Tomorrow is the Last Day to Take Advantage of Special Early-Bird Pricing for the SPC!
Make sure you register by this Friday, August 27
Because you have a Synergy/DE-based application, the Synergex Partner Conference is the one event you and your development team can't afford to miss. You probably have a lot of ideas about where to take your application next. And you probably have some idea of how Synergy/DE can help you get there. But are you aware of all the possibilities? Do you know which ideas are the right ones to follow? Do you know how to turn your ideas into a clear path forward? The SPC is the perfect opportunity to realize your current ideas, and the unlimited networking opportunities are guaranteed to help you generate many new ones.
Check out the agenda for complete descriptions of all the sessions.
Looking for a basic understanding of current Synergy/DE technologies and a deeper understanding of Synergy/DE 9 and objects?
Sign up for the pre-conference workshop at the SPC on Monday, October 4.
Want to significantly improve the look and feel of your applications?
Don’t miss the post-conference workshop on Friday, October 8.
Make plans to be there. Register for SPC 2010 today.
Don’t forget your hotel reservations!
Be sure to also make your hotel reservations before August 27 to get a significantly discounted rate at the historic Citizen hotel (just named one of the top 10 Best Geek Hotels in the world!). To obtain the conference rate of only $114 per night, call (916) 447-2700 up until August 27, and mention the Synergex conference.
Get an Early Look at Synergy/DE 9.5, Including the Native Support for the .NET Framework
Last chance before we deliver the 9.5 Release Candidate
Have you been thinking about signing up for the Synergy/DE 9.5 beta program but haven’t gotten around to it? Are you curious about what Synergy/DE’s native support for the .NET Framework is all about? Are you wondering what features Synergy/DE 9.5 will include for applications that are not going to target the .NET Framework? There is still time to get an early look at the new Synergy/DE 9.5 capabilities—but not much. We plan to deliver a Release Candidate in late September, preparing for a general release in November.
Synergy/DE 9.5 will include some features specific to applications that will target the Microsoft .NET Framework, some that are specific to “standard” Synergy applications, and some that apply to both types of applications. These features include:
- Native support for Synergy Language in Microsoft’s .NET Framework. A new compiler (dblnet) produces Microsoft's Intermediate Language (MSIL) code that executes under Microsoft’s Common Language Runtime (CLR). This native support enables you to:
- Call exposed Synergy routines from other .NET languages (C#, VB.NET)
- Call other .NET language routines from Synergy
- Use the extensive library of .NET Framework classes
- Integration with Visual Studio. Develop your Synergy .NET code with Visual Studio’s powerful features, including the debugger, IntelliSense, colorization, code snippets, and code regions.
- Select class enhancements (benefiting standard Synergy applications and Synergy .NET applications)
- Improved performance of record updates and deletions to remote files when using xfServer
- Workbench enhancements (for developing standard Synergy applications), including
- Upgrade to SlickEdit v15
- Selection list to disable compiler warnings
- Support for documentation comments (;;;)
- .REGION/.ENDREGION support
- Create new Windows desktop applications in Synergy Language that run under the .NET Framework
- Rebuild existing Synergy methods that you currently use with xfNetLink .NET in your Windows applications (and call them natively without xfNetLink/xfServerPlus or the network)
- Create assemblies to use with the Synergy .NET assembly API in your standard Synergy applications (that run under the Synergy runtime rather than the .NET Framework).
Learn more about Synergy/DE 9.5 at the SPC.
New Security Updates for SSL on HP OpenVMS
When you upgrade, you may need a Synergy/DE hot-fix
By Galen Carpenter, Senior Software Engineer, Synergy/DE
HP recently released new security updates for SSL on OpenVMS. HP announced the release of SSL 1.4 in a Customer Advisory issued July 29. We recommend that you upgrade to SSL 1.4 to ensure the security of your OpenVMS systems. When you do upgrade, you may need to obtain a Synergy/DE hot-fix from Synergy/DE Developer Support. SSL 1.4 is not backward compatible with SSL 1.3, so when updating to SSL 1.4, all applications that directly link with the SSL shared images must be recompiled and relinked. (The move from SSL 1.2 to SSL 1.3 had the same requirement.) The reason for this is that some of the OpenSSL APIs, data structures, and commands have changed, causing compatibility issues with SSL 1.3. HP distributes four shared images for SSL: SSL$LIBCRYPTO_SHR32.EXE, SSL$LIBSSL_SHR32.EXE, SSL$LIBCRYPTO_SHR.EXE, and SSL$LIBSSL_SHR.EXE.
Two Synergy shared images are affected: HTTPSLIB.EXE and SYNSSLLIB.EXE. If your application uses either of these, you will need new copies of these files built for SSL 1.4 when you install SSL 1.4. You can obtain the hot-fix from Synergy/DE Developer Support. In the upcoming Synergy/DE 9.5.1 release (Q4), we will distribute these shared images built with SSL 1.4 as well as versions of these files built with SSL 1.3 (which you can move into place if your system still has SSL 1.3 installed). There are also a number of HP applications that use the HP SSL shared images. If your system uses any of these applications, you will need to upgrade them when you upgrade to SSL 1.4. Refer to the links below for more information, including a list of the HP applications affected.
