Copyright: ©TopSpeed Corporation
Citation: ©TopSpeed Corporation


Contents
Welcome to Clarion for Windows 1.5

You now have in your hands the fastest Rapid Application Development (RAD) environment ever! In addition to building both 16-bit and 32-bit applications for Microsoft Windows 3.1x, Windows 95, and Windows NT from the same application and project files, Clarion for Windows also features the world's first Application WIZARD which generates reuseable Template-based procedures to produce multi-threaded, full-featured applications at the press of a single button. TopSpeed's Application Wizard technology is the most revolutionary productivity advancement in the history of application development!!!

Clarion for Windows 1.5 is the Next Level in RAD products.

The new 32-bit optimizing compiler makes Clarion, which was also the first 16-bit RAD with a compiler, the first RAD tool to compile applications in the new Win 32 Portable Executable format. Clarion for Windows 1.5 is an evolutionary tool for programmers to support both 16-bit and 32-bit Windows.

Clarion for Windows 1.5 clones features across the 16-bit / 32-bit Windows boundary. Windows 3.1x end users can get a Windows 95 look and feel in their applications, while Windows 95 and Windows NT applications can incorporate 16-bit .VBX controls.

Welcome to the Clarion Community!


If Youre New to Clarion for Windows
If You're New to Clarion for Windows...

Welcome! You are about to enter the world of Clarion programming. Depending upon your previous programming experience, this may be a little or a lot different than what you're used to.

Here's how you can master Clarion for Windows "one step at a time."

For the most effective introduction to the Development Environment, we strongly suggest that you work through the tutorials in the Getting Started manual--both the Quick Start Tutorial and the "hands-on" tutorial. These tutorials have been specifically designed to "show off" the productivity features of the Development Environment, some of which may not be immediately obvious until they are pointed out to you. The time you spend doing this will pay off in increased productivity later.

After the tutorials, take a look at the example programs. These demonstrate the range of Clarion programming--from standard business applications to utility programs, and even games. These examples also demonstrate how to accomplish some of the more commonly requested techniques--both in the Application Generator and in completely hand-coded applications. By examining the hand-coded examples, the embedded source code in the Application Generator examples, or the generated source code modules, you'll begin to learn the Clarion language--the foundation of Clarion for Windows. It's a powerful, yet easy to understand, business-oriented fourth-generation programming language. As you examine the code in Clarion's Text Editor, place the cursor on any Clarion language statement (the Blue statements) and press F1--the context sensitive help will locate the pertinent Language Reference topic.

Next, explore the Development Environment. Once you've created the tutorial applications and looked at the examples, you'll probably feel confident enough to strike out on your own. We suggest creating your own data dictionary. The data dictionary is the starting point for practically every new application; by planning well, and "pre-defining" controls, your applications will practically write themselves--especially if you make use of the Wizards! Chapter 4 of the User's Guide tells you all about the Dictionary Editor.

Another great source of information is the Common Questions section in on-line help. These "how to's" cover many techniques not necessarily demonstrated in the example programs or the tutorials. You get to Common Questions by choosing Help [image] Contents from anywhere in the Clarion environment. While you're there, take some time to explore the on-line help--there's a wealth of information that's always available to you.

These four steps introduce you to the Development Environment, the templates, planning a Clarion for Windows application, and the Clarion language. From here you can begin creating your own applications. You'll be surprised at how much you can accomplish in a short period of time!

Known Limitations

The 16-bit debugger doesn't work under Windows NT. This appears to be caused by a problem in NT that has no workaround. You can switch to 32-bit mode to debug and then switch back to 16-bit mode to deploy a 16-bit application.

The 32-bit Btrieve driver was not included because Btrieve Technologies had not released the 32-bit engine at the time of this release.

You may experience problems with the PALLETTE attribute in 16-bit mode under Windows 95. Removing the attribute or changing to 32-bit mode will resolve the problem.

