donderdag 16 december 2010

Harmonica Widget for Windows

In both web and Windows applications you see harmonica's in use.
Uniface does not have a special widget for this, but you can program simular functionality yourself.
I have made a small sample that you can download.





donderdag 9 december 2010

Recycle Uniface icons

In Uniface small pictures, icons etc are called glyphs.
When an application  is deployed the glyphs are in a .dol file.
And since the Uniface product is also a Uniface application, it comes with a .dol file.

Yesterday I wanted to reuse some Uniface icons in my own application.
I got carried away with it a bit and made a Glyph Browser.
It finds the usys.dol file that you are using, and shows all the glyphs that are in it.
You can click on a glyph to see it bigger.

Full documentation is in the Execute trigger of the Form GLYPHBROWSER.




woensdag 1 december 2010

The Uniface Lab is looking for six software engineers

Uniface is developed in Amsterdam by the Uniface Lab. We have a long track-record of delivery on demand through incremental software updates, deploying a proven mechanism of continuous integration, and automated environments for building and regression testing.
We are organized around five disciplines: Product Management, Customer Support, Product Development, Quality Assurance, and Technical Communication. We use the agile Scrum methodology to manage and control our product development. We work in multi-disciplinary Scrum teams, each team responsible for both product enhancement and maintenance.

For the Uniface Lab, we are looking for six software engineers: four will focus on product development and two on release engineering. We expect positive and assertive team players who have a strong desire to succeed in a team- and customer-oriented environment. 

4x Software Engineer/Developer        Product Development
1x Software Engineer                            Release Engineering (Build)
1x Software Engineer                            Release Engineering (Test)


Please keep in mind that these positions are about developing the Uniface product, not about developing applications with Uniface!





vrijdag 19 november 2010

New Uniface 9.4 Web 2.0 RIA project

This week I was in Lleida with Aritmos in Spain to help them start a project for several governement organisations that organiza training courses for ciitizens. It was a productive week with excellent students who now without doubt will produce an excellent Uniface 9.4 Web 2.0 application.

Aritmos: go 9.4 it!




maandag 1 november 2010

UnifaceJames: Starting up in Malaysia

UnifaceJames: Starting up in Malaysia: "Getting new customers in Malaysia is a very time consuming task. I have a very good relationship with my current clients and it is time to s..."

zaterdag 2 oktober 2010

Uniface Cloud Data Storage TODAY?

Compuware has announced that the main topic for Uniface 10 will be Cloud Computing.
But it will take some time before that becomes available.
So what can we do with Uniface in The Cloud today?

I have a suggestion: store data in the Cloud.

Amazon.com offers cloudy data storage in MySQL in it's RDS service.
Uniface has a MySQL driver.

I looked at the specs of both and it should be possible to access a MySQL database in the Amazon cloud with a Uniface application.
And Uniface being Uniface, it does not necessarily need to be a Web application.

So who will be the first one to try?

vrijdag 20 augustus 2010

Web functionality in Uniface Forms

Why should web developers have all the fun? I am looking at making functionality that is on the web available to all Uniface applications. Without paying much attention to RIA, Web 2.0, Cloud etc. It is not about the concept, it is about the content!

In the time that remains between consultancy visits to customer, doing Uniface migrations and all my other regular work for Compuware I am trying to build a library of small samples that show you how you can use functionality that is available on the web in a "traditional" Uniface application.

You will be suprised to see just how easy it is to add a map to the address module of your Uniface application!

I am putting samples on Uniface.info in the Uniface Downloads section, under Uniface samples. Video's for these sample will be on Youtube.

Please feel free to send me your ideas, better samples, improved versions etcetera!

These are ready now:

A very, very simple demo for the use of Google Charts.
This can be a nice alternative to using Excel or a very expensive data mining tool if you only want a few graphs in your Uniface application
-> I've put a short video for this on YouTube as well.

A simple demo for the use of Google Maps.
Every Uniface system I know of stores addresses, and there is always a case to be made to produce a map of these addresses.
But only when it is not to expensive. This one is FREE.
Google Maps is very powerful so it might return in one of the next demo’s!

As an example of the wide variety of services that are available: WebPurify
This web service checks texts for the use of bad language (swearwords, obscenities)

A simple demo for the use of currency exchange rate
A quick and cheap solution to a traditionally complicated problem.
Very useful if you are not a Bank, but just want to show your customers the approximate price of your products in their local currency etc, etc, etc
Free of charge!

Shopping on Oodle.com
Oodle.com is a shopping web site like craigslist, ebay, marktplaats (NL), mobile (DE)
It scans other websites and compiles the results.
The nice thing is that it has an API. So I made a Classic Car Finder.
It gets listings from Oodle, loads them in Uniface, shows them on Google Maps, converts the price to Euro's also using Google.
And you can click to see the car on the original web site where Oodle found it.

Disclaimer:
These samples are each made in just acouple of hours to show you what is possible.
It is your own responsability to use the ideas from these sample in a production application and to test it!

maandag 22 februari 2010

Uniface Marketing enters a new era

Now Uniface is a semi-independent business unit within Compuware new and more innovative marketing techniques are being explored.

You might have seen the video's we made with Uniface developers, customers etc on www.badasssquares.com. (I am the guy with the beard in the second video):


This month we have held a virtual user conference on the web, www.icu2010.com. It really was set up as a virtual version of a real user conference. You entered the main hall:


You could choose to watch one of the many video presentations and participate in the live Q&A sessions:


There even was a lounge where you could chat with other visitors. Unfortunately only virtual beer was served:


You could visit several booths for different Compuware departments, user groups and partners:


I managed the Uniface Services booth. It was very nice to chat with customers from far away countries like Canada and Australia that you don't meet everyday:


We did different sessions for three timezones: Asia, Europe and The America's. So it was a very long day for the team:

The various polls that were held during the day, and the info on downloads of flyers and whitepapers etc gave us a nice indication of what our customers are interested in.

You might also want to read an independent artice here.