Have you noticed changes in the
Xojo Roadmap?
There is a new item showing up since today:
Build macOS apps from Windows and Linux
The ability to build and remote debug macOS apps from Windows and Linux
As you may know running the macOS linker running on Windows was not supported by LLVM for the last years. Since Xojo uses LLVM to power their compiler, they had to wait till this project comes to a point, where it is working.
This change may also help to get remote debugging working from Windows to macOS.
Also on the horizon is the dark mode support for Windows, which is also listed there.
Let's look what shows up in the 2021r3 pre-release version soon.
If you like to be pre-release tester, you can contact Xojo as shown in
this blog post.
New in this prerelease of the 21.4 plugins:
- Add thread pooling for Windows to be used for multi threaded methods.
- Added SharingPanelMBS class for sharing on iOS.
- Fixed a crash in JSONMBS class returning big JSON arrays.
- Fixed problem on Windows with GraphicsMagick initialization.
- Updated DynaPDF to version 4.0.58.153.
- Moved WindowsQOSMBS class into its own plugin part, split from WindowsProxy plugin part.
- Implemented thread pool for Windows to be used for our MT methods, so threads get reused.
Download:
monkeybreadsoftware.com/xojo/download/plugin/Prerelease/
New in this prerelease of version 11.4 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
Download at
monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in
Dropbox folder or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.
For our
MBS Xojo Plugins we add a thread pooling for Windows. Instead of having the plugin create threads if needed for doing work and reuse them if needed.
That may help for all the MT methods we have. For example if you use
MBS Xojo CURL Plugin and the PerformMT method there. If you run multiple transfers in background using this, we will now recycle threads. Also for some of our functions doing multi threaded processing like TransformMT for LCMS, it may use multiple threads to do work in parallel.
We use one thread pool for all our plugins. As Windows manages that thread pool, it can add and remove threads as needed and adjust it depending to the system load. Another benefit seems to be that Windows leaks memory per thread, so creating and destroying a lot of threads can be a problem, which should now be fixed.
For macOS and iOS, we had thread pooling before via
Grand Central Dispatch.
Please try next pre-release version of the plugin to see how it works for you.
As you may know Claris switched the engine for WebViewer on Windows. Instead of Internet Explorer they now use the WebView2 component from Microsoft for FileMaker 19.3. Sadly we didn't get our plugin to work with this Edge/Chromium engine for FileMaker 19.3.
But we like to let you know that we work on a fix with Claris. With a little help from them, the plugin can actually get the reference to the WebViewer. For a future plugin version we can get our
WebView functions to work with WebView2. But this change on Claris' side requires an update to FileMaker Pro, so this won't work for FileMaker 19.3, but for the next version after this, let's name it 19.4.
We look forward to the fall with a new FileMaker Pro release for Windows to have you all try the new functions.
Be aware that the Chromium/Edge as engine may behave a little bit different, so you need to test all scripts. And we may have a few new functions for WebView2 specific. Since WebView2 component gets regularly updated, you may need to have a recent version installed to use all plugin functions as some require a recent version, e.g. one from 2021 instead of the one from 2020.
If you like to try it soon, you may want to join Claris ETS (external testing service) and get early access to future FileMaker versions. Otherwise wait for the release, probably in fall 2021.
New in this prerelease of the 21.4 plugins:
- Added areBrowserAcceleratorKeysEnabled, IsGeneralAutofillEnabled, IsPasswordAutosaveEnabled, IsPinchZoomEnabled and UserAgent properties to WebView2ControlMBS control.
- Changed CURLEmailMBS class to cache email source and not render it again each time you query it. And clear it when you change a property of the email.
- Improved NSViewMBS to work on iOS, internally with UIView.
- Added userInteractionEnabled property to NSViewMBS class for iOS.
- Changed WMI examples to initialize in App.Constructor instead of App.Open, so InitSecurity method works.
- Fixed memory leak in CapturePreview method in WebView2ControlMBS control.
- Fixed Open property getter/setter for DynaPDFAnnotationExMBS class.
- Fixed properties for WindowsBlueToothDeviceSearchParameterMBS and WindowsFontFamilyMBS classes.
- Fixed OptionFileTime and OptionUnrestrictedAuth properties for CURLSMBS class.
- Fixed problem with RenderPageMT in DynaPDFRasterizerMBS class, where background of picture was not initialized with white.
- Added more properties for WKPreferencesMBS class.
