Symantec Visual Cafe for Java 2.5

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README for Symantec Visual Cafe PRO Version 1.0e 06/20/97 ================================================================ Copyright (c) 1997 by Symantec Corporation. All Rights Reserved. NOTE: The Visual Cafe PRO consists of two products: the Visual Integrated Development Environment (e.g. Visual Cafe) with database aware functionality (components, wizards, interactions), and the dbANYWHERE Workgroup Server. This README file is explicitly for Visual Cafe PRO, and the file for dbANYWHERE is available upon installation of the dbANYWHERE Workgroup Server. It is highly recommended that you review this file, since it contains useful information which pertains to using Visual Cafe Pro. Table of Contents: I. Welcome II. Installation Notes III. User Tips IV. Known Problems-PRO Specific and Vendor Specific V. Revision History VI. Additional Information VII. Contacting Symantec for Technical Support I. Welcome! ================================================================ Welcome to Symantec Visual Cafe PRO Version 1.0 for Windows 95 and Windows NT. Please take a few minutes to read this file. II. Installation Notes ================================================================ If you have previously downloaded the Preview Releases of Visual Cafe, you must remove them before installing Visual Cafe PRO 1.0. Run setup.exe. The installation should proceed smoothly. As with any new software, please install Visual Cafe PRO in a clean directory. If you are using Microsoft's NTFS do not install into a directory that has a name containing spaces. You will need to use a Web browser to read the Database Reference and API document, DatabaseReference.HTML. Installing and Running the Tutorial --------------------------------------------------------------- If you are new to Java development, please take the time to work through the exciting and informative tutorial that is part of Visual Cafe PRO. This tutorial will provide you with an overview of Visual Cafe PRO's most powerful features. What's in the Tutorial? --------------------------------------------------------------- In the Tutorial you will learn how to: * Design an applet, then build and install it in a Web page. * Run the applet in a Web browser. * Design an application, then build, test, debug, and run it. * Learn about Visual Cafe PRO's powerful database-aware features. III. User Tips ================================================================ 1. How do I configure my Web browser to run an applet I created using custom classes? When you are ready to view your applet outside the Visual Cafe PRO environment, you need to make sure that the AppletViewer or your favorite Web browser can find the custom classes included with Visual Cafe PRO 1.0e. For local browsing, add an environment variable to your autoexec.bat file, such as: SET CLASSPATH=C:\VisualCafePro\java\lib\vecclass.zip; Whether you use a Browser that supports JDK 1.0.2 or 1.1, set the classpath to the respective Visual Cafe class files. * 2. How do I add values for each column in a non-dbAware MultiList component? When using multiple columns in the MultiList component, you must separate the column values with a semicolon. Each row is separated with a Ctrl + Enter. Populating static values for a dbAware MultiList component is the same. For dynamic values, follow the instructions outlined in the on-line help. * 3. How do I distribute my applet on a Web server? When placing the applet on a Web server, contact your Webmaster and verify that the Symantec classes are available. If the classes are not available on your server, the Webmaster will need to add them or tell you how to add them. A solution that works locally, or from a server, is to copy the \VisualCafePro\Java\Lib\symantec directory and all of its contents to the directory containing the applet. (The subdirectories of the "symantec" directory contain the Visual Cafe PRO Java runtime classes.) Make sure to keep the same upper and lower case letters for the subdirectories and class files; Java is case-sensitive. Some items to consider when deploying a dbAware applet: 1) Central access to the database(s) along with user permissions, 2) Running and maintaining dbANYWHERE on a server for use by the applet, and 3) Number of expected simultaneous connections (you may need to get the dbANYWHERE Server product for handling your user base). * 4. Is there a means of easily figuring out what classes are used by my applet, so that I can place them on the web server for download when the applet is accessed? With Visual Cafe PRO 1.0x, a utility called "Bundler" was included that allowed you to easily figure out which classes were used by your applet or application, and needed to be uploaded to your Web server. This functionality is now in our compiler, sj.exe. Once your Java app is ready, execute the following command at the command prompt (make sure that \VisualCafePro\bin is in your path): sj.exe -depend listname.dep mainclass.java mainclass is the name of the main class Java file or the project name. In this example, listname.dep is the file where the list of classes used by your app will be generated. The file listname.dep has to have a .dep extension. The name of the zip file (if any) where the class file was found will be listed. This helps you determine which class files you would need to unzip from each class zip file used by your app. Note that while the java.