Issue 65 * February 12 2009

Raising the Rev Value Equation
With the coming release of Revolution 3.5 and new technical support options, you get even more bang-for-buck out of your investment

by Kevin Miller

Well the numbers are in and thanks to you, we can say that 2008 was by a huge margin the most successful year ever for Revolution. We introduced two major new versions of the software, brought Linux up-to-date, slashed our prices in half, held our most popular developers conference ever, and greatly expanded our partner offerings through RevSelect. Our internal engineering team has grown. We have more active Revolution users than at any time in history, and they are producing higher quality results in less time. But we're not resting on our laurels! In 2009 we will continue our relentless effort to deliver more value to you, our loyal (dare I say "fanatical") developer community.

Introducing Revolution 3.5

Heading up the innovations in 2009 is our fantastic new, user-centric upgrade: version 3.5. I say user-centric because not only will we deliver on a much sought-after enhancement you've been clamoring for, but we've added features that harness the power of our growing user community to make Revolution an even better and easier-to-use product.

Improved Data Presentation
You've asked for it, and now you've got it — an enhanced data grid and table control. New in Revolution 3.5 is an incredibly flexible, high-performance presentation object that not only gives you remarkable freedom to display information the way you want, but also can present vast amounts of data without blinking an eye. Just create a "template" row containing any sort of button, check box, field, image, etc. you need, arranged the way you want. The control will automatically replicate it to display your data.

Data grid with controls and formatted fields
New data grid provides high performance and sophisticated presentation

Because the control displays only what's needed on-screen, it's blindingly fast and not subject to the traditional size limitations of regular fields and groups. You can use the control to display anything from sophisticated database records with arbitrary formatting and controls to clean tables with alternating row colors and columns aligned left, right, or center.

Table with right, center, and left-justified columns
In Revolution 3.5 you'll be able to display vast quantities of data with aligned columns

Providing this robust, easy-to-use object answers your #1 feature request, a milestone we hope will delight you at the same time it enables higher quality applications to be built with Revolution. Now, more than ever before, you can deploy practical solutions to data management challenges with a quick return on investment... and without compromise.

Object-Oriented Behaviors
Enabling this data grid is a new core technology known as "Behaviors" (also called parent scripts). Behaviors represent a major step forward to Revolution becoming truly object-oriented because a single script can be used by multiple objects throughout a solution, without replication. Any object — fields, groups, controls — can now share Behaviors without duplicating code or employing awkward message-passing techniques. And any change to the parent Behavior is instantly adopted by all child objects that reference it.

Behaviors are implemented as a property of Revolution objects. By setting the parentScript of (for example) a button, you essentially are setting a pointer to the source script, which is written as if it "lived" within the objects linking to it. The parentScript sits behind any code within the child control, so it's easy to override or augment the "parent" Behavior if you like.

Behaviors are much more powerful and flexible than the current back scripts, front scripts, and message-passing scheme for several reasons:

  • Behaviors keep stack, card, and group scripts clean and obviate the need for awkward, special-case constructions to check if code is appropriate to execute (i.e.: if "special" is within the name of the target)
  • The button holding the parent script is self-contained and can easily be copied from one stack to another without modifying any existing scripts
  • Each "child" object maintains its own set of local variables at runtime
  • Parent scripts are written as if they lived within the child object itself (i.e. using "me"), resulting in cleaner, shorter, universal, and easier-to-understand code
  • Messages can be processed within a shorter hierarchy, resulting in faster execution
  • Behaviors can reside within password-protected stacks and sub-stacks, enabling developers to sell or share reusable components to other developers without revealing their source code

Not only do Behaviors make development less cumbersome (you don't have to manage multiple copies of a script across multiple objects) but you get better end results. Only one instance of the compiled code resides in memory at any given time, improving performance and resource usage.

Supporting the new Behaviors functionality are a slew of new messages and programming features that facilitate packaging of reusable code and controls. Groups can be set to behave within the IDE as a single, atomic object. New preOpen-, open-, close-, and resizeControl messages enable groups to behave more like mini, embedded stacks. A new "dispatch" command has been added that allows a script to send messages and receive feedback in a way similar to how the Revolution engine itself does.

This is a major win for anyone building complex solutions, or writing components for the benefit of other Revolution developers. As coders adopt the Behaviors model, you can expect a stream of new, reusable components that will accelerate development of your own solutions.

Behaviors are such a groundbreaking and important new technology in Revolution, we've asked one of our top developers to provide a detailed overview with real-world examples. You can read his article here.