Download:
monkeybreadsoftware.com/xojo/download/plugin/Prerelease/ or
from Dropbox.
Or ask us to be added to our shared Dropbox folder.
New in this prerelease of version 11.4 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
- Added SendMail.Sign function to send S/MIME signed emails.
- Added PKey.Read, PKey.ReadFromContainer and PKey.ReadFromFile functions.
- Changed SendMail functions to cache email source and not render it again each time you query it. And clear it when you change a property of the email.
- Fixed problem with menu functions on Windows not drawing disabled menu entries in gray when using font styles.
- Fixed problem in PDFKit.GetPDFAttribute returning an error when no keywords are available.
- Fixed a problem with menu functions on Windows to better measure space needed.
- Fixed a problem with menu functions on macOS not showing diamond or bullet checkmarks.
- Added error message when tracing script calls and logging errors.
- Added password parameter for PKey.Read function to read encrypted private keys.
Download at
monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in
Dropbox folder or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.
We are happy about any bug report we get, so we can fix it. But since we got asked if we pay bug bounty, let me explain:
In the past we paid bug bounties for valuable information about vulnerabilities on our products or website.
We haven't put up a website like
CURL project here, but we may formalize it more in the future.
To give a few examples for the websites:
- You can read a file you shouldn't see.
- You circumvented the CMS login. Create a new article with your name as proof and contact us.
- You can write a file to our web server, e.g. write a text file with your name and contact us.
- You can execute code own our web server, e.g. run ls -al and show us the output.
- You can run SQL on our database servers.
For our products:
- Have you be able to crash an app with bad input data? Especially if that could lead to stack corruption and thus execute input data as code.
- Have you found a way, where you can do a SQL injection?
- Have you found a way to circumvent a login or security privilege checking?
- Have you found a way to circumvent our license checks?
We may extend this list with new examples.
PS: We do not care for the misconfiguration of SPF records from our provider. We have no influence there.
Please note that not all crashes are a vulnerabilities, some things got reported before, may be caused by code not from us (open source libraries) and not all vulnerabilities can be exploited.
If you have something, please
contact us.
As I am traveling to Calgary in Canada next month, I like to arrange a FileMaker developer meeting.
Let's talk about FileMaker, conferences, plugins and other programming topics.
Please help to decide on the exact day: Calgary Meeting - Edmonton Meeting
As we have FileMaker users in both cities and around them, we may do both events. Please mark your availability in the surveys above. If you could drive to both cities for a meeting, you can put yourself into both surveys. Feel free to contact us if you have questions.
We can reserve a table in a nice restaurant in Calgary and Edmonton and talk an evening about FileMaker. Time probably around 18 to 22 o'clock, so you can come later or leave early.
Once I set a date and pick a place, we'll contact everyone own the list with the details. I hope to see you all there!
Update: The date is Tuesday, 14th September 2021 for Calgary.
If you like to join, please contact us to get on the guest list.
As I am traveling to Calgary in Canada next month, I like to arrange a Xojo developer meeting.
Let's talk about Xojo, conferences, plugins and other programming topics.
Please help to decide on the exact day: Calgary Meeting - Edmonton Meeting
As we have Xojo users in both cities and around them, we may do both events. Please mark your availability in the surveys above. If you could drive to both cities for a meeting, you can put yourself into both surveys. Feel free to contact us if you have questions.
We can reserve a table in a nice restaurant in Calgary and Edmonton and talk an evening about Xojo. Time probably around 18 to 22 o'clock, so you can come later or leave early.
Once I set a date and pick a place, we'll contact everyone own the list with the details. I hope to see you all there!
Update: The date is Sunday, 12th September 2021 for Calgary.
If you like to join, please contact us to get on the guest list.
We got a recording of the meeting for the
Kentuckiana FileMaker Developers Group from 27th July 2021, where I presented a few examples coming with MBS Plugin.
Watch it on YouTube.
I was very happy to have them schedule their meeting for lunch time, so I could join live at evening time in Austria, right from our little hiking vacation. Enjoy the video and let us know if you have ideas or questions about our plugin.
Recently more people updated to FileMaker versions 19.2 and 19.3. On support calls, we see more complains about plugins no longer calling scripts or doing SQL properly.