Corrections to the Printed Documentation

In Appendix F--Multi-Programmer Development

In step 3 (p 647) and step 6 (p 649) you should select the External DLL module template. This template adds the DLL() attribute needed for a 32-bit compile. In 16-bit mode, the steps are correct.


If Youre Upgrading from Clarion for Windows 1.0
If You're Upgrading from Clarion for Windows 1.0

Welcome to the Next Level! You already know how productive you have been with Clarion for Windows 1.0, and now you're about to become even more so!

For the most effective introduction to the new features of the Development Environment, we strongly suggest that you work through the tutorials in the Getting Started manual--both the Quick Start Tutorial and the "hands-on" tutorial. These tutorials have been specifically designed to "show off" the new productivity features of the Development Environment, some of which may not be immediately obvious until they are pointed out to you. The time you spend doing this will pay off in increased productivity later.

After the tutorials, look closely at the example programs provided. These demonstrate how to accomplish some of the more commonly requested techniques--both in the Application Generator and in hand-code.

The next great source of information is the Common Questions section in on-line help. These "how to's" cover many techniques not necessarily demonstrated in the example programs. You get to Common Questions by choosing Help [image] Contents from anywhere in the Clarion environment.

Before you get started....

There are some issues you should understand before you begin.

Porting Existing programs

A .TXD or .TXA file created in CW 1.00x will import into CW 1.5. However, a .TXD or .TXA file created in CW 1.5 has additional information that CW 1.00x will not understand if you attempt to import it. If this additional information is deleted, the .TXD or .TXA will import into CW 1.00x.

The templates utilize VIEWs for all browses. This requires you to BIND any variables used in a Filter expression.

To BIND a variable: In the Actions for the Browse Box Control template, press the "Hot" Fields button, insert the field and check the BIND field box.

If you do anything with an application or dictionary in CW 1.5, you cannot open it again in CW 1.00x. This means opening and saving, or even just importing a procedure. You should back up your .APPs and .DCTs before using them in CW 1.5.

You should install CW 1.5 to a different directory than CW 1.00x and make sure the new directory is in your PATH. You can run both CW 1.00x and CW 1.5 on the same machine without conflict.

You need Windows 95 or Windows NT to utilize any of the 32-bit features of CW 1.5.

If you encounter syntax errors when attempting to compile an .APP created with CW 1.00x, choose Project [image] Generate All, and recompile.

You may need to increase the Stack size on some procedures in existing applications when running on Windows 95.

If you experience a GPF when importing a Clarion for DOS dictionary, check your PATH for an older version of WBTRCALL.DLL. Removing this .DLL will resolve the problem.

If you have GROUP or QUEUE structures that do not have a PREFIX. You must add a PRE() attribute (it may be empty if desired) or you will receive compiler errors. See Field Qualification in the Language Reference.

A hand-coded program which uses external .DLLs must have the DLL() attribute everywhere you used the EXTERNAL() attribute if porting to 32-bit.

To migrate an application from any of our DOS products, import the file definitions into a Data Dictionary and use the Application Wizard. From Clarion for DOS 3.x, merely open the .DCT file in Clarion for Windows. From a Clarion Professional Developer application, import each data file definition into a CW dictionary, create the releationships, then let the Wizard do the rest.

Known Limitations

The 16-bit debugger doesn't work under Windows NT. This appears to be caused by a problem in NT that has no workaround. You can switch to 32-bit mode to debug and then switch back to 16-bit mode to deploy a 16-bit application.

The 32-bit Btrieve driver was not included because Btrieve Technologies had not released the 32-bit engine at the time of this release.

You may experience problems with the PALLETTE attribute in 16-bit mode under Windows 95. Removing the attribute or changing to 32-bit mode will resolve the problem.

Corrections to the Printed Documentation

In Appendix F--Multi-Programmer Development

In step 3 (p 647) and step 6 (p 649) you should select the External DLL module template. This template adds the DLL() attribute needed for a 32-bit compile. In 16-bit mode, the steps are correct.

