We are getting there
As many of you, avid readers, know, PPL 2.0’s release was pushed to a later date. That date however is getting closer and this time we mean it.
PPL 2.0 is, by the day, getting new features and other areas are being polished and enhanced. The reason why we are adding new features late in the development is because in order to make PPL 2.0 a super easy programming environment (the way we’ve envisioned it at the beginning of the project), we are inventing new ways to program.
One of such new ways is called “Smart Moves”. This new technic allow you to drag objects over other objects and based on their class types, specific actions are taken. You define the smart moves in a file that looks like this.
<smartmove>
<source>PTable</source>
<target>PQuery</target>
<commands>
set 'Name' "'Name'_Query"
set 'Database' Root
set 'Query' "SELECT * FROM 'TableName'"
select Target
pide {pide_menu "Data:Populate Objects from Query"}
</commands>
</smartmove>
The smar moves definition file is an XML format file that contains commands to perform if an object is dragged over another. In this case, if a PTable object is dragged on a PQuery object, the query object will be assigned with all the necessary properties to execute the query on the source table. Even PField objects will be created with the Data -> Populate Objects From Query menu item. You can then drag the PField objects to, let’s say a PBand object in a report to create a PRText.
I think you get the idea, how powerful this new feature is?
The Orion database components are being worked on right now. We have the ability to easily create databases, tables and fields. If you already have a SQLite database file, just drag it to your project and all the neccessary objects will be created instantly. Importing text files into SQLite databases will be a breaze as well.
We also have a visual query builder included with the Orion library. We are working on a visual report builder which will allow you to preview reports on the Windows Mobile devices. This is something you don’t see in many WM development tools.
We are also adding a table data editor for you to insert and edit your tables data right from within the PPL 2.0 IDE.
Trust us the wait will have been well worth it!