* class files are logged in this file, you are not actually required to copy those to your Web server, as they are usually available with most Internet browsers. * 5. What is the "Execute applet in default HTML viewer" option in the Project Options dialog? The "Execute applet in default HTML viewer" option, located in the Project Options dialog box, allows you to view your applet in your favorite Web browser, instead of the AppletViewer, when executing from the Visual Cafe PRO environment. * 6. Will Visual Cafe PRO recognize my own source code? When adding controls directly within the source editor, it is recommended that you adhere to the same coding style as generated by Visual Cafe PRO. This will allow controls you add to be displayed in the form editor. Controls you add outside Visual Cafe PRO's tags (which are comments that indicate where Visual Cafe PRO generates Java code for the form editor) will not be displayed in the form editor and will not be affected by automatic code generation. So to reiterate, if you are adding controls within Visual Cafe PRO's tags in the source editor, adhere to Visual Cafe PRO's default coding style. Otherwise, you can add controls outside of Visual Cafe PRO's tags using your own coding style. * 7. What do I need to do to enable Remote Debugging? If you are using cafeRemote on a remote computer for remote debugging you must modify the autoexec.bat file on that machine. You must also include VisualCafePro\java\bin your PATH, and create and set a CLASSPATH system variable to include all necessary classes for the Applet or Application you are debugging. Here is an example: set PATH=C:\VisualCafePro\Java\Bin;%PATH% set CLASSPATH=C:\VisualCafePro\Java\Lib; C:\VisualCafePro\Java\Lib\SYMCLASS.ZIP; C:\VisualCafePro\Java\Lib\VECCLASS.ZIP; C:\VisualCafePro\Java\Lib\DBAW_AWT.ZIP; C:\VisualCafePro\Java\Lib\DBAW.ZIP; C:\VisualCafePro\Java\Lib\SQL.ZIP;C:\YOUR_CLASSES; Note that a PATH or CLASSPATH statement in your system files is one continuous line with no spaces or carriage returns. * 8. I'm charged for Web server space on a per megabyte basis. Is there a more efficient way to deploy other than copying the \symantec class subdirectory to each of my applet directories? The use of a CODEBASE="URL of applet directory" attribute within the <APPLET></APPLET> tags can be used to specify the URL of the directory in which the applet resides. That way your applets can access the Symantec classes no matter where they reside. If your server is UNIX, you can do a symbolic link from your applet directory to the symantec class subdirectory on the server. * 9. When I open a project in the Form Designer, the dialog for Dial Up Networking appears. If I log on, all is well. If I cancel, Visual Cafe PRO "hangs" for several minutes. The use of relative URLs (for example, IMAGES/*.GIF) can cause this behavior on some systems. To avoid it, use absolute URLs (for example, C:\...\PROJECT\IMAGES\*.GIF) during design time and then switch to relative URLs for deployment. * 10. Each time I attempt to launch Visual Cafe Pro, I get this message: An incorrect version of the AWT is found in the path (check your system directory). Visual Cafe Pro runs if I click OK, but live controls are disabled. It is not uncommon for files that Visual Cafe PRO relies upon to be replaced by other vendors (Java development tools or other software). In most cases, the files can be one or more of the following: JAVAI.DLL, AWT.DLL, MFC30.DLL, and/or MSVCRT20.DLL. Copy these files from VisualCafePro\JAVA\BIN to VisualCafePro\BIN. This will ensure that the correct files are being loaded since the current working directory, VisualCafePro, is searched first (allowing the use of live controls). This solution is also applicable if a runtime error is generated when Visual Cafe Pro is launched. * 11. How can I increase the size of a form within the Form Designer larger than the resolution of my screen? A form in the Form Designer is limited to the resolution of your display. If your display system is capable, increase the its resolution to allow more information on the screen such as changing from 800x600 to 1024x768. If your display system supports the use of a "viewport" or "virtual desktop" where only a portion of the desktop is displayed on the monitor, the form size can be increased to the size of the desktop. Note that this has not been thoroughly tested with all display systems. * 12. Can I integrate Netscape's IFC into the Visual Cafe Pro environment? Symantec will provide Netscape IFC integration instructions for Visual Cafe Pro on our Web site at HTTP://CAFE.SYMANTEC.COM. * 13. I would like to distribute my applications created with Visual Cafe Pro along with the Symantec Virtual Machine. Do I need to obtain a license? Yes. Please contact Symantec Developer Relations for additional information. The .class files included with Visual Cafe are freely distributable. * 14. I receive parsing errors when I attempt to define a custom color. Custom colors