Version 5.35

• wwDotNetBridge updated with Array Functions
  We've added a host of array functions to wwDotNetBridge that allow working with array properties on .NET objects via COM interop or using only wwDotNetBridge without explicit COM interop. Arrays are not properly marshalled by VFP resulting in a not easily accessed and not updateable array. The array tools provided provide Reflection wrappers and allow full access to array object functionality via CreateArrayOnInstance, AddArrayItem, GetArrayItem, RemoveArrayItem methods. There have also been a number of fixes and updates to the general wwDotNetBridge classes.

• Additional wwDotNetBridge Improvements
  Added GetEnumString to retrieve an enum field name from an enumerated value. GetEnumValue has simplified syntax now that can pass the full enum type and value as a single string (ie. System.Windows.Forms.MessageBoxIcon.Warning) to retrieve the value.

• New wwSoap::CreateObjectFromSchema Method
  Added a new CreateObjectFromSchema method that allows creating an 'empty' object from the WSDL schema. If you have complex types defined in the WSDL this method will fabricate an object that maps the properties of this WSDL object so you don't have to manually created. The object generated includes properties for each of the schema properties and will by default create child objects with an option not to recursively parse objects. Array/Collections are also supported via Collection properties which are however left as plain collections - you are responsible for creating each collection item separately. This method should simplify calling Web Services that take complex types as parameters.

• wwSQL::Connect
  Added auto driver and server completion for connection strings. If server= or driver= are not passed these values are automatically appended to the connection string as server=. and driver={Sql Server} respectively.

• wwSQL::EnableUnicodeToAnsiMapping

  The wwSQL class now has a flag method that enables automatic Unicode to ANSI translation globally. Note once set this flag is global so all SQL access then performs the translation.

• Miscellaneous Enhancements and Fixes
  There have been a number of small bug fixes and tweaks to various libraries. A number of performance enhancements have been made to wwXML in addition to providing a few extra helper methods for creating and manipulating XML DOM elements. wwHTTP has a few fixes for proxy operation and a couple of extra flags for dealing with certificate errors. wwSOAP parsing has been updated to deal with namespace discreprancies better. There's also better support for (manual) SOAP Header manipulation.

Version 5.32

• wwDotNetBridge Class
  Added a new .NET bridge class that makes it possible to access most .NET classes without requiring them to be registered for COM interop. It works by hosting the .NET runtime in Visual FoxPro and provides a class factory to create .NET class instances in VFP and call call them directly. This class supports instantiation of most .NET instance classes in installed .NET assemblies in the GAC and user assemblies as well as the ability to access and call static methods and enumerations. It also provides wrappers for accessing .NET arrays and collections effectively. Depends on wwIPstuff.dll and the wwDotNetBridge.dll assembly.

• West Wind Business Object Builder now can generate PRG classes
  The New Business Object Builder has been updated to generate PRG classes for business objects. Using the same interface you can now simply specify a PRG file for output and the Wizard will automatically create the PRG based business object. PRG classes are created one class per PRG.

• Updated wwJsonSerializer to work with raw JSON input
  You can now send wwJsonService raw JSON input and it will parse that JSON object and use it as input to the requested method. This makes it easy to generically make method callbacks from client code using just about any tool that can send JSON requests. Additionally a new ajaxJson() method has been added to the client library to provide single line callback access using this new mechanism.

• GetClipboardText in wwAPI Routines
  Added a routine that returns special clipboard text formats like HTML and RTF text.

• New wwXML::AddDomNode and wwXML::AddDomAttribute
  These new and long overdue methods make it easy to add new elements and attributes to DOM documents. These functions are mainly utility functions and are used internally for .config file configuration to ensure proper XML formatting and encoding.
  

Version 5.25

• GZip support for wwHTTP
  wwHTTP can now decode GZip content if you set the new lAllowGZip property to .t. When set wwHTTP will request GZip content and if the server is capable of sending GZip content it will do so. wwHTTP decodes the GZip response and returns the data as usual. This feature can be very useful espcially in distributed applications. With GZip support now both in wwHTTP and on the server side it becomes really easy to send compressed content transparently for applications.

• wwHttp::lIgnoreCertificateWarnings
  New flag added that gets around the apparently frequent problem of connecting to servers that have invalid or expired security certificates. Although I don't recommend doing this (get the server fixed!) this flag will ignore most certificate errors and behave more closely like a browser.

• wwHTTP::cContentType property added
  There's now a cContentType property on the HTTP object to explicitly override the Content type when sending XML or Raw data with nHttpPostMode.

