SYNERGY-E-NEWS
News and Updates for Synergy/DE Developers

June 05, 2012

 

Did Synergy developers get blown away in the windy city?

Read testimonials from Chicago Synergy DevPartner Conference attendees

Read More


Microsoft announces new pre-release versions of Windows 8 and Visual Studio 2012

You can check them out with the new Synergy/DE 10 alpha

Read More


Generic methods of delegates

By Jim Sahaj, Senior Software Engineer, Synergy/DE

Read More


Quiz

Synergy/DE pros, see if you can answer this question

Take Quiz

New Synergy/DE 10 Alpha Version Released

All Synergy/DE customers are encouraged to validate their apps with it

Read More


Introducing two open source development tools from Synergex

Symphony Framework and CodeGen add power to your Synergy development

Read More



Synergy/DE tech tip

Prompted for a reboot when installing Synergy/DE 9.5.3a

Read More



Platform News

Read a selection of recent articles

Read More

twitter.com/synergyde
 

Did Synergy developers get blown away in the windy city?

Read testimonials from Chicago Synergy DevPartner Conference attendees

The Synergy DevPartner Conference took place in Chicago last week, and here’s what attendees had to say:

“I learned in 3 days what would have taken the better part of a year to figure out on my own, provided I even thought to try to figure it out. This is a must-attend conference, regardless of where your application is in its development lifecycle.… I was extremely satisfied with what I learned--the hands-on tutorials were great; in fact I've already put some of it to use. Even if the presentations hadn’t been great (which they were), the tutorials alone made the entire trip worthwhile.”

Gary Hoffmann, TechAnalysts, Inc.

“My goals were met, and beyond.… Excellent skills in presentation, great interaction with the group, superb content. Great job, Synergex!”

Carl Wysocki, WorkWise

“The contacts I made and the information I was able to absorb from other attendees was invaluable.… The entire Synergex group was amazing. They truly listened to our concerns and are working on ways to help us in every possible way. I feel as if they singled us out and devoted their full attention. Thank you all!”

Cindy Elsen, Reinhart Foodservice

Read the rest of the customer testimonials.
Read the PSG blog post about the conference.

Missed the Chicago conference? Attend in York, UK, June 12-14.




New Synergy/DE 10 alpha version released

All Synergy/DE customers are encouraged to validate their apps with it

A new Synergy/DE 10 alpha version is available for you to download from the Synergex web site. Synergy/DE 10 includes significant changes to the Synergy DBMS file system (required to deliver exciting features like Change Tracking), and we encourage you to download the v10 alpha and validate your applications with it.

This new Synergy/DE 10 alpha version supports Microsoft’s new Windows 8 Preview Release, so you can start preparing for Windows 8 now with these two pre-release versions. Remember that Synergy/DE 10 will be required for Windows 8. (The Synergy/DE 10 alpha also supports the Visual Studio 2012 Release Candidate-see below for information about these Microsoft releases).

Click here to get the Synergy/DE 10 alpha.

Note that the Synergy/DE 10 alpha version is available on Windows only; beta versions will also be on Unix and OpenVMS. Also, the alpha version uses v9 licensing, so you will not need new keys. If you have any questions about the v10 alpha, please contact our Developer Support team.



Microsoft announces new pre-release versions of
Windows 8 and Visual Studio 2012

You can check them out with the new Synergy/DE 10 alpha

Last Thursday Microsoft released new pre-release versions of Windows 8 and Visual Studio 2012. You can now download the Windows 8 Release Preview and the Visual Studio 2012 Release Candidate.

In their “Windows Experience Blog”, Microsoft says the following about the Windows 8 Release Preview: “There are many improvements and refinements across the Windows 8 Release Preview that folks will see right away, while others are under the hood. For instance, you will find more personalization options for the Start screen (including more colors!), improved multi-monitor support, and new Family Safety features to name just a few. People will also notice and enjoy improvements to the Mail, Photos, and People apps …”.

And here’s what they say about the new Visual Studio version (in Jason Zander’s blog): “…these updates are primarily final touches on existing features, responses to beta customer feedback, and improvements to performance,” including “a series of improvements to the overall UX” as well as “a number of enhancements for building Metro style apps”.

You can check out these brand new releases from Microsoft by updating to the new Synergy/DE 10 alpha version announced above. The new alpha version was released to coincide with these Microsoft versions to give you immediate access to the latest Microsoft pre-release features.

Introducing two open source development tools from Synergex

Symphony Framework and CodeGen add power to your Synergy development

At the Synergy DevPartner Conference in Chicago last month, we debuted two new development tools created by the Professional Services Group: Symphony Framework and CodeGen.

Both tools help Synergy developers get where they want to go faster. Symphony Framework is a set of classes and capabilities that help developers migrate their traditional Synergy/DE applications to a Windows Presentation Foundation desktop user experience. And CodeGen enables developers to generate source code and other types of content, including XML files, HTML files, and ASP.NET Web Forms. 