must be defined in the INIT_CONTROLS to avoid parsing errors. * 15. If I overlap components, why do they behave differently in Internet Explorer and Netscape? The Java z-order implementation within Internet Explorer for Windows is opposite to that of Netscape for Windows. For example, take a look at the slide show in VISUALCAFEPRO\TUTORIAL\APPLET\SLIDESHOW.JAVA. We've placed one Next InvisibleButton in front of the CLICKER.GIF image and one behind it so it will work for both browsers. If only one Invisible Button was used behind the CLICKER.GIF image in the SlideShow, the applet would not function correctly in Internet Explorer. To accommodate different Java z-order implementations, it is necessary to place an InvisibleButton in front of the component as well as behind it in order for events to be generated. 16. How do I add third party components to Visual Cafe PRO? Refer to the Component Integration document at FTP://ITOOLS.SYMANTEC.COM/PUB/DEVREL/VISUALCAFE/PAPERS/ for instructions. * 17. To conserve resources, I'd like to disable live controls. How do you do this? Rename the jblender.dll file to jblender.sav and restart Visual Cafe PRO. * 18. An Environment option called AWT_DBG_ASSERT may be set in the sc.ini file located in \VisualCafe\bin to turn on Assert messages that development uses to debug VisualCafe. Technical support may ask you to set this when troubleshooting. To turn it on set it to TRUE. Set it to FALSE for regular mode. The default is FALSE. For example, to turn Assert messages on: AWT_DBG_ASSERT=TRUE * 19. Where can I find additional learning materials for Visual Cafe PRO and java? The following publishers have announced books for Visual Cafe/Pro: Discovering Visual Cafe IDG Books Wall & Griffith Visual Cafe Frontrunner Corolis Symantec Visual Cafe Sourcebook John Wiley & Sons Cary Jardin Visual Cafe Programming for Dummies IDG Books Tittel & Gaither Visual Cafe Addison Wesley Germany Guido Krueger Visual Cafe Pro WROX Press UK Roger Lee IV. Known Problems-PRO Specific and Vendor Specific ================================================================ This section lists information on known problems with Visual Cafe PRO, and alternative actions that can be taken to avoid them. It is divided up by Visual Cafe and Visual Cafe Pro specific areas. Visual Cafe Specific -------------------- * If you encounter certain errors when starting Visual Cafe Pro or if your tool palette appears empty, delete the following files from \visualcafepro\bin: *.rps *.reg *.vws Note: Some of the errors are: "No starter templates could be found" "Cannot open local repository" "Cannot open registry" These files are platform-dependent and must be regenerated when switching from one OS to another. * Due to architectural changes within Visual Cafe PRO projects, it is not compatible with Visual Cafe Preview 1 or 2 .VPJ files. Also, it is not suggested that you mix projects between Visual Cafe and Visual Cafe PRO. * When using the Parse All Imports option, we strongly recommend that you allow the parser to finish parsing before editing or changing a file. To view the status of the parser, select Messages from the Visual Cafe PRO Window menu. * The x and y dimension properties in the Property Inspector are not applicable for root level objects. No effect is achieved if you change these settings. * Visual Cafe Pro introspects class files when they are added to the Component Library, and allows the setting of basic properties in the property list if the class follows the Java Beans spec. Supported properties are: int, Boolean, String, String arrays, Color, Font, URL, and URL arrays. Currently, the additional is/set design pattern for Boolean properties is not supported. * The use of alignment tools within a borderPanel is not supported in this release. * When using border panels with snap to grid turned on, panel contents can shift when the panel itself is moved on a form. To prevent this, turn snap to grid off. * Status bar is cut off in AppletViewer when first displaying. You may need to manually resize the window to see it. * Under the VM, the Checkbox fires two action events when clicked. * Breakpoints in Debugging Setting breakpoints in local and anonymous classes will not be recognized by the debugger. To step in a local class, set a breakpoint at the line that calls the method of the class. Then step into the method. In rare cases while stepping, the break line will not be able to step any further. If this happens, delete or disable the breakpoint, and you will be able to continue stepping. While debugging, when multiple threads share the same breakpoint, the VM may throw an IllegalAccessError exception. This error is due to a bug in the JDK. Let's say you have a class that extends java.lang.Thread called Calculate. If you start 5 Calculate threads and set a breakpoint in Calculate, while debugging you may get the above exception. Visual Cafe PRO Specific ------------------------ * BACK PARSING 1. Visual Cafe PRO provides sophisticated editing abilities, where a change to an object in the Property List window will automatically generate the code change in the source, or an object added to the source will appear on the form and in the Project window. However, there have been some problems noted with this facility, where extensive changes to object names in the source will occasionally cause invalid back parsing. It is suggested that changes be made through the Property List window as often as possible. 