March 23, 2005

REAL World 2005 Coverage

REAL World 2005 Kicks Off!
Today is the day the REAL World 2005 conference put on by REAL Software kicks off. A keynote by Geoff Perlman at 6 PM (don't be late!) leads the two session-packed day conference. We'll bring you all the latest news from REAL World as we learn about it.

REALbasic v5.5.5 Released
Perhaps in preparation for REAL World 2005, REAL Software announced REALbasic 5.5.5 is shipping now and includes numerous feature updates and reliability improvements. VB Project Converter has also been updated to help Visual Basic users be even more productive with the process of migrating existing applications. REALbasic 5.5.5 is available now for free to existing REALbasic 5.5 customers.

DiscBlaze v4.4
DiscBlaze, from Radical Breeze, is an easy to use application for burning data to CDs and DVDs. Not only can it burn data, it can burn audio CDs from any QuickTime compatible audio format, multiple sessions to the same CD, Toast or ISO disc image files (Mac OS X 10.3 only), and whole whole lot more. Version 4.4 sports a redesigned File Info view, custom icon enhancements, cosmetic imporivements, and minor fixes. DiscBlaze costs $29.95 and is available for Mac OS X 10.2.6 or later.

OpenBase Acquires Code Builder
OpenBase International, Ltd., has acquired Code Builder, developed by Open Minded Solutions. Code Builder is a database application code generator for REALbasic, a cross-platform development environment for MacOS X, Windows and Linux platforms. "Code Builder ... builds the database access layer for you so you can manage data directly as encapsulated objects rather than having to write SQL. It saves time and money." explains Scott Keith, CEO of OpenBase International. Code Builder is being shown at REAL World, the REALbasic developer's conference this week. Please contact Norman Palardy (norman@openbase.com) to arrange a demo. Code Builder will be released under the OpenBase label in April and will sell for $199.

UniHelp v1.7
Apple Help Viewer, Microsoft HTML Help, WinHelp.... Why waste precious development time designing and compiling a different Help system for each platform when you can easily use UniHelp for all of them? UniHelp, the award-winning help system for REALbasic, provides an easy-to-use, feature-rich solution for REALbasic developers who want to add online help to their cross-platform applications. Just drag the UniHelp components folder into your REALbasic project, add a few lines of code, create your external help pages, and that's it -- instant online help for your compiled REALbasic applications that works on Classic Mac, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. Version 1.7, is a free update for all registered UniHelp customers. UniHelp costs $49 to register and is royalty free.

Extended Plugin v2.1
The Extended Plugin adds five new data types to REALbasic, which are ExtInteger, ExtFloat, ExtComplex, ExtFraction, and IAExtFloat. These data types add the capabilty to have no limitations on the size of the data types except by the amount of memory available to the application. Version 2.1 of the Extended Plugin adds the eight new functions for ExtInteger which allows modular arithmetic.

March 5, 2005

REALbasic Items

PDF Classes v1.5.1
The PDF Classes from Fireye Software are a set of free open source classes for generating PDFs from your REALbasic app. These classes are written entirely in REALbasic, and make it easy to create PDFs on any platform. With very little code, you can make a PDF with text, straight lines, bezier curves, rectangles, circles, and images. They use no plugins and no declares, so they are completely cross platform! New in version 1.5.1 fixes some encoding issues.

PalletTabs Class v1.0
After purchasing Adobe GoLive CS, Seth Duke created a small set of classes in REALbasic which build the same style palettes that GoLive does using a Canvas and a PagePanel. A small warning though: Adobe sued Macromedia (and won) for violation of copyrights in regards to their palette tabs. Not that Adobe is going after small fish, but be warned.

RBGarage.com
When announcing new REALbasic-related product releases, don't forget to submit them as listings on RB Garage, the largest independent online resource for REALbasic software developers. RB Garage has more than 820 links to plugins, classes, modules, examples, services, applications and more. RBGarage.com receives thousands of page views EVERY DAY, so a listing in RBGarage.com is guaranteed to drive more traffic to your web site with the potential to also increase your sales! Sign up on RB Garage as a free member to submit, update and maintain your listings.

Made With REALbasic

Transaction v1.0
Transaction is an easy-to-use, full featured and multi-purpose interactive data analysis and reporting tool intended to help control online sales. Transaction can serve several small to medium management needs for either private users, software developers or small businesses making keeping track of online sales a snap. Transaction uses a state-of-the-art fast SQL engine with user-defined smart lists so your reports and charts can be tailored to include all your products, user-defined product categories or only ones meeting specified criteria. Transaction is available for Mac OS X and Windows $59 to register. A demo is available.

CalcPad v1.0b1
Codenautics has released version 1.0b1 of CalcPad, a math tool, something like a calculator, except that it uses a notepad metaphor, and it works with units as well as numbers. For example, you can type: 10 km / 15 min and get the resulting speed in m/sec. You can make use of variables, define your own functions or constants, and so on. CalcPad is open source and the source code is available on the CalcPad website.

Image Splitter v1.0, iChate Cache Viewer v1.0
Code Shock is a new REALbasic-based software group that currently has two open source programs made with REALbasic and some nifty classes on the way. Image Splitter is a small application which splits transparent images, separating their image and alpha channels. iChat Cache Viewer views the buddy icons that iChat has cached in a simple list beside the person's name. The cache files iChat has created can also be deleted. Code Shock also has a tutorial section on their website.

FastTunes v1.2.3
FastTunes is a utility that helps you control iTunes. When you press the hotkey you choose, it will show the iTunes controls floating over your screen. You can use these controls just like you would use them in iTunes. When the track changes, FastTunes will show its name and rating and you can edit that rating by clicking, again just like in iTunes. You can also define hotkeys for actions such as play/pause, next song, volume down.

TaskTime3 v3.4
TaskTime provides a straightforward method of tracking time spent on an unlimited number of projects for an unlimited number of clients. TaskTime can easily easily track expenses and project by project status, and can generate customized invoices which can be emailed, printed, and saved. Other important features include: project status tracking, Address Book integration for adding clients, linking of related resources to projects for easy reference, project expenses tracking, ability to bill for flat rate items, scheduled and manual data backup, minimizing of project windows to small floating time controllers, and much more. TaskTime3 is shareware. The registration fee is $15 ($5 to upgrade for registered users).

RealCADD 3.80b2
RealCADD is a professional 2D CAD software created with REALbasic, easy to use but with many features and shareware price. RealCADD is available for Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, and Windows for $95 and $135 for the professional version. This version of RealCADD is a beta available for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.