Both tools are open source projects on the CodePlex web site and are available to you right now to download and use:

You can also “follow” the projects on the CodePlex site to be notified when the projects are updated.

Learn more at the upcoming Synergy DevPartner Conference in York, UK.


Generic methods and delegates

By Jim Sahaj, Senior Software Engineer, Synergy/DE

In a previous version of Synergy .NET, we introduced generic types. In version 9.5.3 we completed generics by adding support for declaring and using generic methods and generic delegates. With generics, you can create a method or delegate that can accept different types of data. You don’t have to specify data types until a method or delegate is constructed, and types can differ for different constructions of the same method or delegate. This useful method for consolidating code is available throughout the .NET Framework.

Generic method syntax closely follows generic type syntax. For example, the following defines a generic method named writeit:

import System.Collections

namespace ns1
    public class class1
      public static method writeit<T(IEnumerable)>, void
        parm1, T
      record
        var, @*
      proc
        foreach var in parm1
        console.writeline(var)
      end
    endclass
endnamespace

A generic delegate is defined as follows:

namespace ns1
    delegate deleg1<T(IEnumerable)>, void
      parm1, T
    enddelegate
endnamespace

As with their generic type counterparts, you can place constraints on the type parameters to control what types can be passed in when they are constructed. In addition, you can use the type parameter as the type specified in the constraint, so you have access to its members within the generic method declaration. In the code above, for example, we are able to do a FOREACH on parm1 since it has the constraint IEnumerable.

To construct and use the generic methods and delegates, just provide types that meet the constraints for the type parameters. For example:

main
record
  alist, @ArrayList
  dvar, @deleg1<ArrayList>
proc
  alist = new ArrayList();
  alist.Add("hey")
  alist.Add("you")
  ns1.class1.writeit<ArrayList>(alist)
  data arr, [#]int, new int[#] { 1,2,3 }
  ns1.class1.writeit<[#]int>(arr)

  dvar = ns1.class1.writeit<ArrayList>
  dvar(alist)

The code above produces the following output:

hey
you
1
2
3
hey
you

For more information on generics, including generic methods and delegates, see "Generic Types" in the "Understanding Objects and Classes" chapter of the Synergy Language Reference Manual.


Synergy/DE tech tip

Prompted for a reboot when installing Synergy/DE 9.5.3a

Question

When I install Synergy/DE 9.5.3a, I am prompted for a reboot.  Why?

Answer

Starting with 9.5.3a, the installation installs updated Visual Studio 2010 C++ runtime files that have the latest Microsoft security patches. If your system does not already have these files, they will be installed and you may be prompted to reboot. If any of these files are in use, you may see a "Files In Use" message. Note that these files may be used by a number of applications—Microsoft Word, Visual Studio, a service running in the background—so simply having a Word document open could cause the message to display. For best results, always stop all running applications when installing any new software.


Quiz

Synergy/DE pros, see if you can answer this question!

What is the output of the following program?


namespace kitchen

  class pantry

    public virtual property thyme, i
      method get
      proc
      mreturn m_thyme
      end
      method set
      proc
      m_thyme = value
      end
    endproperty

    protected m_thyme, integer

  endclass

  class fund extends pantry
   
    public override property thyme, i
      method get
      proc
      mreturn 0
      end
    endproperty

  endclass

endnamespace

main
record
      spice_rack  ,@pantry
proc
      open(1,o,"TT:")
      spice_rack = new fund()
      spice_rack.thyme = 2
      spice_rack.thyme = spice_rack.thyme + 5
      writes(1,string(spice_rack.thyme))
end

a. 7
b. 5
c. 0
d. A runtime error
e. This does not compile

Click to read answer


Platform News

Read a selection of recent articles

Windows

Microsoft previews new versions of Visual Studio and .Net

http://www.infoworld.com/d/application-development/microsoft-previews-new-versions-of-visual-studio-and-net-194589

Microsoft revamps UI on Visual Studio IDE upgrade

http://www.infoworld.com/d/application-development/microsoft-revamps-ui-visual-studio-ide-upgrade-192716

Microsoft: Windows Vista infection rates climb

http://www.infoworld.com/d/security/microsoft-windows-vista-infection-rates-climb-193885

OpenVMS

SECURITY BULLETIN - HP OpenVMS ACMELOGIN

http://www.openvms.org/stories.php?story=12/05/18/0261335

Changes to OpenVMS Support

http://www.openvms.org/stories.php?story=12/05/03/8063553

OpenVMS Technical Journal - V18 April 2012

http://www.openvms.org/stories.php?story=12/05/03/7652187

Linux

Linux 3.4 released quickly, after smooth development cycle

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9227337/Linux_3.4_released_quickly_after_smooth_development_cycle?taxonomyId=89

Red Hat preps RHEL 7 for second half of 2013

http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source-software/red-hat-preps-rhel-7-second-half-of-2013-193238