2. There are rare occasions when an object dropped onto the applet window does not size properly, or becomes "lost" from view. The easiest way to recover from this is to locate the object in the project window. Once selected, you can edit the X,Y,Width and Height parameters in the Property List to desirable values. * LOGON FRAME PROBLEM In this version of Visual Cafe Pro, there is a problem where launching a frame containing a RelationView causes a logon frame to appear, but it locks up. Some solutions for this are listed below, for defining a class that launches frames. SIMPLE: ------- class MyFrameClassLauncher extends Thread { boolean show; public MyFrameClassLauncher(boolean showTheFrame) { show = showTheFrame; } public void run() { MyFrameClass f = new MyFrameClass() if (show) f.show(); } } MORE COMPLEX, BUT MORE FLEXIBLE: -------------------------------- //package symantec.itools.db.awt.util; public class FrameLauncher extends Thread { String className; boolean show; //private constructor to prevent external instantiation. private FrameLauncher(String theFrameClass, boolean showFrame) { className=theFrameClass; } public static void launch(String theClassName) { FrameLauncher f = new FrameLauncher(theClassName, true); f.start(); } public static void launch(String theClassName, boolean showFrame) { FrameLauncher f = new FrameLauncher(theClassName, showFrame); f.start(); } public void run() { try { java.awt.Frame f = (java.awt.Frame) Class.forName(className).newInstance(); if (!show) f.show(); } catch(Exception e) {} } } // launch the frame by calling the Launch method from an applet: // // FrameLauncher.launch("Frame1"); * dbAWARE COMPONENTS In general, dbAware components should only be used if they will be bound to a data projection. Otherwise, you should use a non-data aware component instead. Using a dbAware component without a data projection will result in a NullPointer exception at runtime. 1. The Grid control has undergone some extensive changes. However, there are still some outstanding problems you should be aware of: a. When using a grid for a detail RelationView, marking the master RelationView for deletion (pressing "Delete" button) will cause the grid to clear. This is normal behavior. However, performing an "Undo" will not force the grid to re-display. You must move the cursor to a different record and then move back, in order for the data to display in the grid. b. Most refresh and painting problems with the grid have been corrected. However, in some circumstances there are performance penalties. This is noticeable when running an applet with more than two grids in commercial browsers, such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. c. There is a focus issue, when moving the cursor via tab or arrow key to a different row in the grid. If there is a second grid present, focus will shift to the next grid, instead of the next row. d. When creating a Grid that will use a RelationView, make sure you specify the RelationView through the Property Inspector before doing a Parse All. Otherwise, code gen specific to data aware usage will not be generated. 2. KeyPressManagerPanel a. The KeyPressManagerPanel is inserted into applets through the AddTable Wizard by default, because it is required for database transactions to be performed correctly. It ensures that data change notification is processed for all dbAware controls that are bound to data sources. It also facilitates tabbing between controls (something quite lacking from most Java applets today). Note that when dragging a table from the dbNavigator window instead of employing the Add Table Wizard, a KeyPressManagerPanel will not be instantiated. You can manually add one from the Panel tool palette. However, make sure that you always keep RelationView, Session, and ConnectionInfo objects listed before it. Conversely, any data aware controls should always roll-up within this panel object. b. KeyPressManagerPanel will resize properly when adding components through the add table wizard only if it is highlighted when invoking the add table wizard. If the applet is highlighted instead, the components will fall outside the KeyPressManagerPanel, causing parsing problems. If this ever happens, make sure you move this object to be the last entry in the Project window. 3. It is not possible to resize some of the dbAWARE objects, such as the Session, ConnectionInfo, and RelationView. Since these are not visible at runtime, there is no need to alter their appearance. It is also recommended that you do not Cut and Paste these objects. 