BKeeney Briefs

It seems that Cut/Copy/Paste in desktop applications has been around forever.  I remember it being there on the MacPlus I used at the IIT computer lab back in 1986 – it was the greatest thing since sliced bread and it wowed those of us daring to use it.

One thing that comes with Cut/Copy/Paste is an undo system.  You cut or paste a large section of text into a place where you didn’t want it:  Are you going to type it all in again if you made a mistake?  No!  You’re going to select undo from the Edit menu so you don’t have to do all that work.

And that, my friends, I think is where having cut/copy/paste on the iPhone becomes extremely difficult.  I don’t think implementing cut/copy/paste is all that difficult with gestures.  Adding a standardized undo system to the iPhone, however, IS a big deal.  What gestures do you use to invoke it?  Then you have to have the obligatory redo command and how do you do that with gestures?

As I’ve journeyed into Cocoa and CocoaTouch (and I’ve barely scratched the surface) there are a number of things a desktop app gets for free with Cocoa.  One of those is an undo system using the NSUndoManager.  With document-based Cocoa apps, an undo manager is created for you for each document and you can implement NSUndoManager on your own if you need.

Until CocoaTouch gets its own UndoManager I don’t think you’ll see Cut/Copy/Paste on the iPhone.  Version 3 anyone?

Did I miss anything?  Feel free to sound off below.  (Keep in mind that I’m a newbie when it comes to Cocoa and CocoaTouch so be gentle – ‘kay?)

If you haven’t take a look at the ARBP Members-Only site, I invite you to do so at www.arbpmembers.org.  There are a number of sections that are free for public use such as access to the ARBP Blogs section and as well as to the Find a RB Developer submission list.  If you register with the site you automatically get a free trial membership and that gives you access to the ARBP Forums and to the Source Code Repository.

The Forums is where we talk about stuff related to running your business and making your products.  There are special forums for marketing, contracting and in general stuff that you wouldn’t want to talk about in the general forums.  We don’t talk about code because that’s what the REALbasic forums provided by Real Software are for.

The Source Code Repository is doing well.  It has over a hundred projects including a large collection of old ResExcellence projects and articles that were written by Erick Tejkowski and Seth Willits.  All of the projects have been updated to work with RB 2008 Release 4.  ARBP members have also uploaded a wide variety of projects ranging from controls to tutorials on printing (which happens to be the #1 download) as well as a few items that can no longer be found on the web.  In the Repository area of the website we have a listing of the latest uploads as well as the most popular.  Check it out if you’re looking for some source code.

So that’s the practical side of the site that you get for FREE by getting the trial membership.  With a Pro Membership ($150/year) you get a subscription to REALbasic Developer magazine (a $50/year value).  In addition to all that you get some pretty fantastic discounts that the RB community has graciously given to ARBP members.  Below is a partial list of some of the big ones:

On-Target Reports Developer edition is 20% off.  The Formatted Text Control by True North Software is 50% off.  All Electric Butterfly products are 40% off.  All Koingo Software products are 50% off.  Elastic Window from Pariahware is 50% off.  BKeeney Software has some free products as well as some 25% off discounts.  GraphPro from MacSOS is $50 off.  Amalgam from Van Hoek Software is 50% off.  REALbasic Developer Magazine has 25% off CD archives and advertising.  If you are in a buying mood then the Pro Membership is an awesome value.

For those that can’t afford the Pro Membership, ARBP has a Personal Membership at $50/year. Get 20% off On-Target Reports Developer edition.  40% off of UniHelp from Electric Butterfly.  20% off RBLibrary articles.  30% off SQLite Manager from SQLabs.  And other discounts apply as well.

In both cases, as vendors approach us, this list will morph and change.  You can always find the current list of membership benefits on the ARBP Members website under the ARBP Info menu.  If you are a vendor that has REALbasic related source code, utilities or made with RB products, drop us an email – we’d love to share your products with our members.

Sorry for the plug for the ARBP Members site.  We’ve worked very hard and spent countless hours just getting to the point we’re at right now.  There’s more to come!  Your feedback is always welcome.

Maybe I’m just a jaded Mac user (since 1986) and I’m so used to seeing an About Window in an application that I’ve just assumed that it *should* be there.  Never one to challenge anyone else opinions (yeah right) I decided to do some digging.