All-New revOnline User Library
So now that we've enabled you to write portable, reusable, object-oriented code modules, how do you best share them with other Revolution developers, and how do you find the ones you need? Our answer to this is a major re-imagining of the revOnline feature we introduced back in Revolution 2.6.1. Not only is the new version more visually appealing, but new features make it easier to find and present stack content.

revOnline
The new revOnline community in Revolution 3.5

Much like the famous "App Store" for iPhone, the new revOnline streamlines the discovery of stacks and code examples. Any Revolution user can upload their content to the service. All the existing capabilities remain, with the addition of useful new features:

  • Add keyword tags to your uploads. The tags dynamically create categories in the browsing list.
  • Create a user profile (or not!). Promote your services, link to your other content, or just let other Revolution users know who you are.
  • Rate submissions. Compare different solutions to find the best one for your needs.
  • See thumbnails of stacks. Know what you're getting, without having to download the content.

As the new Behaviors technology enables reusable code, we hope the new revOnline facilitates distribution of those modules to the broader Revolution community.

Other Good Stuff
We recognize that end users are often the best source of information about using Revolution day-to-day. The Revolution online dictionary now allows for anyone to add notes to dictionary entries with usage examples, tips, or clarifications. This oft-requested feature now makes the online documentation more like a "wiki" with constantly updated information about the commands you will use most, and some obscure ones that could benefit from user insight. Of course, Revolution 3.5 will sport numerous other enhancements including new capabilities for arrays, better menu-handling, and bug fixes.

Get a Head Start

We're planning to release Revolution 3.5 within the next couple months. But given the impact of Behaviors on the way your stacks are designed going forward, we recommend you begin experimenting with the new version sooner than later.

Our Revolution Enterprise customers have had access to the "developer preview" versions of Revolution 3.5 for some time now. If you have Revolution Enterprise and an active software assurance package, just choose "Check for updates..." from the Help menu and you'll be able to download and install the latest test version. Automatic access to pre-release versions is a core benefit of your Enterprise license.

For Revolution Studio users, we're making a beta version of Revolution 3.5 available early in March. To obtain this version, you must have an active software assurance package as of February 28. No beta application will be necessary; we'll simply mail a link to everyone who's eligible when the beta version is ready. However, if you do not have an active assurance package, or purchased your Studio license prior to 30th November 2008, you will not be able to participate in the beta test and will have to wait for the release version.

To facilitate your access to the pre-release version, look for the $25 off coupon we've included in this newsletter. Remember, a software assurance package gives you access to all new releases of Revolution for the next year, so you'll automatically receive the full shipping version of Revolution 3.5 with the new data grid and Behaviors technology, plus Revolution 4.0 with new Web capabilities when it comes out in September. Don't forget that we recently cut the price of the software assurance packages (formerly called "license renewals") in half and just enhanced our tech support offerings (see below). So now is really an optimal time to purchase.

New Technical Support Options

Just as we're adding value to our software, we're making changes to our services to better satisfy your needs. Here's the overview:

  • ENHANCED Complimentary Support. Revolution provides via telephone and  email the free assistance you need for pre-sales, product information and pricing, "getting started" help with software installation and setup, non-technical issues that can't be solved online, account issues, and basic troubleshooting. We also supply several free online resources such as our peer-to-peer support forum, mailing lists and archives, revUp newsletter, and Quality Control Center.

  • ENHANCED "Silver" Paid Support. Talk with a Revolution expert about any technical or usage question, including in-depth troubleshooting, debugging your code, writing basic scripts, or submitting a Quality Control Center report on your behalf.

    NEW: One free incident of Silver Support now included with any new purchase of Revolution Studio; two included with a new purchase of Revolution Enterprise. Extra contacts are $49 per incident. Additionally, going forward we will credit Studio users with a free Silver support incident when you purchase a software assurance package and have not received a Silver support credit previously.

  • NEW "Platinum" Paid Support. Designed for customers who want personalized, red-carpet consulting-level support. Work directly with RunRev engineers for training, custom programming, help building your application, addressing a specific RQCC report, or incorporating new features into Revolution. $129 per hour.

With these changes, we've enhanced the value of Studio and Enterprise licenses with free, in-depth, high-value technical assistance on demand. Silver support enables greater satisfaction with your purchase and eliminates barriers to getting things done.

And with Platinum support, we now have an option for those who want more in-depth assistance from the best and brightest members of our team. If you need some extra horsepower on your project, or if you must have a specific feature, you can describe what you'd like and we'll respond with a quotation for your Platinum support inquiry. We hope this provides an avenue for our most demanding customers to get what the need most from the product.

Our updated support pages provide complete details of our support lineup.

 

About the Author

Kevin Miller is a Revolution user and CEO of Runtime Revolution, Ltd.

 

 

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