• wwIPStuff SMTP Logging added
  Added support for logging the SMTP session to a log file so the entire conversation with the server is visible. Implemented in wwIPStuff::cLogFile.

• A number of small SMTP related Bug Fixes
  There have been a number of small fixes in regards to the SMTP DLL code hanging on long runs of messages. Several small issues in this regard have been fixed. Thanks to Ron Edge, who let me debug his application remotely to find one of these obscure issues.

• wwPOP3 fixes
  There have been a few small fixes to the wwPOP3 code that resolves a bug related to message parsing. The previous code could on occasion cause messages to lose their processing context and result in messages getting lost. Fixed.

• File2Var now detects and converts UTF-8 Files and converts to ANSI
  File2Var now automatically checks files read from disk for a UTF-8 Byte Order Mark and if it finds one strips it and automatically UTF-8 decodes the string. This works around the issue of some HTML Editors like Microsoft Expression ALWAYS forcing documents to UTF-8 and saving them with a BOM. This change allows using these files as normal.

• wwRegEx Class Wrapper
  A small class wrapper around the VBScript.RegEx object that provides easier access to Test, Match and Replace functionality that is not natively available on the raw COM object.

• New wwXML::FoxValueToXmlValue function
  wwXML now properly includes a FoxValueToXmlValue for simple Fox to Xml value conversion. This method properly encodes a simple FoxPro value into an XML Encoded string. This value is the counterpart to XmlValueToFoxValue.

• wwXML Performance tweaks in AddElement
  There have been a few performance enhancements in wwXML::AddElement in VFP 9 to improve performance. Dates now generate using TTOC(,3) instead of changing string date format settings which should improve performance for date generation significantly. Several other small tweaks to tag generation and the text output generation routine.

• wwXFRX9 class added to the PDF routines
  Added wwXFRX9 class that works with XFRX for generating output. This class is a very thin wrapper around the already easy to use XFRX engine meant to allow compatibility with existing wwPDF style classes and also providing the most common configuration settings for easy access. This class requires XFRX from Equeus. Class provided with thanks to Web Connection MVP Keith Hackett.

• wwIPStuff Unzip Directory Nesting
  The Unzip routines in wwIPStuff have been updated to allow unpacking nested directories using Dunzip32.dll.

• New RenderAspScript function in wwUtils
  To further ease plain script execution tasks we've added a RenderAspScript function to the wwUtils library. This wrapper around the wwScripting class lets you execute ASP style script pages with a single line of code and return the output as a string.

• GetCaptchaImage function in the wwAPI/wwImaging library and Captcha Control
  Added a routine that creates an image file from a specified string with basic image futzing. CAPTCHAs are used for verification that a user is actually entering information as opposed to a an HTTP client or browser robot. Routines include raw image generation (GetCaptchaImage in wwAPI), a Process method that handles submitting a CAPTCHA String and retrieving of the CAPTCHA image generically (Process::CaptchaImage). There's also a new wwWebCaptcha control which is drag and drop and can be checked simply by looking at the IsValidated property on a postback.

• Added support for multipart alternative email messages
  Multipart/alternative allows sending of both text and html content and has the mail client decide which to use to display the content to the user. A new cMessageAlternate and cContentTypeAlternate properties have been added to support this functionality.

• New wwUtils MailLink Function
  Utility function that embeds Mailto: links as a JavaScript function that's a little more difficult for a page parser to harvest. Pops up mail client if one is configured. You can pass mail link, Text, subject and body. Note this functionality is similiar to the MailLink control in Web Control Framework but can be used anywhere.

• Updates to wwScripting and ExpandScript and ASP style Script processing
  The way that ExpandScript() and generic script execution works has been completely revamped in this release. The codebase now uses the wwScripting class for all 3 modes of operation: 1 - Dynamic Execution (compiles and checks for changes), 2 - Precompiled Execution (FXP only), 3 - Interpreted (ExecScript Execution). All three models use the same functionality and so operation across the script modes are consistent. The new parser no longer uses TEXTMERGE to output results, so limitations on using TEXTMERGE functionality in your scripts have been lifted. Performance of scripts should also improve somewhat drastically. In debug mode improved error information is also available that shows the error in the relevant code context. The scripting engine now also uses an expanded Response object that allows for easy header manipulation and closer concurrence with the standard wwPageResponse object so you can use things like Response.AppendHeader() or Response.AddCookie() for example.