4. The ImageViewer now has the capability of loading new images and saving them in your database. Here's how it works: a. create an applet using a table with a blob datatype. b. create a standard textfield control and button control. c. create an association between the button and the ImageViewer, specifying the click action to "fetch an image from...", indicate the textfield control as the object to get the information from, and indicate to "get the contents of the TextField". The ImageViewer will accept JPEG and GIF format images. You can specify them using an http or file URL, but the source is subject to the Java security model restrictions when running an applet (i.e. the image must come from the same server as the applet). Using FTP is not possible at this time, but is being considered in a later version. Refer to the on-line documentation for more details. 5. A data-aware ComboxBox control is now available, which provides basic functionality similar to the Windows standard. Please refer to the on-line help for further details on this control. 6. There is a new DateTime object included in Visual Cafe Pro. Please be sure to check out the documentation for it provided in the on-line help. Although it is a powerful, flexible object, not all of the formatting strings are intuitive. The documentation properly explains the usage. 7. The FormattedTextField is a new control included in this release. Essentially, it functions like a dbAware textfield, with the addition of having a freeform Mask property. The FormattedTextField uses a set of predefined characters that define the mask. When defining a mask, be sure to preface any character that is to be a part of the mask with the Escape character ('/'), including spaces. For instance, specify the mask for a long distance telephone number as: /(999/)/ 999/-9999. Here is a list of the key characters used to define a mask: Mask Type Symbol Restriction ------------------- ------ ---------------------------------------- ESCAPE '/' Preface all mask characters with this DIGIT '9' numbers SIGN '+' sign character DIGIT_OR_SIGN '-' sign character or a number ALPHA_UPPER 'A' UPPER CASE letters ALPHA_LOWER 'a' lower case letters ALPHA_TO_UPPER 'U' letters and converts to upper case ALPHA_TO_LOWER 'L' letters and converts to lower case ALPHANUMERIC_UPPER 'X' numbers and upper case letters ALPHANUMERIC_LOWER 'x' numbers and lower case letters ALPHANUMERIC_TO_UPPER 'N' numbers and letters, but converts all letters to upper case ALPHANUMERIC_TO_LOWER 'n' numbers and letters, but converts all letters to lower case ANY '*' Allows any character to be entered Examples of Some Useful Masks ----------------------------- Long Zip Code: 99999/-9999 Social Security Number: 999/-99/-9999 PG&E Account Number: AAA99/ 99999/-9 16 Digit Credit Card Number: 9999/ 9999/ 9999/ 9999 MM/DD/YYYY Date Format: 99//99//9999 You could even get clever and preface a name with: /M/r/,/ or /M/s/./ or /D/r/./ Imagine the possibilities... 8. The TextField has a column property that is intended to allow you to specify the initial width of the text area based on the size of the text field's font. This is not working for this release. 9. There is a code generation problem with the Radiobox, that will cause parsing errors. Essentially, the binding statements for the Radiobox appear after the RadioButtons are initialized. There is a work-around for this: a. Do a 'parse all' after placing the first RadioButton on the form. (Doing this will cause the RadioBox to appear in the Project window) b. In the Project window, move the RadioBox above the KPMP (KeyPress ManagerPanel). c. Move the binding statement for the RadioBox before the RadioButtons are initialized, and this will parse correctly. 10. The CheckBox object has a label property, but it will not display the value that has been set. 11. Special notes for DBTimestamp: a. You can update a DBTstamp by pressing return or tab, but not by clicking on another element. b. If you have an empty DBTstamp field ( i.e. after creating a new record) you can set it to the current date/time by pressing return or tab. c. If you have both a DBTstamp and another component showing the same record, the DBTstamp will automaticaly update the other components. d. If you try to update a DBTstamp with an invalid date/time value, then the data value stored/displayed in the DBTstamp may be wrong. e. If you set a custom display format, then the entry format will get automaticaly updated to fit it, unless you specify differently in the property list. * LAYOUT OPTIONS There are several layout options available for applets, which consist of BorderLayout, CardLayout, FlowLayout, GridBagLayout, and GridLayout. A bug exists where the selection of CardLayout will cause ALL of the objects in your applet to resize to the dimensions of the applet window. To compensate for this, CardLayout is not used for the default, and the keyPressManagerPanel is sized slightly smaller than the applet window to facilitate group lasso of objects. * dbNAVIGATOR If you specify more than one logical name for a dbANYWHERE server, or use more than one dbANYWHERE server in a given project, you will see each entry in the dbNavigator window. It is not possible to delete them from this list. In order to do so, you must delete the dbtree.rps file, located in the BIN directory. WARNING: this will remove ALL dbNavigator entries. A future release will provide a more graceful means of editing the entries. * HETEROGENEOUS JOINS If your ParentRelationView is in a different database from your detail relationview, and you specify the wrong userID and password, you are not prompted again. Instead, you are given the Join Definition dialog and will not have any Master columns to select from. To correct this, you must disconnect from the data source via the dbNavigator and try again. * FOCUS 1. After moving an object that has the current focus, the focus lines and handle bars will no longer appear. However, the object will technically still have focus (cursor will show cross hairs), its just the focus highlight will not appear. You must lose focus by clicking on another object, then return back to the original object to see the focus highlights and handlebars. 