Commercial Plugins for LiveCode Community Edition

Recently RunRev decided to also release their cross-platform development tool, LiveCode,  as open source. For semi-developer and hobbyist this option  allow them to develop customized solutions for all present platforms, including Android and iOS. The catch is that all customized solutions must be released under the open source rules, i.e it’s not possible to protect the solutions including any  intellectual property.

Like other platforms it exist a group of vendors for LiveCode who offer commercial third- party plugins, targeting the IDE and also add controls/classes to solutions’ UI. When LiveCode Community Edition was finally launched we had two platforms, one commercial and one under as open source.

When the community edition was released RunRev raised the price to US$ 500 for the commercial version. For semi-developer and hobbyist it mean that in the future they will probably use the community edition. Given this scenario a new question landed on the desk; would it be possible to use the third-party products with the open source version of LiveCode?

Some vendors have already re-worked the terms of use for their tools that explicit targeting the LiveCodes IDE.

	Commercial Plugins
	Vendor	Plugin	Available	Note
	Ah Software	PowerTools	Yes	Dual License
	Ah Software	PowerBug	Yes	Dual License
	Andre Garcia	AAG|Tools	Yes	Commercial, unprotected.
	Bill Vlahos	lcTaskList	In progress	Dual License?
	BlueMango System Learning	SQL Yoga	In progress	Dual License?
	lcSQL Software	lcStackBrowser	In progress	Dual Licence?
	Non-Commercial Plugins
	Vendor	Plugin	Available	Note
	Andre Garcia	DBLib	Yes	Open Source
	debrill IT-service	Animationengine	Yes	Open Source
	TapirSoft	rIDE	Yes	Open Source
	TapirSoft	rGrid	Yes	Open Source
	Quartam Software	Quartam PDF Library	Yes	Open Source
	Quartam Software	Quartam Color Library	Yes	Open Source
	Quartam Software	Quartam Analytical Data Processing Library	Yes	Open Source
	lcSQL Software	lcStackDiff	In progress	Open Source?
	Vendor	Plugin	Availability
	Flexible Learning	All Plugins	No
	Navisoft	All Plugins	No
	RunRevPlanet	All Plugins	No
	Tactile	TM Controls	No

The second table above shows new plugins that have been made open source and created as open source.

The final table above shows the vendors have no intention to provide dual license or open source.

I hope that the list of commercial plugins will increase however there are some companies that have said no, i.e. they will not make their tools available on the Community Edition. Not everyone see a workable business model for their plugins. I both understand it and respect it. If the intellectual property is unique than there is no way to make it available as open source or as a dual license (both a commercial license and an open source licence).

Kind regards.
Dennis

Time to move on – Exit MVP Program

Around 2005 – 2006 I peaked with MS Excel, since then I have slightly moved away from it year to year. In 2010 I was honored to become part of Microsoft’s MVP-program.

Of course, it was interesting to get another position and more closed to Microsoft in general, the production team in particularly. However, I never got excited about it as I was moving away from MS Excel. In addition, I didn’t put much efforts to support the online community in various forms.

Given the circumstances I finally took the decision to not be up for the next renewal process. Looking back I can conclude that it has been an amazing time, from the 80′s and until now. I have also achieved more than what I thought was possible. In other words, I have nothing more to proof. So I can walk away and looking ahead for new adventures in the world of softwares.

But before I close the MS Excel book I have one thing I would like to point out and to discuss. Let me first conclude that Microsoft have never really been loyal to the group of developers for MS Excel. It’s regretful as the group have a strong commitment and interest of developing MS Excel further.

In the beginning we got the macro language, XLM, which we started to use more and more. Then VBA and VB6 came and Microsoft asked us to drop XLM in favor of these two Basic languages. 10 years later VB6 was depreciated and since then VBA also risk to be depreciated. Microsoft asked us to replace them with .NET and VSTO. 10 years later .NET and VSTO face the same situation as VB6, i.e to be depreciated. Microsoft now ask us to start develop with Apps for Office. Given the short history, i.e about 20 years, it’s remarkable the number of changes Microsoft have done.