Quick Index to New Features in the Clarion Language

This portion provides an easy method to jump into the Language Reference to see the syntax changes for CW 1.5. These include new Controls, new attributes, and other changes to the Clarion Language.

Chapter 2--Program Source Code Format

Field Qualification

FUNCTION and PROCEDURE Prototypes

DLL (set procedure defined externally in .DLL)

PROC (set function called as  procedure without warnings)

PRIVATE (set procedure private to a single module)

Passing GROUPs and QUEUEs as Parameters

Chapter 3--Declaring Variables

STRING (fixed-length string)

CSTRING (fixed-length null terminated string)

GROUP (compound data structure)

DIM (set array dimensions)

DLL (set variable defined externally in .DLL)

Chapter 6--Window Structures

Controls

PROGRESS (declare a progress control)

SHEET (declare a group of TAB controls)

TAB (declare a page of a SHEET control)

Attributes

SPREAD (set evenly spaced TAB controls)

TIP (set 'balloon help' text)

VALUE (set RADIO control OPTION USE variable assignment)

WIZARD (set "tabless" SHEET control)

Chapter 7--Window Commands

Window Functions

POPUP (return popup menu selection)

Chapter 9--Reports

REPORT (declare a report structure)

Attributes

PAPER (set report paper size)

Chapter 10--Data Files

BLOB (declare a variable-length memo field)

DLL (set file defined externally in .DLL)

Chapter 12--Memory Queues

QUEUE (declare a memory QUEUE structure)

EXTERNAL (set queue defined externally)

DLL (set queue defined externally in .DLL)

Chapter 13--Miscellaneous Procedures and Functions

DIRECTORY (get file directory)

REJECTCODE (return reject code number)

Appendix C--Properties

Property Assignments

Appendix D--Events

Event Equates


Technical Support

You can receive unlimited free technical support for Clarion for Windows on CompuServe Information Service. Once connected to CompuServe, type GO TOPSPEED.  TopSpeed employees, as well as TopSpeed Certified Support Partners (known as Team TopSpeed), will answer your questions in a timely manner.  Additionally you will get advice and answers from other Clarion for Windows users.  We strongly recommend that our customers take advantage of this service.

Paid telephone technical support is also available from TopSpeed Corporation.  You can access our pay-per-call support by calling (900) 884-0444. Various paid support programs are also available.  Call TopSpeed Corporation customer service at (800) 354-5444 or (305) 785-4555 for more information.

Education

To put you on the fast-track to Clarion productivity, TopSpeed offers Educational Seminars at Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced levels.

Call TopSpeed Corporation's customer service at (800) 354-5444 or (305) 785-4555 extension 130 for more information.


License Information

Btrieve Technologies, Inc. (BTI)

A registered Clarion for Windows owner cannot redistribute the following BTI files outside of his/her organization without a license from BTI.

WBTR32.EXE
WBTRLOCL.DLL
WBTRCALL.DLL
WBTRVRES.DLL

In order to obtain a license, please contact:

Btrieve Technologies, Inc.
5918 West Courtyard Drive, Suite 400
Austin, Texas 78730
Phone: (512)794-1719

Bits per Second

An example program illustrating the use of GRAPH.VBX with Clarion for Windows is provided in the example directory under the name GRAPH.PRJ. Bits per Second Limited has given you permission to distribute our example program with its crippled version of its GRAPH.VBX and the following files:

GSW.EXE

GRAPH.HLP

GRAPH.DEM

GRAPH.ICO

GSWDLL.DLL

If you wish to purchase the full-featured GRAPH.VBX, please contact:

In the United States:

Pinnacle Publishing

Phone: (800) 231-1293

In the United Kingdom:

TopSpeed Software Limited

Phone: +44 (0)1582-763200

Elsewhere

Your nearest TopSpeed Distributor