What is WinDock ?

CCH : Just discovered WinDock which was recommended by Ron Pinkas at comp.lang.clipper

From : http://www.roessler-software.de/e195/e264/index_ger.html

Win32 API for Harbour and xHarbour

WinDock is a clip4win-compatible Win-API for Harbour and xHarbour. WinDock includes various helpful functions. In addition, the WinDock-Toolkit is a large Class-Library including a huge variety of features, such as App-Classes, Browser, TreeView, Tabbed-Dialogs, Nettable, Edit Masks and much more...

Roessler Software started developing software with dbase in 1987. By the time when John Skelton offered his first version of Clip4Win, we ported our Time-Control Application using Clipper 5.2d and Clip4Win to Windows (16-Bit). As we were lacking a lot of functionality, we started to develop a Library called Clip2Win using MSC.

Over the years, we acquired a lot of inside knowledge about Windows, so that in 1994, we started teaching others to develop software using Clip4Win and Clip2Win. When John added a class-library to Clip4Win, we tested it thoroughly, but we had major problems using it. As a result, we developed a class-library called OO4WIN. A Mail-library with classes for smtp, ftp, etc. followed.

In 2003 we conducted trials with C4W32 and Harbour. After solving a couple of problems, our libraries started working fine with Harbour. But since John only supported Harbour and MSC 6.0, we began to develop our own WinAPI for Harbour and we soon achieved very satisfying results.

Further, we decided to offer our newly created WinAPI as open source using the same license-model as Harbour (LGPL), and named it WinDock - as in a Dock for Windows in the Harbour.

Investing more time into WinDock, we were able to make it compatible to xHarbour, and besides MSC 6.0, you may also use MINGW for compilation, now.
WinDock includes most functions of the 32-Bit Microsoft WinAPI and all functions of our former Clip2Win-Library.

Our OO4WIN Class-Library is also offered as open source under the dual-licence-model (such as mySQL).

The OO4WIN Library has been renamed to WinDock-ToolKit (TK) and is also available for Clip4Win (16-Bit and 32-Bit).

However, WinDock itself is not available for 16-Bit environments - please use Clip4Win 4.0 instead.

We hope that many developers will be happy with WinDock, the WinDock-ToolKit and the functionality they provide and will hence spread the word to make our community grow and help our product getting better.


Thank You.
Your Roessler Software Development Team

Siegbert, Dominik, Jan, Stephan, Kai, René, Manuel

What is Clip ?

CCH :
Just extracted this information from the Guestbook entry by Daniel Pascuel...


Preprocessor.
Fully compatible with CA-Clipper with some new possibilities.

Compiler.
slight incompability with CA-Clipper, which may be resolved easily, using the "search and replace" method. In addition it can compile to C program, byte-code, dynamic library and mixed C+byte-code.

Very fast and efficient OO-model.

Difference from CA-Clipper reveals itself in part of descriptions and making an object, but in part of using the ready objects syntax and logic of functioning is completely the same.
It is possible to write programs on CLIP, without using other syntax excepting OOP.
Initial support syntax from FS,CAVO,FoxPro.
C-API. has much more possibilities than CA-Clipper.

Full international support .
Including adjustment on any code page of any language on any keyboard (with stelnet emulator only or on consoles), substitution of string constants during execution and changing a logic of functioning with strings, given for functions alpha, digit, lower, upper, subscripted weight factors etc. Support two-bytes charsets BIG5, GB, may be Korean, Japan too.

GUI, based on GTK.
Provides using of all widgets and processing the events

Using of dynamic libraries, loading and execution of the byte-code from external files ( in run-time, too ).

Compatibility.
up to Clipper 5.3 (support of objects menu, button, check and other get-objects), as well as standard classes tbrowse,get,error.

Are implemented a lot of CA_Tools functions, including all functions for processing the lines, dates, files, mathematicians.

support all SIX functions and features

MEM,DBF,DBT,FPT,NTX,CTX,CDX,NSX...

VFP data types; datetime,currency

RDD allows to use your own drivers, as well as use a driver, combined from several different drivers.

RDD also allows to use only OO-style, without using of aliases

Multitask support.
Builtin simple non-preemptive multitask model

CODB - CLIP Object Data Base.
Library and utils for object storehouse

SQL.
libraries and classes for direct access to SQL-servers (PG,MySql,Oracle,Interbase)
ODBC and ODBC bridge to Windows drivers.
SQL-interpreter and commands, compatible with FoxPro
Other possibilities .

Overloading operators for objects.

Support of regular expressions.

function for TCP/IP sockets connections

COM_() functions

Rushmore like technology, but more fast and efficient.

Support of very-large-scale numbers with unlimited accuracy.

Support of graphic files PNG,GD,JPEG and primitives like lines, rectangles, firing ranges, circumferences etc.

Several common classes for word processorses, html/cgi programms.

Several utilities for interpreting the patterns of the documents, www_sql,clip_bl, clip_blank, clip_sql, clip_hindex, clip_hseek etc.

multiwindows interactive debugger.

Supported OS’es.
Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, SPARC & x86 Solaris, IBM mainframe with TurboLinux, Win32 ( with CYGWIN development tools)

AND IS FREE !!!!!


