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June 2009

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In this Issue:

Unicorn’s 20th anniversary – your chance to win a bottle of bubbly

As of 1st June this year, Unicorn has been operating for 20 years (yes, Unicorn really did start that long ago!). To mark the occasion we will publish a different quiz in each of the next few newsletters. For each quiz, the first three entrants to send us the correct answers will each win a bottle of champagne. That’s all there is to it, it’s just for fun and you may be a winner.

Here’s the first quiz (we’ll start you off gently!):

  1. Who became the 41st president of the United States of America?
  2. Which fruit was born to a rat?
  3. Which wreck was discovered 600 miles west of Brest, France?
  4. Who was the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act?
  5. In which square was the Goddess of Democracy statue unveiled by student demonstrators?

Remember, the first three correct entries that we receive for this quiz will win, so when you’ve got the answers, send them to us.

Visual Dataflex 2009 Released

Visual DataFlex 2009 – aka VDF 15.0 – is released as of Monday 15th June. Some of the new features included in VDF 15.0 are:

  • VDF Ajax Library now part of the product
  • JSON support in web services (see also Mike’s Synergy presentation)
  • WebApp server no longer uses processor counting – prices will be as for current 1-2 processor edition
  • All Data acces connectivity kits (MS-SQL, IBM DB2, Pervasive and ODBC) will come as a single bundle for the same price as each one was previously (applies to VDF version 12.1 and higher)
  • Design-time Anchor support
  • Visual controls: Splitters and Scrolling Containers
  • Studio “Go Back” option: the “compliment” to the existing “Go to definition” context menu option – now you can get back afterwards!
  • Studio Performance Enhancements and Statistics – large workspaces should now load much faster… but if they don’t you can work out why – and fix it!
  • Debugger: Move Program Pointer
  • Debugger: Improved Breakpoint Panel

You can download VDF 2009 now from Data Access. Licence codes will be sent out to customers with up-to-date subscriptions this week. The prices for VDF, WebApp Server and Connectivity Kits are on our web site.

Visual Report Writer Alpha 2 available

Data Access have made the Alpha 2 release of Visual Report Writer available for public download. This is a new product from Data Access and has been developed using Visual DataFlex.

Are your legacy systems holding you back?

Recently the computer press has highlighted stories of businesses whose legacy computer systems were preventing them from optimising efficiency and profits. In particular, the story relating to SABMiller, the brewery giant, illustrates how legacy systems, developed over years and years, can eventually become so complex and inflexible that they can impact progress. SABMiller took a step back, reevaluated their business processes and implemented an advanced supply chain management system with forecasting system. Their profits are now optimised and the business has greater flexibility. The legacy system is still in use for some parts of the business, and has been integrated with the new systems. Although the project was costly, the business can now continue to grow without the restrictions imposed by its outdated systems.

Diary Dates

Data Access Netherlands will be hosting the Scandinavian DataFlex Users Conference (SCANDUC) at the Radisson SAS Strand Hotel, Stockholm, Sweden, on the 24th and 25th September 2009. There will be an extra training day on the 23rd September.

The European DataFlex Users Conference (EDUC) is a 2-day conference, at Seefeld, Tirol in Austria, on the 4th and 5th March 2010. The event is also being referred to as SKIDUC, to reflect both the season and the location of the conference. The event will deliver technical presentations on Data Access products.