PxPlus Releases

PxPlus 2020 consists of various new features and enhancements, including 64-bit Windows PxPlus, TLS 1.3 support, a new Nomads Environment Maintenance utility, and much more.

Major New Features

• 64-bit Windows PxPlus
• Anti-alias graphic drawing for Charts and Shapes
• Support for TLS 1.3
• Ability to define Reserved Words for Data Dictionary elements and Nomads controls
• Allow for Mixed Case characters when defining controls/records in all designers and utilities
• TLS support (FTPS, FTPES and SFTP) to *WEB/FTP
• Allow Drag and Drop between concurrent windows
• Nomads Environment Maintenance utility to easily set %Nomads properties and settings

Additional Features

Language Enhancements

• New PIXELPOS and DPI options added to *PDF* to allow for pixel positioning
• All executables and libraries now built with the latest C/C++ compiler and optimizations
• New PxPlus environment variables PXP_SSL_LIB and PXP_CRYPTO_LIB that will tell PxPlus where to find the SSL library files
• Allow Drag and Drop between concurrent windows
• Ability to Set Null Key option on file creation
• Ability to forward the output of IF Tracing when using WindX
• Capability to properly display colored trace lines in the host trace output when using WindX
• Faster JSON loading

Properties

• HdrHeight property for Grid and List Box controls
• LineColor$ property for setting grid line colors for Grid and List Box controls
• SuppressHdr property for controlling suppression of headers for Grid controls
• CellIsNumeric property for Grid controls for setting a cell to only accept numeric data
• CellBlankWhenZero property for Grid controls for setting a cell to display blank when value is zero
• MaxListItems property for setting the number of lines that will appear in a drop list in Grid controls
• ButtonColor$ property for Grid controls to change the default background color for any buttons in the Grid (button cells or lookup/drop down buttons)
• SkipLockedCells property for controlling when to skip over locked cells in Grid controls
• HideButtons property for Grid controls to hide query buttons or drop box icons associated with Grid cells if there is a bitmap
• ItemTextColor$ property for Tree Views to control the color of the text for the current item

Directives

• New OPEN dependency option to automatically link objects to other system components
• New OPT="N" that enables the 'NK' system parameter on a file using the KEYED directive
• New Open [TCP] options supported for disabling TLS1.3, NOTLS1.2 or enforcing TLS1.3

Objects

• New ChartColor$ property in Chart Object, enabling a list of colors to be applied when plotting different datasets
• New *OBJ/IMAGE object to generate a ".jpg" or ".png" image in Windows or UNIX/Linux
• New *OBJ/PARAM object to create, load and maintain an independent object consisting of parameters defined in a Definition File
• New Keep Visible property to keep application active added to *OBJ/EXCEL and *OBJ/WORD

OPTION Mnemonics

• StdLvueLineClr attribute for setting grid line colors for all List Box Report Views
• StdGridLineClr attribute for setting grid line colors for all Grids
• StdGridHideButtons attribute for setting the default HideButtons property for all subsequent Grids
  
  Note: The above options are also available to read using the FIN function.

Mnemonics

• ARC now supports Radial Coordinate formats
• PIE now supports Radial Coordinate formats

Functions

• Added "OpenSSL_Version" to TCB to determine version of OpenSSL being used
• DEG converts angle in radians to degrees
• RAD converts angle in degrees to radians

Enhanced IDE, Nomads, iNomads and Toolkit

• Enhanced IDE that combines Menu, History and Project tasks with additional Web capability
• New customizable ribbon Toolbar that can contain up to 10 Toolbar buttons
• Drag and drop capability to add new Toolbar buttons
• Right click capability on Menu tab to Insert Tasks, Insert Tasks on Menu, Delete Tasks, and Add Tasks to Toolbar
• Right click capability on ribbon Toolbar to maintain/delete Toolbar buttons
• Toolbar maintenance utility to define tasks, descriptions and bitmaps
• Ability to add up to 10 Web pages
• HTML Tabs maintenance utility to define tab names and URLs
• Ability to switch to the Standard IDE (with no Web capability)
• Enhanced Web IDE
• Added Default to INSERT Mode setting to Options menu in *IT Editor
• Added Maximized bitmap to Titlebar
• Improved Color Selection interface in all designers and utilities
• New Delete button added to Nomads+ Toolbar grid and other designers to facilitate easier removal of overlapping controls
• Improved display of List Boxes in all designers
• New message when defining a Multi-Line control with a Query and Multi-Line Height is greater than one
• Enhanced EZ Load Multi-Lines to make it easier to define EZ Load for Additional Fields on the same panel using the same table
• Added a Query Lookup button to Nomads controls, Data Class Maintenance and Smart Control definitions to make it easier to find and select a query
• Ability to launch a panel from Tabs Definition in Folder control
• Ability to define concurrent windows variables in Drag and Drop utility
• Added Case Sensitive capability to Nomads Panel Compare utility
• Header Height attribute for Report View List Box controls
• Line Color attribute for setting grid line colors on Report View List Box controls
• List Popup export/print and copy record options for Grid control now include row header column
• Updated Titlebars, Buttons, List Boxes and Grids for all designers and utilities
• Usability enhancements for Nomads designers and utilities

File Maintenance Generator Enhancements

• Ability to use the Standard File Maintenance object, eliminating the need to create a new object
• Ability to regenerate a panel previously created using the File Maintenance Generator
• Ability to define a "Default" template
• Ability to reset the template on a panel that is being regenerated
• Preview button is now enabled once a table is selected
• New "File Inquiry for" title
• Created %Nomads variables for all File Maintenance Object properties
• New embedded Toolbars that contain browse and action buttons
• Ability to enter a visual class for the SHOW.XXXX fields

iNomads Configuration

• Eliminated the use of Cookies
• Ability to Customize the system-loaded error message displayed in iNomads
• New %iNomads_Crypto_Seed$ option used to encrypt any control messages sent between the application server and the front-end server
• Added capability to log all failed logon attempts to a file specified in the System Configuration
• %iNomads'Failed_Logon_Tries - Number of failed logon attempts before locking out browser
• %iNomads'Failed_Logon_Delay - Number of minutes to lockout browser after failed logon
• %iNomads'Failed_Logon_Log - Path name of a Log file to record invalid logon attempts