Apples Human Interface Guidelines says this:

About window  A modeless window that displays an application’s version and copyright information.

They don’t say that it’s optional but they don’t say that it’s required but I’ve NEVER seen a Mac desktop application (games are the exception on all platforms) that doesn’t have one.  From this we’ve learned that the About Window displays the version and copyright information.

My friends other argument was that this information is found in other places so it’s a waste of space.  On Mac OS X you can find this by using Get Info after clicking on the executable.  I’ll buy that, but why should I have a customer go to the Finder, find the executable and then right click on it or make sure they have Column VIew turned on when I can just have them go to the Apple menu and select About This App?  Seems way simpler.  Let’s move on to Windows then.

I think his argument is even weaker in Windows and yet there are (at least) two other ways of getting version and copyright information.  In the Windows Explorer you can right click on the executable and click Get Properties to get that information and you can hover your mouse over the file to get the same information.  So again, I have to have my dumb user (I say that in the most loving way a tech support person can do) go find the executable on their hard drive.  And when they come back with a, “um….how do I find the ex-a-cute-ible file?  I usually just go to the Start Menu and select it from there.” all I have to do is say,  “Go to the Help Menu and select About This App”.  Simple, no?

Of course this argument breaks down if the app can’t launch.  Then it’s on to Plan B which is the Finder and Windows Explorer.

I did a little research and couldn’t find anything specific on Microsoft Interface Guidelines on About Windows, but I did find a page for creating apps in Visual Studio that tells you what should be on an About Window.  This list includes:  Support Information (including phone numbers and/or web sites; Copyright Information; Version Information; Implementation Notes; and whatever is useful to the users.  Again, they don’t say it’s optional or required, but it sure sounds like they expect it to be there.

So while About Windows don’t do much they provide a standard, easy-to-use way for a user to get version information without having to leave your application.  From my experience in doing some tech support version info can help answer some questions.

On to the original argument:  I said that the REALbasic Debugger Stub(s) aren’t proper applications in a couple of respects.  They don’t a proper About Window showing copyright and version info or any other relevant details.  You could argue that having the version info in the title bar accomplishes the same thing but that by itself isn’t a standard practice (I’m sure there are examples in all platforms so don’t bug me about it).

There’s also no help menu so there’s no place to go for help.  And, oh wait, since there’s no About Window there’s no easy-to-find website URL that you can click on to go straight to the forums or anyplace else.  It seems simple, but we’re talking about hobbyist developers that may not be computer experts.

I don’t really care, but it’s a Windows application.  Shouldn’t it have an installer (and uninstaller)?  Does it matter as much on the Mac and on Linux?

I guess my point is that Real Software is used to create ‘great’ cross-platform applications and yet one of its main cross-platform utilities isn’t that well developed.  How long does a decent About Window take?  2 minutes if you steal it from somewhere else.  A Help menu with a help system is a lot more work, but having some simple FAQ’s would do wonders.

Anyway, feel free to discuss amongst yourselves about the merits of an About Window.  Since I didn’t cover anything about Linux (mainly because I’ve not learned enough about it), what’s the standard for Linux desktop apps?

If you’re a REALbasic developer and you’ve never used another language in your life then xCode and Cocoa will be….daunting?  It’s not impossible to learn.  I mean it’s just another language (among many) and another framework (among many).  I think I can say with some certainty that working with xCode isn’t nearly as easy as dealing with REALbasic.

Sure, there’s a learning curve with learning REALbasic.  RB is designed, however, to protect the user from themselves.  Arguably, it’s easy enough to get in a bad situation in RB but there’s a logical progression to things.  There’s a tight coupling between the things you see on the screen and the events and code behind it.  Not so in Cocoa where you define your own events and call them when you want and are forced to use the Model-View-Controller design pattern.  MVC separates the business logic from the user interface.  RB and its cousin VB6 make it easy to combine and mix and match the two (I’ll leave it to the programming language Nazi’s to argue one approach versus the other).

