June 29, 2005

REALbasic Development

FTPKit v1.0
Bains Software released FTPKit v1.0, a set of REALbasic classes that implement the FTP protocol. FTPKit adds a full-featured FTP socket class to REALbasic. The package automatically parses FTP listings, allows for directory downloads and uploads, changing file permissions, custom commands, and features a powerful queue system. A hobbyist/shareware license can be purchased for $30, and a professional license is available for $75.

Hex Plugin v1.1
The Hex Plugin for REALbasic 5 and higher is a small plugin with only two methods. You can give the plugin a string containing an unsigned decimal integer of essentially unlimited length and the plugin will give back a string containing the hexadecimal equivalent of that integer. And you can do the reverse. Version 1.1 of Hex Plugin adds two functions, HexFromChar and CharFromHex. With these functions you can give the plugin a UTF8 or UTF16 encoded string, and the plugin will give back a string containing the hex representation of that input string. And you can do the reverse.

Undo Toolkit v1.3.1
Undo Toolkit allows you to add unlimited undo and redo to your REALbasic project. The toolkit includes classes that track and record undoable actions, a Window subclass that automatically prompts the user to save changes, support for MacOS X features such as sheet windows and the Aqua "red dot" change flag, and one-to-one replacements for the built-in REALbasic controls. New in version 1.3.1 are several bug fixes and two new small additions.

Made With REALbasic

HyperNext v2.0
HyperNext is a cross-platform visually based software development system aimed primarily at beginners who may find other software development systems daunting. The HyperNext development environment is especially suited to beginners because it has just one window plus a toolbar, and three modes - Design, Preview and Run. With built-in help and many examples its an easy way to start programming. The HyperNext programming language is based on HyperTalk and so its commands are quite English-like and its variables do not require type declaring. It has over 600 commands/functions, and supports RBscript which is great when tasks are computationally or graphically intensive. The full versions of HyperNext can build applications and HyperNext stacks for all other supported platforms at no extra cost. So for example, the Windows version can build for Windows, Macintosh OS X and OS 9.

Drag-N-Scale v1.0
Drag-N-Scale is a simple application that makes scaling images easy. You can scale individual images or an entire folder of images. Drag-N-Scale can also email scaled images with the click of a button. Once you have scaled the image to the desired size you have the option of emailing the scaled image, saving the scaled image (or a group of scaled images), or draging and droping the scaled image to another application. Drag-N-Scale is freeware and requires Mac OS X.

Days Away v1.4
Days Away is a Mac OS X application that periodically reminds the user of upcoming events by discreetly fading in to focus, pausing for you to read the events, and discreetly fading back out. Just add the date that needs to be remembered by clicking on a calendar, and adding the name of the event. Periodically, Days Away will fade into view so the user can see how many "Days Away" the important date is. Use Days Away to remind the user of due dates, birthdays, anniversaries, or any other special occasions. Days Away is shareware and only costs $12.00 to register. A 7-day trial period is included.

Solo Performer Show Controller v2.4
Solo Performer Show Controller is a system for controlling the background music, lyrics displays, MIDI effects, and light shows for musicians. The system consists of a six-button foot controller that connects to a computer via USB, and software that runs on Windows and Macintosh. Solo Performer Show Controller plays mp3 files, aiff files, wave files, and MIDI files. It can control MIDI effects units, lights that operate using the industry-standard DMX512 protocol, and can display lyrics on-screen in a karaoke-like manner. The software also includes a utility for stripping out unwanted tracks in MIDI files so that only the rhythm tracks play. Solo Performer Show Controller is available for both Windows and Macintosh computer systems.

June 22, 2005

REALbasic Development

RBVersioner Plugin Version Tracking Tool v1.0
RBVersioner is a tool to manage REALbasic "rbx" style plugins. The rbx format for plugins is a cross platform plugin format. In the design of the rbx format, REAL Software did not define a convention for representing the version numbers of plugins. RBVersioner is designed to handle plugin version management independent of what any vendor chooses to do for version management. It also goes one step further and provides functionality to manage your set of plugins and their distribution throughout the organization. RBVersioner is $10+ donationware.