Charts

• Added a Secondary Grouping to Auto Charts Wizard
• Allow for Preset Values for Chart sets in Auto Charts
• Ability to separate developer and end-user Auto Chart definitions
• Usability enhancements added to Auto Chart Wizard

Themes and Visual Classes

• New Chart Colors property to apply when plotting the different datasets for Charts
• New Row Height property for Grids
• New Grid Hide Buttons property for Grids to hide query buttons or drop box icons associated with Grid cells if there is a bitmap
• New Header Height property for Grids and List Boxes
• New Line Color property to control grid line color for Grids and List Boxes
• New iNomads Classes property for applicable control types
• New Copy From feature when creating new Themes and Visual Classes

Data Dictionary

• New grid UI for Data Dictionary Elements tab
• Ability to Rename a Data Dictionary element
• Option to Update Physical File when changing Global Dictionary definitions
• New Verbose mode message option to display a progress bar when copying a file when updating Data Dictionary
• New warning message when the record size for VLR files exceeds 32000 bytes

Data Class Definition

• Enhanced Extended Class Validation and Display option for Multi-Line Data Classes by adding the ability to use numeric elements and specify an Expression
• Enhanced Load From File option for defining a "source" data file when populating a Drop Box or List Box at run time
• Ability to use numeric elements and specify an Expression for the Display Value
• Filter Test for additional filtering capability to filter records loaded
• Ability to specify a Descriptive Field that can be used to create display-only Multi-Line controls in Nomads
• Populate All Fields to display all data elements to be used when creating display-only Multi-Line controls in Nomads

Popup Menus

• New IGNORE_POPUP Nomads variable can be set to suppress the next Popup Menu

Query Plus

• Ability to assign a Formula Name in Query definitions
• Usability enhancements added to Formula Wizard

Report Writer

• Ability to use Queries as a source for Report Writer reports
• Added full dynamic Data Class capability to Report Writer parameters
• Allow Expressions for Report Writer parameter settings
• Vertical and horizontal Text Alignment buttons added to Report Writer Designer ribbon Toolbar
• Usability enhancements added to Report Wizard

Web Services

• New Copy From feature when creating new Web Services in Web Service Maintenance
• Added Chart Selection dialog to Chart Type services in Web Service Maintenance

WindX

• Names of past used panels, programs, reports and files in History Lists will be suffixed with the workstation name when running WindX

PxPlus Web Server

• Improved error reporting to now show all error levels

PxServer

• Upgraded PxServer to OpenSSL 1.1.1

Installation and Setup

• Additional error messages for SSL failure and SETTRACE PRINT directives that can be used to log issues
• Improved messaging when de-installing and moving software to another server

Utilities and Commands

• New SET_NK command to set/reset the 'NK' system parameter for a file
• Ability to set the Timeout Value in *PLUS/WEB/REQUEST
• Ability to Embed an Image using <img cid=> in the body of an email using *WEB/EMAIL
• TLS support (FTPS, FTPES and SFTP) to *WEB/FTP
• Added local Australian SMS service to *TOOLS/SMS
• New *WIN/PROPSET utility for maintaining the properties for any PxPlus object within your application

Other Changes for Reference

Nomads Properties Added

• %Nomads'List_Popup is used to apply system popup menus to all List Boxes and Grids
• %Nomads'List_Popup$ is used to replace the default text associated with the system popup menu
• %Nomads'List_Popup_Suppress_Options$ is used to suppress any combination of system popup menu options
• %Nomads'DeveloperCharts is used to save new public developer AutoChart definitions separate from end-user definitions
• %Nomads'TipTimerCycles is used to set the length of time in seconds that a tip will be displayed

Parameters Added

• 'BD' system parameter controls whether Windows GDI+ is used to provide smoother curved and angled lines when the following shapes are drawn: Arc, Ellipse, Pie, Line and Polygon
• 'CR' system parameter controls whether trailing CR ($0d$) will be stripped from text files that were created in Windows and subsequently copied to UNIX/Linux

INI Contents Options Added

• NoTLSv1.3 to disable TLS 1.3 support

Environment Variables Added

• PXP_CRYPTO_LIB defines the path and file name of an OpenSSL crypto dynamic library (setting this overrides the default OS library search rules)
• PXP_SSL_LIB defines the path and file name of an OpenSSL SSL dynamic library (setting this overrides the default OS library search rules)

Version Control System

• Updated the *TOOLS/CONVERTDATA utility to handle message library files as ".pxdta" text files
• Improved speed for the Update utility

Operating System Support

Along with a true 64 Bit version for Windows, PxPlus 2020 has added support and downloads for the following Linux operating systems:

• Redhat (Oopta) / CentOS 8.1
• Debian 10 (Buster)
• Ubuntu 20 (Focal Fossa)
• Suse 15.1 (Leap)

The following Linux operating systems will not be available any more due to the age and the fact they are no longer supported by their manufacturer:

• Debian 3.1 (Sarge)
• Ubuntu 10-32 Bit (Lucid Lynx)

Note: PxPlus 2020 will be the FINAL version of PxPlus for the following operating systems:

• Redhat (Tikanga) / CentOS 5
• Debian 6 (Squeeze)
• Ubuntu 10-64 Bit (Lucid Lynx)