2. You cannot lose focus on a group of objects by single clicking on one of the objects in focus. You must click on an object that does not have current focus to release the group focus. * LONGVARBINARY When projecting LongVarBinary columns in a SQL statement, be sure not to list them first. It is recommended that they be listed last for greater efficiency. * SQL STATEMENT PARSING The SQL statement parser has some limitations. You cannot specify some computational functions, table or column aliasing, or table joins of two or more tables. It is recommended that a SQL view be created on the database in use. * NEW RECORD POSITIONING When executing Insert for a RelationView, the new record is not always positioned in a predictable location. This has no affect on data. After committing the transaction (executing a Save method), the data will be refreshed, and the records will be ordered based on the SQL statement or by rules set in the database. * KEYWORDS Keywords and reserved names in Java, JDBC, and in various database engines should NEVER be used for dbAware object names. Doing so will cause unexpected results with dbANYWHERE. A future version may implement a reserved word check matrix. * USING ALIASES IN RELATIONVIEWS RelationView objects do not support column or table aliasing in SQL statements. It is suggested that views be created in the database(s) and referenced by a RelationView. Vendor Specific Problems ------------------------ * Microsoft Access There are some problems with using dbANYWHERE connections to Microsoft Access Jet Engine databases earlier than the 7.0 version on Windows NT 4.0, due to some Access problems. It is recommended that you download the free update available on the Microsoft web site. The file to get is msjt3032.dll which contains the following files: msjt3032.dll, mswng300.dll, msajetfs.dll, readme.txt, and 62317T.doc. For additional information about this update, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Article-ID: Q143163; TITLE: Problems Running Microsoft Jet 3.0 on Windows NT 4. * Microsoft Internet Explorer Microsoft's Internet Explorer was tested with running Java applets, but one of the more notable problems encountered concerned the use of the host name "localhost." This is a default TCP/IP entry (127.0.0.1) in your HOSTS or LMHOSTS file which allows you to reference the local machine running dbANYWHERE, instead of specifying an IP address. In some cases, Internet Explorer failed to resolve the "localhost" reference, requiring the use of the full IP addresss. You may find it best to use IP Addresses or registered Domain Names whenever possible. * Sybase SQL Anywhere 5.5 There tends to be a large memory and/or resource leak with repeated connects and disconnects to SQL Anywhere 5.5 via ODBC. Each connect/disconnect consumes 50-100Kbytes of virtual memory that is not given back to the system until the client application terminates. This is under both Win95 and WinNT (3.51 & 4.0). Technical Support at Sybase confirmed this on high numbers of connect/disconnect sequences in 5.5.0. They also claim that it should be fixed in 5.5.01. There is an EBF file on their FTP/WEB Server that may or may not contain the fix. Note: In the documentation, the names Watcom and SQL Anywhere are used interchangeably, since Watcom is the original name of this database engine (prior to the Sybase acquisition). JDK Version Incompatibilities ----------------------------------------------------------------- Symantec Visual Cafe PRO 1.0d supports version 1.0.2 of the Java Development Kit from Sun Microsystems. Also, the JDBC API included supports version 1.2 of the JDBC specification. Some behaviors of the java.awt components are not correct on the Microsoft Windows platforms. These platform-dependent problems include: * Buttons and labels do not support foreground or background colors. * Checkbox/radiobuttons don't support foreground color. * Lists size themselves to specific increments (to completely hold lines of text). * When building applets/applications for Microsoft Internet Explorer you should not use the project option for Java Optimization or the -O switch. * When calculating the Client area, awt does not take into account the menubar. As a result your forms may not appear as WYSIWYG. * Choice and List components incorrectly display their size and position if not used in conjunction with a layout manager. Visual Cafe issues a reshape after the component is added, which addresses this problem. However, if you try to use descendants of these classes you will need to add a call to reshape after the component has been added. For example, Assuming newChoice extends Choice //{{INIT_CONTROLS