If you turn on
Trace logging, you may see for example:
Start Script "DragAction" in file "DragTest" with control Pause
Parameter: 31001
Current file: "DragTest". User "Christian" on host "DESKTOP-CK2F9O6"
Result: 825 (File is not authorized to reference the protected file)
So when you see error 825, then this is a permission issue. With FileMaker version 19.2 Claris introduced the fmplugin extended privilege. Old files don't have this, so script triggering is allowed for the plugin. But if the file is new, it gets a fmplugin extended privilege. And if that one is not checked, the script trigger is forbidden. But you can mark the checkbox to allow all plugins.
Or you add a specific fmpluginMBSP to only allow MBS Plugin. And you may define this for all or some privileges, so some user may use plugin and some not.
If you are interested in limiting functionality of MBS Plugin for users, feel free to limit functions with Plugin.SetFunctions call. Or limit functions to certain scripts/file/privileges, check the Plugin.LimitFunction function. If you like to know what functions you use, check the Plugin.UsedFunctions function and run it after the solution has been used for a day or so.
See also
Tracing MBS Filemaker Plugin,
DbgView for watching trace messages live on FileMaker Server,
Watching for Errors with MBS Plugin and
About controlling plug-in access between files.
Please join the Claris Engage Beyond webinars next week. Starts on August 25th with a Webinar from
Learn, share, and connect online with Claris Engage Beyond 2021, beginning on August 25.
Stay ahead of the curve with Claris Engage Beyond! Get ready for Claris insights, new learning opportunities, and other virtual sessions, brought to you live and on-demand. Whether you’re new to Claris or a long-time community member, Claris Engage Beyond offers the opportunity to choose the sessions you find most valuable.
Please register for the Claris Engage Beyond LIVE kickoff event, featuring Claris CEO, Brad Freitag and VP of Engineering, Peter Nelson, on Wednesday, August 25, 2021. You can also explore and register for other sessions happening after the kickoff.
View the schedule and sign up today!
All sessions are virtual and free of charge.
claris.com/engage
Hope to see you there!
Claris FileMaker is a very versatile tool, but we are curious to learn what direction Claris wants to go with it in the next year. We look forward to an update of the roadmap, maybe some previews of what's coming and in which areas Claris will invest in the products.
We like to hear more about improvements to the admin console for server, additional data centers for the Cloud offering, Android support, the web authoring engine in the browser and maybe some simplified licensing. For Android, I'd still wish Claris would hire a few developers to port over FileMaker Go.
Later on the 25th August, please join
Richard Carlton and his team in the
FMTraining Live Broadcast session "Claris CEO Kickoff - Post Event Review" to recap the high lights and add a bit of context and background information.
See you there!
Summer is always slow and not much happens as most clients are on vacation, except a few little newsworthy things.
Xojo 2021r2.1
Xojo Inc. pushed out the Xojo 2021r2.1 update. A couple of bug fixes for the r2 release, which either didn't make it into the main branch before shipping or were discovered after release. We recommend everyone who uses r2 to move to r2.1 quickly.
Release notes and
download here.
Pre-Release Testing
The pre-release testing in Xojo had the policy to only allow people with a current license to join. Since sometimes licenses expire and people don't purchase a renewal right away, they dropped out of pre-release testing. After a lengthly discussion in the MVP group started by Anthony, the policy was changed (Hurray!) to basically allow anyone to join pre-release testing. Please use this opportunity. It's your chance to test new features and verify bug fixes weeks before the release, so there is a chance for a fix before it ships.
see Xojo blog
OmegaBundle
The OmegaBundle for Xojo was extended for August. If you like to get this package, please place your order soon. End date is set to 31st August 2021.
See website
omegabundle.net and our blog:
Omegabundle for Xojo 2021 Developer Tools
CommonCrypto
Check out
CCCryptorMBS class vs.
CipherMBS class. While the second is cross platform, you may sometimes code an alternative path with
CCCryptorMBS class to benefit from encryption routines in newer CPUs. Apple's frameworks use hardware acceleration there for encryption for some of the algorithms (and when current hardware supports the chosen combination of flags). For version 21.4 of
MBS Xojo Plugins we add a few new constants, but you could use those values for older versions, too.
WMI Change
If you use
WindowsWMIMBS class, please move the call to
WindowsWMIMBS.InitSecurity from Open event in App class to the Constructor of the App class. This is required to be earlier in the app launch to initialize the security for COM classes before Xojo runtime does it.
New in this prerelease of the 21.4 plugins:
- Added more constants for CCCryptorMBS class.
- Added RandomGenerateBytes method to CCCryptorMBS class.
- Fixed problem with borderColor assignment in CALayerMBS class not working.
