Panorama for Windows Progress Report
For the past six years or so the Mac version of
Panorama has made huge strides from version 4.0 to
5.0 and then 5.5, while the Windows platform remained
back at 4.0. Soon, however, the Windows version will
be catching up. To see an early version of Panorama
5.5 for Windows in action you can watch this ten minute screencast.
Some of you will want to get your hands on this new version right away. Unfortunately, that’s not possible yet. At some point in the near future we will start a beta test program. If you’d like to apply to possibly be included as a beta tester, please don’t e-mail or call. Instead, please fill out this form. The form also includes an option if you would simply like to be notified as soon as Panorama 5.5 for Windows is available.
Many Major Features Already Completed
As you can see if you watch the screencast, a lot of progress has been made. Here is a fairly complete list of the major 5.0/5.5 features that are already working on the new PC version:
• Custom statements
• Custom functions
• All new statements & functions in Panorama 5.0/5.5 (unless otherwise noted)
• Live Menus
• Hierarchical Wizard menu
• Most wizards, including Live Clairvoyance, Recent Databases, Hotkey wizard, Channels, Dialog Workshop, View Wizard, Variables, TTY, Error Detail, Financial Data, Address Info, FedEx Tracking, Window Size, Window Tweak, Icons & Backgrounds, Formula Wizard, Form Explorer, Arrange Windows, Mini Calculator, Run Automatic Calculations, RPN Calculator, Run Automatic Calculations, Text Export wizard, Text Import wizard, New Database wizard, Open Database wizard, Custom Statements, Custom Functions (ProVUE), Custom Functions (User), Available Servers, Server Admin, Database Sharing Options, Sharing Info, Locked Records, Sync Conflict Resolution, Verify Synchronization
• Panorama Enterprise -- (Open/Synchronize/Modify shared databases)
• Internet access (loadurl/posturl)
* Sending e-mail (e-mail channel)
• Panorama 5.0/5.5 procedure editor improvements (run directly from procedure, show errors in status bar (no alert), mark menu, shift text left/right etc.)
• Updated look & icons (same as Mac version)
• Enhanced Graphics menu (see 5.0 release notes, includes full 16 million color palette for form objects, copy/paste color)
• Display colors based on formula with Super Flash Art
• Scrolling super matrix objects
• Hundreds of bug fixes in Panorama 5.0 & 5.5 on the Mac platform are now included in the Windows version
Significant Uncompleted Features & Bugs
From the list above you might think Panorama 5.5 for Windows is ready to go, but there are some significant obstacles before this software is ready for prime time. Here is a list of the more significant items:
• Printing
• Bonjour (discovery of Enterprise servers on local network)
• Enhanced Image Pack (display of jpg, gif, tiff, etc.)
• Quicktime
• Scroll wheel support
• Drag and Drop (within application)
• Panorama Installer & Registration
• Various system info functions
• Upload web forms/procedures to Enterprise Server
• Users & Groups
• Performance optimizations (I.e. turn off slow debugging code)
In addition to the list above, there are also a couple of dozen bugs that we know of. Quite a few of these are significant bugs that most Panorama users would encounter fairly quickly (most of these are not crashes. btw), so we’ll certainly want to stomp them out before any significant beta testing begins. Undoubtably more bugs will be discovered as the development process proceeds.
Not Making the Cut
There are a few features included in the Macintosh version of Panorama that we don’t plan to include in the Windows version because they are dependent on unique technology in OS X.
• Scripting language support (Perl, Ruby, Python, PHP, shell script, AppleScript)
• Enterprise Server (PC’s can be clients, but you must use a Mac for the server)
• Phone dialing? (vonage channel should work, don’t know about any others)
• Reveal in Finder
• Drag & Drop between Panorama and other applications
• Speech synthesis
• Excel Wizard
• Default Printer
• Print to PDF from a procedure
• Authorize.Net (credit card processing)
• Crash Recorder wizard
• “Aqua” (anti-aliased) text display objects
It’s possible that some of these features may be included in future versions of Panorama on the PC, but we don’t expect any of them to be in the 5.5 version.
When?
The most popular question we get for any new release is “When will it be ready?” Unfortunately, as many of you know we are historically very poor at these sorts of estimates. Nevertheless, as you can see a lot of progress has been made and we are optimistic that beta testing can begin in late spring/early summer, with a finished result by late summer/early fall. Of course it all depends on how many bugs are discovered along the way. One advantage that we have on this project is that almost no time will be needed for documentation -- except as noted above the new version will work exactly like Panorama 5.5 for the Macintosh. (In fact, we’re already swapping databases back and forth between the Mac and the PC -- they are 100% compatible.)
Future Development
When we first developed Panorama 4.0 for the Mac & PC, the goal was to have unified source code for both platforms. This would allow new releases to appear simultaneously for both operating systems. This strategy worked perfectly for a couple of years (both 4.0.1 and 4.0.2 were simultaneously released on both platforms), but unfortunately the Mac side was written for OS 9. Making Panorama OS X native was a wrenching change that broke our unified source code. Now, however, we’re back on track. The new Windows version is not based on the old 4.0 code, but on the latest Panorama 5.5 for the Mac. In fact, we now have unified source code for Mac and Windows. In the future, new features and bug fixes will automatically be included in both Mac and Windows versions, because there is only one copy of the source code. So looking into the future we shouldn’t see any more big gaps in releases for either platform, but rather, simultaneous releases of all new versions going forward.