• Distributed Samples Updated
  The wwHttpDemo sample distributed application samples have been update to better demonstrate XML messaging rather than using the original cursor based transfer. While the original sample was little more lightweight using XML is easier and now more common. The samples have been updated to work more consistently and look a little more professional. Specifically the Customer List sample that allows browsing and updating of customers has a new look. The sample is accessible from the Enterprise demo page or by running wwHttpDemo.exe.

• Improved performance of the JSONSerializer
  The JSON Serialization routines for the wwWebAjax Control have been improved when serializing data to provide much improved performance for larger result sets. Cursor serialization should be many times faster than in the previous build. Thanks to Web Connection MVP Lauren Clarke for his help and feedback.

Version 5.0

• Updates to wwScripting and ASP style Script processing
  The wwScripting class provides a very easy way to execute ASP style script code that uses FoxPro code and expressions for its language. This feature is super handy for HTML generation, providing users with customizable templating and simply for executing script code. The wwScripting class improves significantly on the previously provided scripting mechanisms by not using TEXTMERGE functionality but rather generating pure string based FoxPro code that is executed for better performance and compatibility. wwScripting produces plain PRG files that can optionally be saved and stored and executed later. It also manages changes and only regenerates and recompiles pages if the source has changed. wwScripting uses simple property based configuration for script setup and makes it possible to execute code from disk or string with just a few lines of code.

• New RenderAspScript function in wwUtils
  To further ease wwScripting execution we've added a RenderAspScript function to the wwUtils library. This wrapper around the wwScripting class lets you execute ASP style script pages with a single line of code and return the output as a string using the most common default settings for execution.

• Distributed Samples Updated
  The wwHttpDemo sample distributed application samples have been update to better demonstrate XML messaging rather than using the original cursor based transfer. While the original sample was little more lightweight using XML is easier and now more common. The samples have been updated to work more consistently and look a little more professional. Specifically the Customer List sample that allows browsing and updating of customers has a new look. The sample is accessible from the Enterprise demo page or by running wwHttpDemo.exe.

• wwPOP3 updates
  There have been a number of tweaks and fixes to the wwPOP3 library to make it more reliable. Message body parsing has been improved to return content in a more reliable fashion.

• wwHttp class Improvements
  The wwHTTP class provides client HTTP services to FoxPro applications that need to call on and retrieve Web based URLs and retrieve its content. wwHTTP has been made easier yet by providing the ability to directly download to files using the HttpGet method. In fact the more low level HttpGetEx functionality should be rarely required any longer as all features are now accessible with the easier HttpGet() method. New flag added that gets around the apparently frequent problem of connecting to servers that have invalid or expired security certificates. Although we don't recommend doing this (get the server fixed!) this flag will ignore most certificate errors and behave more closely like a browser.

• New wwCollection Classes
  The tools now include a set of custom collection classes. Classes include wwCollection, wwNameValueCollection and wwStack. The classes are custom because the native FoxPro collection class syntax is backwards, doesn't support case insensitivity and chokes in a variety of scenarios with various standards. The Page framework requires lots of collection support and it's implemented through these classes which use underlying arrays. These classes exist to work around the many issues with Visual FoxPro collections and offer much better performance than the native class although they are not quite as easy to use.

• JsonSerializer class
  The client tools now include a JsonSerializer class that can be used to create a JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) compatible string from a FoxPro value, object or cursor. JSON is a common protocol used for AJAX communications and this class provides the serialization of most FoxPro types into JSON.

• wwCache Enhancements
  The wwCache class can now work with a fixed file that can be shared across Web Connection instances. The new optional cFixedFilename property allows specifying a fixed filename that is used to open a FoxPro table as opposed to the default behavior of opening a local cursor. We've also added support for Removal of cache items and cache expiration routines.

  wwUtils.File2Var reads and writes in shared mode
  File2Var now always reads in shared mode meaning that files can be accessed at the same time. This might improve performance a little with template reads and the like. For writing there's an optional flag that allows shared writes as well although you should be very careful with this option and only use it in special situations. Unlike STRTOFILE and FILETOSTR(), File2Var doesn't cause a FoxPro error but instead returns a blank or .T. and .F. respectively if a file doesn't exist or is locked.

• GetCaptchaImage function in the wwAPI/wwImaging library
  Added a routine that creates an image file from a specified string with basic image futzing. CAPTCHAs are used for verification that a user is actually entering information as opposed to a an HTTP client or browser robot. Routines include raw image generation (GetCaptchaImage in wwAPI), a Process method that handles submitting a CAPTCHA String and retrieving of the CAPTCHA image generically (Process::CaptchaImage).