- Fixed App.BundleResourceFolderMBS and other functions to handle relative CFURL objects better.
- Added HEAD as verb for SetupAWS and SetupOAuth functions in CURLSMBS class.
- Added Contains and Substitute methods to WordFileMBS class.
- Updated to DynaPDF version 4.0.56.151.
- Added DeleteOCGFromDisplayTree function to DynaPDFMBS class.
- Added SetPasteboardItems method taking array of variants to NSPasteboardMBS class.
- Added NSComboBoxControlMBS control with KeyDown/KeyUp controls.
Download:
monkeybreadsoftware.com/xojo/download/plugin/Prerelease/ or
from Dropbox.
Or ask us to be added to our shared Dropbox folder.
New in this prerelease of version 11.4 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
Download at
monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in
Dropbox folder or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.
Since some of you are on vacation, the offer got extended till 31st August 2021:
Get the top developer tools and third party components for the Xojo cross-platform development platform at a huge savings.
Omegabundle for Xojo 2021 is a collection of the most useful tool sets, add-ons, digital books and components for use with Xojo Inc's Xojo development environment. If purchased separately and not including any additional offers, the total cost would be over $3871. Omegabundle for Xojo 2021 costs $399.99.
Xojo is an award-winning, cross-platform development tool for the Desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux), Web, iOS (iPad/iPhone) and Raspberry Pi. With Xojo, you can create native applications by using drag-and-drop to build your user interface and then one straight-forward programming language to enable the functionality. Xojo is powerful and modern, yet easy to use and learn.
Included Products
- Ohanaware App Wrapper (UPDATED). Prepare your application for the Mac App Store or Web Distribution (macOS only app)
- Ohanaware App Kit (UPDATED). A huge collection of declares and objects that Ohanaware has created over the years to help us with crafting better macOS applications. Your next macOS app starts here!
- ExeWrapper (NEW). Microsoft Authenticode Signing - right from Mac! ExeWrapper enables you to code sign Windows executables on a macOS machine. (macOS only app)
- DMG Canvas (NEW). Drag, drop and design your disk image's appearance and to easily and quickly create a fully assembled disk image ready to ship. (macOS only app)
- GrafittiSuite Desktop Edition (UPDATED). 55 (up from 53 from 2020!) incredible user interface controls for Xojo that add value and improve the professional appeal of your Xojo applications.
- XDL Library (NEW).Get some of the best articles from xDev Library, a brand-new ebook, Xojo Database Collection(XDL-0019), that weighs in at over 400 pages
- MBS Chart Director for Xojo (UPDATED). Professional, interactive, real-time charts in your Xojo applications on Mac, Windows and Linux. Desktop, Console and Web projects.
- MBS DynaPDF Starter Edition for Xojo (UPDATED). Create PDF files with your applications on Mac, Windows and Linux. Desktop, Console and Web projects.
- Paradigma Software Valentina Studio Pro 11 (UPDATED). Ultimate reports designer, database administration and forms creation tool that runs on all three operating systems - Windows, macOS, Linux. Select one OS version.
- Paradigma Software ValentinaDB ADK 10 for Xojo (UPDATED). Embed the ultra-fast, object-relational Valentina database into your applications and deploy royalty free - Windows, macOS, Linux, including Raspberry PI! Also works with local SQLite files and as a client to Valentina Server.
- Paradigma Software Valentina Reports ADK 10for Xojo (UPDATED). Generate visually rich reports as graphics, web pages or PDF from your Xojo applications on Windows, macOS, Linux including Raspberry PI! Also works with local SQLite files and as a client to Valentina Server.
- Paradigma Software Valentina Server Unlimited (UPDATED). 4-in-1 Reports Server, Forms Server along with two database servers: one built on object-relational Valentina Database and the other on SQLite. Report and forms serving works with MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server and the included Valentina and SQLite servers
- xDev Magazine (UPDATED). Get back issues and a year’s subscription to xDev Magazine, the professional's magazine for developing with Xojo.
- XDC Developer Conference Coupon (NEW). Save $100 off of the XDC Developer Conference 2022 in London! Coupon must be used before the end of 2021.
(more)
New in this prerelease of the 21.4 plugins:
Download:
monkeybreadsoftware.com/xojo/download/plugin/Prerelease/ or
from Dropbox.
Or ask us to be added to our shared Dropbox folder.
New in this prerelease of version 11.4 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
Download at
monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in
Dropbox folder or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.