Some of you will want to get your hands on this new version right away. Unfortunately, that’s not possible yet. At some point in the near future we will start a beta test program. If you’d like to apply to possibly be included as a beta tester, please don’t e-mail or call. Instead, please fill out this form. The form also includes an option if you would simply like to be notified as soon as Panorama 5.5 for Windows is available.
Many Major Features Already Completed
As you can see if you watch the screencast, a lot of progress has been made. Here is a fairly complete list of the major 5.0/5.5 features that are already working on the new PC version:
• Custom statements
• Custom functions
• All new statements & functions in Panorama 5.0/5.5 (unless otherwise noted)
• Live Menus
• Hierarchical Wizard menu
• Most wizards, including Live Clairvoyance, Recent Databases, Hotkey wizard, Channels, Dialog Workshop, View Wizard, Variables, TTY, Error Detail, Financial Data, Address Info, FedEx Tracking, Window Size, Window Tweak, Icons & Backgrounds, Formula Wizard, Form Explorer, Arrange Windows, Mini Calculator, Run Automatic Calculations, RPN Calculator, Run Automatic Calculations, Text Export wizard, Text Import wizard, New Database wizard, Open Database wizard, Custom Statements, Custom Functions (ProVUE), Custom Functions (User), Available Servers, Server Admin, Database Sharing Options, Sharing Info, Locked Records, Sync Conflict Resolution, Verify Synchronization
• Panorama Enterprise -- (Open/Synchronize/Modify shared databases)
• Internet access (loadurl/posturl)
* Sending e-mail (e-mail channel)
• Panorama 5.0/5.5 procedure editor improvements (run directly from procedure, show errors in status bar (no alert), mark menu, shift text left/right etc.)
• Updated look & icons (same as Mac version)
• Enhanced Graphics menu (see 5.0 release notes, includes full 16 million color palette for form objects, copy/paste color)
• Display colors based on formula with Super Flash Art
• Scrolling super matrix objects
• Hundreds of bug fixes in Panorama 5.0 & 5.5 on the Mac platform are now included in the Windows version
Significant Uncompleted Features & Bugs
From the list above you might think Panorama 5.5 for Windows is ready to go, but there are some significant obstacles before this software is ready for prime time. Here is a list of the more significant items:
• Printing
• Bonjour (discovery of Enterprise servers on local network)
• Enhanced Image Pack (display of jpg, gif, tiff, etc.)
• Quicktime
• Scroll wheel support
• Drag and Drop (within application)
• Panorama Installer & Registration
• Various system info functions
• Upload web forms/procedures to Enterprise Server
• Users & Groups
• Performance optimizations (I.e. turn off slow debugging code)
In addition to the list above, there are also a couple of dozen bugs that we know of. Quite a few of these are significant bugs that most Panorama users would encounter fairly quickly (most of these are not crashes. btw), so we’ll certainly want to stomp them out before any significant beta testing begins. Undoubtably more bugs will be discovered as the development process proceeds.
Not Making the Cut
There are a few features included in the Macintosh version of Panorama that we don’t plan to include in the Windows version because they are dependent on unique technology in OS X.
• Scripting language support (Perl, Ruby, Python, PHP, shell script, AppleScript)
• Enterprise Server (PC’s can be clients, but you must use a Mac for the server)
• Phone dialing? (vonage channel should work, don’t know about any others)
• Reveal in Finder
• Drag & Drop between Panorama and other applications
• Speech synthesis
• Excel Wizard
• Default Printer
• Print to PDF from a procedure
• Authorize.Net (credit card processing)
• Crash Recorder wizard
• “Aqua” (anti-aliased) text display objects
It’s possible that some of these features may be included in future versions of Panorama on the PC, but we don’t expect any of them to be in the 5.5 version.
When?
The most popular question we get for any new release is “When will it be ready?” Unfortunately, as many of you know we are historically very poor at these sorts of estimates. Nevertheless, as you can see a lot of progress has been made and we are optimistic that beta testing can begin in late spring/early summer, with a finished result by late summer/early fall. Of course it all depends on how many bugs are discovered along the way. One advantage that we have on this project is that almost no time will be needed for documentation -- except as noted above the new version will work exactly like Panorama 5.5 for the Macintosh. (In fact, we’re already swapping databases back and forth between the Mac and the PC -- they are 100% compatible.)
Future Development
When we first developed Panorama 4.0 for the Mac & PC, the goal was to have unified source code for both platforms. This would allow new releases to appear simultaneously for both operating systems. This strategy worked perfectly for a couple of years (both 4.0.1 and 4.0.2 were simultaneously released on both platforms), but unfortunately the Mac side was written for OS 9. Making Panorama OS X native was a wrenching change that broke our unified source code. Now, however, we’re back on track. The new Windows version is not based on the old 4.0 code, but on the latest Panorama 5.5 for the Mac. In fact, we now have unified source code for Mac and Windows. In the future, new features and bug fixes will automatically be included in both Mac and Windows versions, because there is only one copy of the source code. So looking into the future we shouldn’t see any more big gaps in releases for either platform, but rather, simultaneous releases of all new versions going forward.
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