The xCode environment isn’t nearly as friendly as REALbasic’s.  You have to go hunting for information but I suspect that it will become 2nd nature in a matter of time (hopefully a day or so and not weeks).  One thing I do like about xCode is the level of documentation available and the videos and external links for iPhone and Cocoa application development.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if REALbasic could create iPhone applications?  You get to use an easy-to-use interface with a relatively easy-to-use framework.  Of course there are some fairly large technical and political challenges to such a task but probably none of them insurmountable.  Here’s my quick and dirty list:

•    Apple would have to allow it.  Will the Steve allow Real Software to steal some of Apple’s thunder?  A better question is will it help Apple sell more iPhones?  I say the answer is yes because more developers mean more apps which means more iPhones.

•    REALbasic currently creates Mac applications using dynamic libraries (dylibs).  Unfortunately, it appears that it’s part of the SDK agreement that you cannot use private frameworks or libraries.  Any app that tries to install frameworks or library code will be rejected.  That would be a big hurdle to overcome.  But, surprisingly enough, Apple uses dylibs on some of their own apps so maybe this restriction could be overcome.

•    The RB form editor would have to be redone to use iPhone specific controls.  At this point, would be it be easier to make a separate REALbasic for iPhone product for sale?  Possibly.  Or maybe it makes sense to make REALbasic Mobile and add other mobile environments as they get done.

I’m probably missing a whole host of issues but it sounds interesting.  IF Real Software could do it, it would put them on the map so-to-speak and darn near every developer thinking about developing for iPhone would know their name.  RB is a Rapid Application Development environment and xCode/Cocoa is not.  Think of the cost savings in development time!

So what do you think?  Have I gone completely off my rocker?  Have I been staring at code too long today?  Is there a chance in hell that Apple would give RS their blessing?

I stand by my previous post, but I’ve also had a chance to think about it a bit more and I have an area that could have been cut or shelved until further notice to help cut costs instead of laying developers off:  REAL SQL Server

Geoff Perlman showed off some nifty new features of an upcoming version of REAL SQL Server at Real World 2008.  He also talked about how usage of RSServer increased something like 20% while usage of MySQL decreased roughly 20%.

My first question is this:  Do you know anyone using REAL SQL Server?  I can say I know of one developer using it in a commercial application.  I come in contact with a lot of RB developers and only knowing one seems a bit suspicious.

However, in the summer of 2008, the Association of REALbasic Professionals asked the RB community some questions on how they use RB.  We asked specifically what databases they were actively developing for.  Less than 7% of the community responded with REAL SQL Server while nearly 20% actively developed for MySQL and 9% for PostgreSQL database servers.

I understand the reasoning for developing REAL SQL Server – it’s the next logical step up from using the single-user SQLite database and there are no other multi-user databases that use SQLite.  It’s incredibly easy to setup and use which is a big step from most db servers but in the last year or so that argument is becoming less and less of an issue as the Open Source databases have simplified their use and setup considerably.  REAL SQL Server lacks many of the features that the FREE database servers (MySQL and PostgreSQL) have had for years.  Among the features off the top of my head:
•    Stored Procedures written in a SQL-like language.  Sure, REAL SQL Server is introducing plugins that are sort of like that but they’re written in C (unless something has changed since Real World).
•    Strong Datatypes:  REAL SQL Server, like it’s little brother SQLite, is typeless.  Can you think of another database server in the world that is typeless?
•    REAL SQL Server, like SQLite doesn’t appear to enforce foreign key constraints.
•    You can’t drop a column once it’s been created.

Let’s face it, REAL SQL Server is trying to hit a moving target with REAL SQL Server.  If it was five years old today it would still be a hard sell because MySQL and PostgreSQL database servers are free (you can argue that MySQL isn’t but that’s a different topic) and even at the very reasonable price of $500 it is still too high when competing against free.  You could also argue that both of those free database servers have hundreds (perhaps thousands) of developers poking around in the internals making important changes to the code on a regular basis.  REAL Software just doesn’t have those types of resources available.

And really, what does REAL SQL Server get you that you can’t get on other database servers?  Um…easy setup and use?  Other than that, working with REAL SQL Server is exactly the same as using any other database server.  Well, okay, you get LESS features than other database servers because you can’t drop columns, don’t have strong datatypes, or get stored procedures.  I just don’t see how REAL SQL Server can help sell more copies of REALbasic which is where RS’ volume sales are.