Home Page
www.itk.ru/english/index.shtml

Download
sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=170673&package_id=194873&release_id=461153

Clipper on life support ? [28th July 1996]

"Clipper on life support ?- Steve Silverwood's posting of CA's contemplating dropping CA-Clipper development..."

Hi to all Clipperheads,

Steve's posting seems alarming in the sense that CA has indicated on Compuserve that they may drop further Clipper development .

I am the developer of the KarenSoft range of Clipper vertical applications for a wide range of business applications. Visit http://www.cch.com.my/cch/cchss to see what you can actually develop using 5.2e.

As such, I use 5.2e to earn a living and I have not found anything that could not be done with it ! If there is a function that I require which is not available withing Clipper, I'll :

a) write one - beauty of Clippers' UDF concept b) buy a third part product (ok ! is you don't use 5.3) c) look at NANFOR.LIB d) pick up a freeware or shareware on Phil Barnett's OASIS FTP or from any of the fine Clippper WWW sites

What about Clipper for Windows ?

With cheap Pentium PCs with 16MB on board, we can no longer ignore Windows & Windows NT. As a professional software developer, I have looked at virtually all the Windows development tools available to the Clipper developer and have settled for FiveWin+5.2e. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to use Clip4Win as I found what I wanted with FiveWin. BTW, I actually bought Clip4Win and I intend to look at it one day as there are Clipper developers that swear by it...

Trouble is 5.2e+FiveWin produces 16 bit apps... Currently, I don't see any problems but with the growing popularity of Windows NT, the market may begin to demand for 32 bit apps. With no 32bit Clipper, I don't see a 32bit FiveWin..

So what's the choices for 32 bit development tools ?

VO 2.0 - going to public beta soon... and Delphi 2.0 for 32 bits Windows is already available. No comments for VO 2.0 althought it appears to be promising on paper. I have looked at Delphi 2 and it looks very promising though it is pascal based. BTW there are a couple of 3rd party components like Appollo & Infopower that makes it clipper like. That's what the ZAC catalog say..

Conclusion :

Even if CA decides to stop developing Clipper, I'll continue using 5.2e for DOS apps as I have yet to use it to its fullest potential. Moreover, I believe that the numerous non-commercial WWW Clipper sites, including mine and especially Phil Barnett's OASIS will help to keep it alive. So long as there is demand for DOS based applications, Clipper will remain as the premier DOS development language.

As for Windows, I'll continue to use 5.2e+FiveWin for 16 bits Windows apps while I'll look at Delphi 2.0 for 32 bit development.

So is Clipper dead ?

Regards

Chee Chong Hwa

There are many paths from Clipper to Windows... [20th July 1996]

As I see it, there are many paths from developing Clipper apps for DOS to writing 16 bit apps for Windows 3.10 & 3.11 and 32 bit apps for Windows'95 & Windows NT. Except for Borland Delphi which is pascal based, the rest of the following windows development have their roots in XBase :

16 bits Windows

CA-Clipper 5.2e + FiveWin

CA-Clipper 5.2e + Clip4Win

CA-VO 1.0c

CA-dBfast

UltimAde (VO specific)

Microsoft Foxpro for Windows

Microsoft Visual FoxPro

Borland dBase for Windows

Borland Visual dBase 5.5a

Borland's Delphi - Pascal Based

32 bits Windows

CA-VO 2.0

Borland's Delphi - Pascal Based

3rd party Libraries [ on 7th August, 1996]

Here's a table of 3rd party libraries for CA-Clipper which I am aware of . If you have further information to shed on them, please e-mail me for updating purposes.

Table of 3rd Party Libraries

	Name	Author	5.3/5.3a Compatible	Category	Where to Get ?	Do I use it ?
	SuperLib	Garry Prefontaine	Yes - Version 3.6	General with several useful meta-functions	email Garry Prefontaine at 72020.3370@compuserve.com	Yes
	Funcky	Dirk dLesko	Yes - Version 2.5 is supposed to be compatible with CA-Clipper 5.3	No meta-functions. Lots of fast low-level functions		Yes
	Nanfor	Clipper Community	Not sure	Lots of useful functions, come with source codes	Phil Barnett's OASIS FTP Site - See under Cool Clipper Sites	Yes
	Grumpfish	Greg Lief	Yes but not optimised for it.	Good & useful library	No longer available commercially but you can try e-mailing greglief@teleport.com	Haven't tried it.
	FiveWin	Antonio Linares	Yes - Version 1.91 but best used with 5.2e	Clipper for Windows Library. Used to produce 16bit Windows apps. Best used with CA-Clipper 5.2e	Omicron - See unde Cool Clipper Sites	Yes
	Clip4Win	John Skelton	Yes	Original Clipper for Windows	SAPCSI A PC Solutions	I bought it but have yet to try it out !
	DGE	can't remember	Not sure.	Use for GUI	Don't know	Not anymore.
	Telepathy	can't remember	Not sure.	Communications library	Bought it from MicroBina Sdn Bhd, KL	Bought it but have not actually tried it out.
	Frankie	Don't know	LIto Dizon as per George W on 4th August, 1996	Mousing	email at Lito Dizon as per George W	Haven't tried it.