SQLiteManager v1.4.2
From our good friends at SQLabs, SQLiteManager is a database manager for SQLite databases. With SQLiteManager you can create and browse tables, indexes, and views, insert, remove, and edit table records, and execute arbitrary SQL statements. You can also save commonly used SQL scripts directly in any database. A flexible and powerful report generation system allows you to export data in almost any text format you can imagine, including HTML, CSV, and XML. A single-user license for SQLiteManager is $39. New in 1.4.2 are classes for converting REAL Database and SQLite 2 databases to REAL SQL Databases., and some bug fixes and small improvements.

Windows Functionality Suite v2.0
The Windows Functionality Suite is a set of REALbasic classes and modules that provide convenient access to things that are not included in the framework already. It is an on-going open source project that includes many different pieces of Windows-specific functionality for your application. It is provided free of charge and includes a rich feature set including System Paremeters, Colors, and Metrics, OS Information, System Colors, Registry, Service Support, Locale Info, Cryptography, System Controls, Notification, and a whole lot more. Version 2.0 is now fully Unicode savvy, has the ability to grab screenshots, high resolution performance timers, process management, network drives, extended MDIWindow support, and a lot more.

FTP Suite v4.1.1
FTP Suite is professional software library that allows REALbasic applications to implement the FTP protocol. First released in November 2002, FTP Suite is the only full-featured and professionally supported FTP Solution available to REALbasic developers. FTP Suite 4.1.1 fixes a bug that prevented the StartDeleteDir Smart Sequence and the DeleteDir Smart Command from working properly. You must have the full 4.1 package, and replace the FTPDataSocket  module with the version included in this updater. FTP Suite ranges from $34.99 for hobbyists to $79.99 for professionals.

RB Plugin Plunger v3.5 - The Original Plugin Manager
A new version of RB Plugin Plunger, the original plugin management tool, is available. RB Plugin Plunger has been around for quite a while now, but to alleviate lack of a functional plunger RB Plugin Plunger 3.5, which comes in two flavors, a Mac OS X and a Windows executable has been released. Plunger supports the old-mac plugin format as well as the new virtual volume (.rbx) format. Note that RB Plugin Plunger is not open source, but is however free and available to the public. RB Plugin Plunger 3.5 has been developed by Einhugur Software and Van Hoek Software.

FMOD Wrappers v1.3
FMOD is a cross platform audio library that supports a wide range of audio formats and playback options, including a physically correct 3D audio engine. The FMOD Wrappers consist of classes and modules that implement a subset of FMOD's functionality via familiar REALbasic style interfaces. Release 1.3 adds methods and properties to directly manipulate the play cursor position (sound/stream seeking) and improved Linux support. The FMOD Wrappers are free and opensource, and are compatible with Mac OS X & Mac OS 9 (PEF Carbon only) as well as Win32.

HIToolbar Wrapper Classes
The Open Source Division of The ZAZ Studios released the HIToolbar Wrapper Classes for REALbasic 5.5. The included classes fully implement the HIToolbar implemented in Mac OS X's Human Interface toolbox, which allows for customization - one of the most requested features of the built-in REALbasic ToolbarItems. Features of the classes are: the "selected" appearance seen in System Preferences and many other applications, Icon Size and Display Mode customization, Items that cannot be removed from the toolbar. The classes require REALbasic 5.5.5 and the PNG Utilities Plugin (included in the download). Applications using the classes require Mac OS X 10.2 or higher, 10.4 or higher if using the "selected" appearance. Built applications must be compiled in Mach-O format.

SearchField v1.1 - Mac OS X Round Search Field Implementation
Charles Yeomans posted an update of SearchField, his REALbasic knockoff of the Mac OS X search field control, fixing a bug in the code that was caught by improvements to the REALbasic 2005 compiler and a drawing glitch that occurred on metal windows only.

Project Organizer v1.0
Domain Softworx's Project Oragnizer allows REALbasic developers to reorder the items in their Project windows, a feature which RB itself lacks. Save your project as an XML file, open it with Project Organizer, rearrange, save and import into REALbasic. Project Organizer is $4.99 shareware and can be purchased from within the application, or through Domain Softworx's Web Store. Being a Cocoa application, Project Organizer works only in Mac OS X. It was built on OS X 10.3, so versions of OS X before that are not supported, although they may be able to run.