newChoice1 = new newChoice(); newChoice1.reshape(119,72,135,21); add(newChoice1); //}} // Add this section after the init block: newChoice1.reshape(119,72,135,21); These problems should be resolved with the 1.1 release of the JDK. JDK 1.1 Support: ----------------------------------------------------------------- We are now working on the integration of JDK 1.1 support into Visual Cafe Pro and expect to have a release available soon. Please check with the cafe.symantec.com Web site periodically for status and subscribe to the mailing list so we can notify you when new updates to Visual Cafe Pro are available. JDBC Specification Problems ----------------------------------------------------------------- * Stored Procedures The JDBC specification states the following format to be used for stored procedures: { call procedure_name [?,?,....] } where procedure_name - is the name of the procedure ?,?..... - are the placeholders to be used for parameters In the real world, the above doesn't work for all different drivers. So, remember these guidelines: a. Sybase SQL AnyWhere / Watcom ODBC drivers are supposed to support the above escape processing syntax for stored procedures. Unfortunately the Watcom ODBC driver doesn't support this. So, always use native calling syntax with Watcom, which is, "call procedure_name ( ?, ?, ? )". But if you were really brave and wanted to try using the ODBC standard, you would get an "Unable to prepare SQL Statement" exception or some other related message. b. All InterSolv ODBC Drivers These drivers do behave a little bit better than the Watcom driver. They let you to prepare the statement, but while executing the statement by executeUpdate(), execute() etc, sometimes strange errors are displayed. It may be prudent to utilize the dbANYWHERE direct drivers whenever possible. c. Native Sybase driver, Microsoft SQL Server driver. Should work fine without a problem. d. Native Oracle driver. This works fine, but make sure to include an extra set of () around the placeholders. This requirement may be alleviated in future versions. { call procedure_name [(?,?,....)] } Note the () around placeholders * Date datatypes are restricted to the range 1970-01-01 to 1999-12-31. Attempts to retrieve data with dates outside this range will throw an exception that can, in some cases, be unrecoverable. * Excessively large datatypes that go beyond the definitions that JDBC can handle, will cause applets to hang when running. For example, if you are using Oracle and project a column of datatype NUMBER(38), the applet will hang when executing (no controls will appear). Make sure you do not violate the datatype limits of JDBC. Low-memory warning on startup ----------------------------------------------------------------- If the sum of your system's available physical memory (RAM) and swap space on disk is below a minimal level when Visual Cafe PRO starts up, a warning dialog will notify you of this condition. We will advise you to increase swap space (see below). You have the option of ignoring this warning (answer "No" to the "Quit?" prompt), and proceeding to run Visual Cafe PRO. With light use, you may not experience any problems at all. But with typical use, at some time in the course of your Visual Cafe PRO session you may begin to see "low virtual memory" warnings from the operating system. Typical symptoms of running any complex application with too little available memory are sluggish performance and unstable system behavior. If the warning dialog recommends that you increase swap space by some small amount, such as 2 or 3 MB, please increase minimum swap space on Windows NT, or free disk space on Windows 95, by at least 5 MB. On Windows 95, if the option is selected in Settings | Control Panel | System | Performance | Virtual Memory to let the OS manage swap space (this is the default), then available swap space is simply the amount of free disk space; but note that there is no guaranteed minimum: if the disk is full, there is no swap space available. On Windows NT 3.51, Control Panel is started from Program Manager; on Windows NT 4.0, Control Panel is started from the Settings menu item, as on Windows 95. The page file setting that matters most to an application on NT is the minimum page size setting. On a system with 32 MB RAM, the minimum swap space should be not less than 20 MB, and 32 MB is better. A reasonable setting for the maximum is at least twice the minimum. For further details about virtual memory, see the OS Help on the System dialog. V. Revision History: ================================================================ 1.0e 1. Resolved crash drawing InvisibleHTMLLink component partially onto another component. 2. Resolved crash setting Preview Component to "true" for Animator without specifying URL. 3. Resolved various Menu Editor crashes and inability to copy or paste menus or menu items within Menu Editor, Project Windows, or Form Designer. 4. Resolved crash when Menu Editor remained open after parent is deleted. 5. Resolved crash when import statements were deleted from source. 6. Resolved crash when inserting a Canvas into a Calendar. 7. Resolved crash with non-existent within a Tab Panel. 