Skip to main content

PxPlus 2020 (version 17.00), May 2020

PxPlus 2020 consists of various new features and enhancements, including 64-bit Windows PxPlus, TLS 1.3 support, a new Nomads Environment Maintenance utility, and much more.

Major New Features

  • 64-bit Windows PxPlus

  • Anti-alias graphic drawing for Charts and Shapes

  • Support for TLS 1.3

  • Ability to define Reserved Words for Data Dictionary elements and Nomads controls

  • Allow for Mixed Case characters when defining controls/records in all designers and utilities

  • TLS support (FTPS, FTPES and SFTP) to *WEB/FTP

  • Allow Drag and Drop between concurrent windows

  • Nomads Environment Maintenance utility to easily set %Nomads properties and settings

Additional Features

Language Enhancements

  • New PIXELPOS and DPI options added to *PDF* to allow for pixel positioning

  • All executables and libraries now built with the latest C/C++ compiler and optimizations

  • New PxPlus environment variables PXP_SSL_LIB and PXP_CRYPTO_LIB that will tell PxPlus where to find the SSL library files

  • Allow Drag and Drop between concurrent windows

  • Ability to Set Null Key option on file creation

  • Ability to forward the output of IF Tracing when using WindX

  • Capability to properly display colored trace lines in the host trace output when using WindX

  • Faster JSON loading

Properties

  • HdrHeight property for Grid and List Box controls

  • LineColor$ property for setting grid line colors for Grid and List Box controls

  • SuppressHdr property for controlling suppression of headers for Grid controls

  • CellIsNumeric property for Grid controls for setting a cell to only accept numeric data

  • CellBlankWhenZero property for Grid controls for setting a cell to display blank when value is zero

  • MaxListItems property for setting the number of lines that will appear in a drop list in Grid controls

  • ButtonColor$ property for Grid controls to change the default background color for any buttons in the Grid (button cells or lookup/drop down buttons)

  • SkipLockedCells property for controlling when to skip over locked cells in Grid controls

  • HideButtons property for Grid controls to hide query buttons or drop box icons associated with Grid cells if there is a bitmap

  • ItemTextColor$ property for Tree Views to control the color of the text for the current item

Directives

  • New OPEN dependency option to automatically link objects to other system components

  • New OPT="N" that enables the 'NK' system parameter on a file using the KEYED directive

  • New Open [TCP] options supported for disabling TLS1.3, NOTLS1.2 or enforcing TLS1.3

Objects

  • New ChartColor$ property in Chart Object, enabling a list of colors to be applied when plotting different datasets

  • New *OBJ/IMAGE object to generate a ".jpg" or ".png" image in Windows or UNIX/Linux

  • New *OBJ/PARAM object to create, load and maintain an independent object consisting of parameters defined in a Definition File

  • New Keep Visible property to keep application active added to *OBJ/EXCEL and *OBJ/WORD

OPTION Mnemonics

  • StdLvueLineClr attribute for setting grid line colors for all List Box Report Views

  • StdGridLineClr attribute for setting grid line colors for all Grids

  • StdGridHideButtons attribute for setting the default HideButtons property for all subsequent Grids

    Note: The above options are also available to read using the FIN function.

Mnemonics

  • ARC now supports Radial Coordinate formats

  • PIE now supports Radial Coordinate formats

Functions

  • Added "OpenSSL_Version" to TCB to determine version of OpenSSL being used

  • DEG converts angle in radians to degrees

  • RAD converts angle in degrees to radians

Enhanced IDE, Nomads, iNomads and Toolkit

  • Enhanced IDE that combines Menu, History and Project tasks with additional Web capability

    • New customizable ribbon Toolbar that can contain up to 10 Toolbar buttons

    • Drag and drop capability to add new Toolbar buttons

    • Right click capability on Menu tab to Insert Tasks, Insert Tasks on Menu, Delete Tasks, and Add Tasks to Toolbar

    • Right click capability on ribbon Toolbar to maintain/delete Toolbar buttons

    • Toolbar maintenance utility to define tasks, descriptions and bitmaps

    • Ability to add up to 10 Web pages

    • HTML Tabs maintenance utility to define tab names and URLs

    • Ability to switch to the Standard IDE (with no Web capability)

  • Enhanced Web IDE

  • Added Default to INSERT Mode setting to Options menu in *IT Editor

  • Added Maximized bitmap to Titlebar

  • Improved Color Selection interface in all designers and utilities

  • New Delete button added to Nomads+ Toolbar grid and other designers to facilitate easier removal of overlapping controls

  • Improved display of List Boxes in all designers

  • New message when defining a Multi-Line control with a Query and Multi-Line Height is greater than one

  • Enhanced EZ Load Multi-Lines to make it easier to define EZ Load for Additional Fields on the same panel using the same table

  • Added a Query Lookup button to Nomads controls, Data Class Maintenance and Smart Control definitions to make it easier to find and select a query

  • Ability to launch a panel from Tabs Definition in Folder control

  • Ability to define concurrent windows variables in Drag and Drop utility

  • Added Case Sensitive capability to Nomads Panel Compare utility

  • Header Height attribute for Report View List Box controls

  • Line Color attribute for setting grid line colors on Report View List Box controls

  • List Popup export/print and copy record options for Grid control now include row header column

  • Updated Titlebars, Buttons, List Boxes and Grids for all designers and utilities

  • Usability enhancements for Nomads designers and utilities

File Maintenance Generator Enhancements

  • Ability to use the Standard File Maintenance object, eliminating the need to create a new object