Installation Guide and Release Notes
SSL Downloads page
HP SSL Customer Advisory
If you plan to upgrade to SSL 1.4, and you use either of the affected Synergy/DE shared images, please contact Synergy/DE Developer Support to request the versions of those files built with SSL 1.4.
If You Use Mapped Drives or NAS Drives Be Aware of Possible Issues
Synergy/DE support for these types of drives is very limited
Synergex can provide only “very limited support” for Synergy data access on mapped drives and on NAS (network-attached-storage) drives (such as NFS and SMB/CIFS or Samba), and we do not recommend using these for accessing remote Synergy data.
Our experience and that of our customers has shown that mapped drives and NAS drives are not reliable. They are known to cause data corruption and locking failures, as well as performance issues, and the instances of these issues seems to be increasing as customers upgrade to new versions of Windows. Instead of mapped drives, we recommend Synergy/DE xfServer or Microsoft’s Windows Terminal Services. Instead of NAS drives, we recommend SAN (storage area network or “native”) drives.
Our Developer Support department will try to assist you if you encounter issues while using mapped drives or NAS drives, but their ability to help will be limited. We may require you to reproduce your issues using a demo copy of Synergy/DE xfServer before we can diagnose the problem. Also, we can help recover corrupt files, but we may not be able to help figure out the specific causes of the corruption.
If you choose to use mapped drives or NAS drives,
1. Make sure you have all the latest hotfixes and updates. For mapped drives, get those related to “srv.sys”, “mrxsmb*.sys (mrxsmb.sys pre-Vista, mrxsmb10.sys, and mrxsmb20.sys), and “rdbss.sys”. For Samba (SMB/CIFS), get the latest Samba server updates.
2. Make sure you are using Synergy/DE’s isutl utility on a regular basis to verify the integrity of your files. You can set up an automated process to do this. Isutl can also identify areas where performance can be improved. Here is a link to an article about using isutl: http://www.synergyde.com/news/article.aspx?id=2878
If you have any questions or would like more information about this topic, please contact Synergy/DE Developer Support or your account manager.
Synergy/DE Tech Tip
Using Visual Studio to create a ClickOnce deployment with Synergy/DE 9.1.5
Question
I’m on Synergy/DE 9.1.5, and I’m trying to use Visual Studio to create a ClickOnce deployment that includes xflnet.dll. But when I try to install the resulting distribution, I get this error:
Exception occurred loading manifest from file xfnlnet.dll: the manifest may not be valid or the file could not be opened.
I was able to do this with earlier versions of 9 as well as version 8. What has changed?
Answer
In version 9.1.3, we started applying a manifest to xfnlnet.dll. This is not necessary, and when used with ClickOnce deployments, causes a problem. Starting in version 9.3.1b, we no longer apply a manifest to xfnlnet.dll. As a workaround, the 9.1.1b version of xfnlnet.dll may be referenced by your deployment. This should resolve the issue, as long as the server is at 9.1.1b or higher.
As a reminder, Synergex does not support ClickOnce deployments, and any further questions or issues should be directed to Microsoft.
This Tech Tip is also an article in the Synergy/DE KnowledgeBase*. KB is a searchable, fully indexed technical library where you can research a multitude of answers to previously asked support questions.
*You must have Synergy/DE Developer Support in order to access the Synergy/DE KnowledgeBase. If you do not have Developer Support, contact your Synergy/DE account manager.
Quiz
Synergy/DE pros, see if you can answer this question!
Why is RAD50 called RAD50?
a) RAD stands for Reductionistic ASCII Deflation, and the algorithm was invented in 1950.
b) It's short for Radix 50, because it treats 50 characters as digits.
c) It's short for Radix 50, because it treats 40 characters as digits.
d) It provides Rapid Application Development in 50 lines or less.
Click here for the answer and explanation.
Platform News
Read a selection of recent articles
Windows
- "Out of Disk Space" Error When You Install a Windows Installer Package in Windows Server 2008 or in Windows Vista if Windows Installer 4.5 is Installed
- FIX: You Experience High Memory Usage in the W3wp.exe Process When You Run an ASP.NET 2.0 Web-Based Application That Receives Many Requests from Mobile Devices
- Internet Explorer Turns 15
- Data Loss Occurs When the Winsock "recv" Function Returns 0 Bytes if Both the Client-Side and the Server-Side Applications Run on the Same Computer That is Running Windows Server 2003
- Microsoft to Release IE9 Public Beta on Sept. 15
- Five Windows 7 Security Features that Businesses Need to Know About
- Connect OpenVMS Bootcamp: September 13-17, 2010 in New Hampshire
- OpenVMS V8.4 Launches on the New HP Integrity Servers on August 10, 2010!
Synergex Holiday Reminder
Our offices will be closed on Monday, September 6, for Labor Day
If you anticipate needing our assistance on this day, please email us at synergy@synergex.com to make arrangements.