8. Resolved crash when closing project with an invalid applet name. 9. Resolved NervousText 100% CPU usage when paused. 10. Resolved horizontal and vertical sliders that were "see through." 11. Resolved Border Panel contents shifting up and left when Form Editor is opened and closed. 12. Resolved Sound Player component that failed to parse. 13. Resolved List Box shrinkage on opening and closing the Form Editor. 14. Resolved setDate method in Calendar that failed to set date. 15. Resolved labelButton label that was missing until clicked on execute. 16. Resolved left alignment issues within Label and textFields. 17. Resolved various Numeric Spinner issues. 18. Resolved the adding of more than 14 files to the URL property of Animator or Slideshow. 19. Resolved various issues with saving projects on a network. 20. Resolved various back parser failures. 21. Resolved various GridBag failures. 22. Resolved failure with extending java.awt.Canvas 23. Resolved Slider not painting correctly if the default value isn't 0. 24. Resolved NumericSpinner default values not functioning. 25. Resolved LabelButton's label not showing until clicked as well as other issues. 26. Removed "?invalid row" in messages window. 27. Inserting a package statement no longer prevents future visual design code generation. 28. Sample applets modified. 29. Various component documentation enhancements. 30. Live Controls now disabled if foreign Java .DLL files are found in the system path. 31. Variables are now available with an applet connection. 32. Resolved accelerator conflicts with Window Menu. 33. Added installation prompts for Classpath addition to environment. 34. Added "double" capability in GridBag layout. 35. Added "Applet to Dialog" interactions. 36. Added Macro Recorder. 37. Added Macro Recorder help. 38. Added support for name, label, or values greater than 256 characters. 39. Added default tab property for TabPanel. 40. Added "Generate Debug Information" into project options. 41. Resolved MultiList clear method where list would not clear until clicked. 42. Resolved preformatted text fields with KeyPressManagerPanel to support tabbing. 43. Resolved CardLayout so that card names are now generated into the source file. VI. Additional Information ================================================================ Sybase SQL Anywhere 5.5 ----------------------- 1. Use of the Sybase SQL Anywhere Server and the Sybase SQL Anywhere Runtime Distributable Components requires the user to read the license information displayed in the Visual Cafe PRO installation screen and contained in the license files provided on disk (Sybase Runtime License and Sybase SQL Server License). 2. Only one copy of the SQL Anywhere Server may be used for development purposes and one copy of the SQL Anywhere Runtime Distributable Components may be used with Visual Cafe Pro. The Sybase Anywhere Server and the Sybase Anywhere Runtime Distributable Components may only be used in conjunction with dbANYWHERE Workgroup Server. 3. End user developers may not include dbANYWHERE Workgroup Server, Sybase SQL Anywhere Server or Sybase SQL Anywhere Runtime Distributable Components with their applications unless each copy of their application includes a fully licensed version of Visual Cafe Pro. 4. Sybase SQL Anywhere Server will be used for database application development. Any deployment of the database and application will require the use of the Sybase SQL Anywhere Runtime Distributable Components. The Sybase SQL Anywhere Server is not licensed for use in deployment situations. 5. Note that the included Sybase SQL Anywhere Runtime Distributable Components allow up to no more than 10 simultaneous connections. 6. Because this Software is a Symantec database development product, you have a right to host one version of the database components of the Software product on a different physical machine than the machine on which the development environment is used. Even though different components of the included Software Product may be hosted on separate physical machines, only one copy of each component may exist at one time. This applies to both development and runtime database engines provided with this Software product. * VII. Contacting Symantec for Technical Support ================================================================ During the first 90 days of your purchase, you may call Technical support free of charge at (541) 465-8470. 1. Free and unlimited electronic support is available at http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/news/index.html, Support is also available on the usenet newsgroup comp.lang.java Send bug reports to support_javawin@symantec.com 2. If your User ID and Password become inoperative, please send e-mail notification to Customer Service at custserv@symantec.com with your name, address, daytime phone number, ID and password. Please type "Visual Cafe PRO" in the subject field. We will respond shortly thereafter. 3. If you have lost your Cafe ID set, please send notification to Customer Service at custserv@symantec.com. In the event that your information does not appear in our registration database, we will provide additional avenues for verification of ownership. 4. For CD purchases or damaged disks please call Customer Service at 800-441-7234.