Why not develop a complementary product that developers will pay extra for?  One thought is an integrated Report Designer and Generator.  It’s useful for those 80% of RB users developing database applications and they’d even pay something extra for it.  Have a lite version that ships with RB and for an extra $200 add very useful functionality.

The counter argument is that they’ve already spent a boatload of money in development of REAL SQL Server.  Just because you’ve started down the rabbit hole doesn’t mean you need to keep going.  A company that is experiencing financial difficulties should take a look at their entire product line and determine if each and every product makes sense financially now and in 6 months.

My two cents worth.  Your thoughts?

DON’T PANIC

No truer words have never been spoken.  Sure, it’s never fun to learn that two highly respected professionals have been let go from a company.  It especially hurts a smaller company like REAL Software.  However, the world isn’t going to end.

Like any business, RS employs people to make money for the owners and shareholders, if any (RS is a privately held company).  Publicly RS said that last year was one of their best ever so I must surmise that sales have not been as robust this year.

During normal slow times it’s not uncommon for businesses to take short term loans to make payroll.  In the current economy it wouldn’t surprise me that a lot of companies are seeing a slowdown in sales and a rise in expenses.  Add into the credit crunch, I’m sure more than a few companies have had issues with payroll.

Nowhere in RS’ announcement did they say that they were having problems making payroll.  I’m simply illustrating how this problem isn’t unique to RS.

What they DID say was that they have other staff members that will pick up the work that Aaron and Nathan were doing.  With the compiler humming along (mostly) with Aaron’s and Mars’ hard work over the years we should all feel pretty good about it.  A majority of the near-term work needed in RB is in the frameworks (Cocoa anyone?) and in the IDE.  So it doesn’t surprise me that the compiler person was let go.

Aaron is a great guy and someone that I consider to be a friend and colleague.  I have no doubt that he’ll land on his feat and be successful in whatever he does.  I hope that he remains a part of the RB community for many years to come.

What will be hard to replace is his experience and knowledge.  I have no doubt that the remaining staff at RS can handle any compiler issues that come up but will they be done as quickly and efficiently that Aaron could have handled them?  Probably not.

The other thing that I will miss greatly is his Ramblings blog.  Even though it was HIS blog and not an official RS blog, it still gave us a window into the mind of REAL Software and some of the thoughts that went into any particular decision or direction.

I recommend that REAL Software strongly encourage their engineers to blog.  It gives us mere mortal users an insight to what’s going on.  It lets us feel like we know there are rational and intelligent decisions being made.

I applaud REAL Software for telling us what was happening rather than waiting for users to discover it on our own.
Finally, Nathan and Aaron, thank you for your hard work.  I look forward to seeing where you land.

So why am I a day late for my own announcement?  Well, I happened to be one of the lucky few to get score an invite to the Apple iPhone Tech Talk conference in Austin, TX on Monday.  When I scheduled the ARBP opening a couple of weeks ago I didn’t know that I was going to go to the event – Apple was pretty late in confirming attendence  Anyway, here are the details:
See the official press release.

I think there are a number of good reasons to join.  The first is that it’s run by REALbasic geeks, for REALbasic geeks.  We’re serious about RB and want RB to succeed because we make a living from RB.

There are some serious discounts available to the members.  If you’ve been thinking about purchasing On-Target Reports or the Formatted Text Control, you can nearly pay for a Pro membership from the discounts.  There are roughly a dozen other vendors that have graciously donated software or discounted their software for ARBP members.  That’s a pretty good deal all by itself.  In addition, Pro members get REALbasic Developer magazine.

Pro members also can access the Find a Developer listing, Training Videos (more to come by the way) and a variety of other things yet to come.
If you can’t afford to pay right now, thats fine.  We have a free Trial Membership that gives you access to the ARBP forums, blogs and the Source Code repository.  The repository has close to a hundred projects that you can peruse, download, rate and comment on.  Many of the initial projects are converted from the old ResExcellence articles from Erick Tejkwoski and Seth Willits.

We have many more ideas and as we recover from the grand opening we’ll add more stuff.  We’d like to be your first stop for all things REALbasic.  Suggestions are welcome!