  • Ability to regenerate a panel previously created using the File Maintenance Generator

  • Ability to define a "Default" template

  • Ability to reset the template on a panel that is being regenerated

  • Preview button is now enabled once a table is selected

  • New "File Inquiry for" title

  • Created %Nomads variables for all File Maintenance Object properties

  • New embedded Toolbars that contain browse and action buttons

  • Ability to enter a visual class for the SHOW.XXXX fields

iNomads Configuration

  • Eliminated the use of Cookies

  • Ability to Customize the system-loaded error message displayed in iNomads

  • New %iNomads_Crypto_Seed$ option used to encrypt any control messages sent between the application server and the front-end server

  • Added capability to log all failed logon attempts to a file specified in the System Configuration

Charts

  • Added a Secondary Grouping to Auto Charts Wizard

  • Allow for Preset Values for Chart sets in Auto Charts

  • Ability to separate developer and end-user Auto Chart definitions

  • Usability enhancements added to Auto Chart Wizard

Themes and Visual Classes

  • New Chart Colors property to apply when plotting the different datasets for Charts

  • New Row Height property for Grids

  • New Grid Hide Buttons property for Grids to hide query buttons or drop box icons associated with Grid cells if there is a bitmap

  • New Header Height property for Grids and List Boxes

  • New Line Color property to control grid line color for Grids and List Boxes

  • New iNomads Classes property for applicable control types

  • New Copy From feature when creating new Themes and Visual Classes

Data Dictionary

  • New grid UI for Data Dictionary Elements tab

  • Ability to Rename a Data Dictionary element

  • Option to Update Physical File when changing Global Dictionary definitions

  • New Verbose mode message option to display a progress bar when copying a file when updating Data Dictionary

  • New warning message when the record size for VLR files exceeds 32000 bytes

Data Class Definition

  • Enhanced Extended Class Validation and Display option for Multi-Line Data Classes by adding the ability to use numeric elements and specify an Expression

  • Enhanced Load From File option for defining a "source" data file when populating a Drop Box or List Box at run time

    • Ability to use numeric elements and specify an Expression for the Display Value

    • Filter Test for additional filtering capability to filter records loaded

    • Ability to specify a Descriptive Field that can be used to create display-only Multi-Line controls in Nomads

    • Populate All Fields to display all data elements to be used when creating display-only Multi-Line controls in Nomads

Popup Menus

Query Plus

  • Ability to assign a Formula Name in Query definitions

  • Usability enhancements added to Formula Wizard

Report Writer

  • Ability to use Queries as a source for Report Writer reports

  • Added full dynamic Data Class capability to Report Writer parameters

  • Allow Expressions for Report Writer parameter settings

  • Vertical and horizontal Text Alignment buttons added to Report Writer Designer ribbon Toolbar

  • Usability enhancements added to Report Wizard

Web Services

  • New Copy From feature when creating new Web Services in Web Service Maintenance

  • Added Chart Selection dialog to Chart Type services in Web Service Maintenance

WindX

  • Names of past used panels, programs, reports and files in History Lists will be suffixed with the workstation name when running WindX

PxPlus Web Server

  • Improved error reporting to now show all error levels

PxServer

  • Upgraded PxServer to OpenSSL 1.1.1

Installation and Setup

  • Additional error messages for SSL failure and SETTRACE PRINT directives that can be used to log issues

  • Improved messaging when de-installing and moving software to another server

Utilities and Commands

  • New SET_NK command to set/reset the 'NK' system parameter for a file

  • Ability to set the Timeout Value in *PLUS/WEB/REQUEST

  • Ability to Embed an Image using <img cid=> in the body of an email using *WEB/EMAIL

  • TLS support (FTPS, FTPES and SFTP) to *WEB/FTP

  • Added local Australian SMS service to *TOOLS/SMS

  • New *WIN/PROPSET utility for maintaining the properties for any PxPlus object within your application

Other Changes for Reference

Nomads Properties Added

Parameters Added

  • 'BD' system parameter controls whether Windows GDI+ is used to provide smoother curved and angled lines when the following shapes are drawn: Arc, Ellipse, Pie, Line and Polygon

  • 'CR' system parameter controls whether trailing CR ($0d$) will be stripped from text files that were created in Windows and subsequently copied to UNIX/Linux

INI Contents Options Added

Environment Variables Added

  • PXP_CRYPTO_LIB defines the path and file name of an OpenSSL crypto dynamic library (setting this overrides the default OS library search rules)

  • PXP_SSL_LIB defines the path and file name of an OpenSSL SSL dynamic library (setting this overrides the default OS library search rules)

Version Control System

  • Updated the *TOOLS/CONVERTDATA utility to handle message library files as ".pxdta" text files

  • Improved speed for the Update utility

Operating System Support

Along with a true 64 Bit version for Windows, PxPlus 2020 has added support and downloads for the following Linux operating systems:

  • Redhat (Oopta) / CentOS 8.1

  • Debian 10 (Buster)

  • Ubuntu 20 (Focal Fossa)

  • Suse 15.1 (Leap)

The following Linux operating systems will not be available any more due to the age and the fact they are no longer supported by their manufacturer:

  • Debian 3.1 (Sarge)

  • Ubuntu 10-32 Bit (Lucid Lynx)

Note: PxPlus 2020 will be the FINAL version of PxPlus for the following operating systems:

  • Redhat (Tikanga) / CentOS 5

  • Debian 6 (Squeeze)

  • Ubuntu 10-64 Bit (Lucid Lynx)