs for the user to search before finding the one they are looking for.

Firefox is an example of a TDI application.

IDE Style Interface

IDE Style Interface is another specialization of the MDI model. Like MDI, IDE organizes graphical user interface applications into many windows that reside under a single parent window. An IDE-style interface is a superset of the MDI model with features available to support the child windows that are not normally available in traditional MDI applications. These child-window features include:

• TDI model for child window
• Ability to view child windows simultaneously using splitter
• Separate window management for child windows - normally tree-based
• Additional, independent panels to support application – these often use a tabbed interface

Microsoft Visual Studio.NET and Eclipse are examples of IDE applications.

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook, and its very popular user interface metaphor, is not true to any of these models. It is closest to an IDE application without tabs for the child windows. Or you could consider it an MDI application with child-window features.

When you plan to redesign your appIication's user interface, consider which of there models works best for your application and users. This is not a one size fits all solution but one that is customizable for your needs. With the new GUI for .NET you get access to Microsoft .NET Windows Forms, an extremely full-featured user interface solution. In Microsoft’s own words “With Windows Forms, you can create powerful Windows-based applications. You can harness the power of Windows Forms to display data, handle user input, and deploy your applications easily and with enhanced security.”