• New Utility routines
  There are a handful of new utility routines that have been added to wwUtils. GetXmlDomObject is a factory method for an MSXML object using a predefined Progid defined in WCONNECT.H. GetRegExObject does the same to retrieve an instance of the VBScript RegEx object. CopyObjectProperties does a shallow copy of properties of an object instance to another instance. Note this differs from the CopyObject routine which creates a new object.

• wwHTTP::HTTPGet adds a download to file capability
  To further reduce the need to use HTTPGetEx() for HTTP access the HttpGet() method now supports a 4th parameter to download HTTP content directly to file. This is useful for downloads of large content so that the output is moved into memory and returned as a string - useful for multi-megabyte downloads. This functionality was one of the last features that had to resort to using HttpGetEx(). HTTPGetEx() still is the low level interface to wwHTTP and HttpGet() delegates to it, but user code is recommended to use the easier to use HTTPGet() method.

• wwGhostScript
  The wwPDF classes now support the free GhostScript interpreter to generate PDF files. We've implemented a small wrapper DLL function for GhostScript that is part of wwIPStuff and can quickly and efficiently render PDF output from PostScript files. The functionality of this class will be identical to the wwDistiller class - you still need to install a PostScript Printer to print a PDF file first. Performance of this interface is much more efficient than Distiller.

• wwXFRX and a few other updates to wwPDF
  The wwPDF class also adds suport for XFRX to compatible PDF generators in Web Connection. XFRX is a VFP based PDF (and several other formats including DOC, XLS, HTML, RTF) generation tool that uses VFP reports natively. The wwPDF documentation has also been udpated to reflect the latest new drivers and a more extensive comparision between the supported drivers.

• InstallPrinterDriver Function in wwAPI and Console option
  In order to facilitate installation of a Postscript Printer driver that can be used with the wwDistiller and wwGhostScript PDF generation classes there are now a couple of easy ways to install a printer driver. The wwAPI library contains the InstallPrinterDriver function and the CONSOLE.EXE has a new command line option "INSTALLPRINTER" that can be used to perform this task. Useful for installers or quickly configuring a machine via a batch file.

• wwSQL::ExcuteNonQuery Method
  Added a new method for running non-result set returning SQL Statements. Although EXECUTE supported this functionality before these methods have been isolated explicitly to allow for wwADOSql's customized routines that use different mechanisms to retrieve data and run commands.

• wwSql improvements and wwADOSQL Class
  wwSQL now has a AddParameter method that allows you effectively create parameters on your SQL statements and pass them around - this feature avoid hardcoding SQL parameter values and is a big help in sidestepping SQL Injection issues. wwADOSql is a new class that provides the same functionality as wwSQL but uses ADO. While slower than SQLPassthrough, ADO provides the ability to deal more effectively with Unicode data. This new class requires VFP 8 for basic operations and VFP 9 in order to take advantage of effective Unicode data access.

• Several enhancements to wwIPStuff's Email handling
  wwIPStuff now adds the cExtraHeaders at the top of the email message which means that the extra headers take precedence over any default headers wwIPstuff adds later on. A new AddHeader() method has also been added to make it easier to add custom Headers to emails. This in turn means you can override wwIPStuff's default headers and should alleviate, in most cases, any restrictions on headers used that existed before. wwIPStuff now also handles return receipts with new lReturnReceipt property which sends a receipt to the sender. The cMailServer property now supports port numbers as part of the mail server address (mail.myserver.com:2525) which overrides the nPort property.

• wwAPI CreateProcess and CreateProcessEx functions added
  We added API level CreateProcess functions that allow more control over executing external processes than the run command. The plain version supports executing another process, waiting for completion, hiding the window. The Ex version adds the ability to redirect output to a file which is very useful for console applications. Provided to reduce the 'flicker' of flashing command windows when running the various Web Connection Administrative routines (SetAcl, DCOMPermissions etc.).

• wwUtils adds a SetAcl function
  You can now assign access rights on a directory or single file by calling SetAcl. You can assign rights to files and directories and assign users or groups. Rights can be marked as inheritable so they ripple to lower level directories.

• Many updates to the wwSoap class
  The wwSoap class has been updated with many protocol changes and fixes and works much better (although not perfectly) with complex types especially against .NET web services and in some cases allows receiving and passing of objects directly without requiring conversion. There have also been a few improvements to the client proxy class generator.