In my opinion, Microsoft’s trust capital is now below zero due to lack of loyalty Microsoft show the group of MS Excel developers. The question is not about Apps for Office rather what will come next?

But it’s no longer of interest for me. I’m moving along and I set focus on other tools and platforms. The blog will change its name and extend its contest with other tools including other platforms. Actually, I will go back to VB6, pick up new tools like PowerBasic and PureBasic which will allow me to write everything in code, including the UI.  Other tools I have picked up is Real Studio and LiveCode together with my two favorites databases; Valentina and Ninja Pro.

I have uninstalled Office 2013 and replaced it with the 2000 version. I may re install it later on in case I find Apps for Office interesting unless it has been already replaced with something new!

It has been a fantastic time in my life to be part of the online Excel community and be part of an exciting time for MS Excel. My English has been improved with >90 %.  I have some good friends around the globe . So without mention any names I would finally say:

Thank You all!

Kind regards,
Dennis

MarieDB

How many know about the database MarieDB? The database is growing faster and faster. It takes market shares from MySQL.  Why just from MySQL?

MarieDB is a drop-in replacement for MySQL. It means that we can access and work with as it was a MySQL database. The differences between them are improvements made in MarieDB.

Among the people that stand behind MarieD is Michael “Monty” Widenius the creator of MySQL. The issues with MySQL license model have pushed more and more corporates and individuals to switch to MarieDB. The future of MySQL can now be questioned, especially when Oracle is involved.

The start page of MarieDB: https://mariadb.org/

The start page for AskMonty Knowledge Base: SkySQL: https://kb.askmonty.org/en/

Enjoy!

Kind regards,
Dennis

Combinatorics Using Excel Formulas

I have the honor to know Roberto Mensa via Linked In. He is strongly committed to explore, develop, improve and to discuss formulas in Excel. The site is fully dedicated to Excel formulas. If You’re serious about MS Excel then this site is a must.  Of course, he is not alone, another great contributor is Krisztina Szabó aka Kris.

The virtual spot has the name E90E50 fx. I have no ideas for what it stand for…

Anyway, You may start at the following point: E90E50 fx.

The link points to the main page. However, the latest contribution is Combinatorics using Excel formulas.

Make sure You have some hours free to take part of the contribution. Don’t forget to bring coffee to the computer.

Enjoy and have a nice Easter Weekend!

Kind regards,
Dennis

Clean Up!

As part of my maintenance, in order to keep the computer fresh, is to regular run the built-in tool Free up disk space.

The tool is accessible via the following commands:

• Start Button > Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Free up disk space

After running it the following dialog is showed:

Yes, I admit it was some time ago since I last executed the clean up process. However, I cannot understand how Temporary Files can grow to a size of 30 GB?

In addition, does anyone know if it exist a small utility that can automatically clean up Temporary Files?

The general recommendation is to not forget to run the Free up disk space on a regular basis!

Kind regards,
Dennis

Great News From Paradigma Software & Syncfusion Inc

Paradigma Software released version 5.0 of its Valentina Database and tools. The hard databases competition is an advantage for us developers; we get better tools and more for our money.

Paradigma Software continue to offer some great tools for free;

• An updated and more powerful Valentina Studio which now also supports MySQL DB, PostgreSQL DB. And since prevously version Valentina Dbs and SQLite Dbs
• An updated and more powerful Valentina Server / 5

Of course, Paradigma Software also offers Premium products such as  Valentina Server , Valentina Studio Pro and a great number of ADKs and Report ADKs  for nearly all existing developing platforms.

For more information please visit:

Syncfusion, Inc, have also released new versions of their first class components for the .NET platform, WinRT and Windows Phone (Beta). Check it out at:

Kind regards,
Dennis

PS: I have no commercial interest in any business. I’m just a pleased customer who believes that high quality tools and components should be expoxed to other developers.

Office Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2012

Great news! Microsoft have announced today that the RTM version of Office Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2012 has been launched.

For more information please read the following entry at Somasegar’s blog:

Now Available: Office Developer Tools for Visual Studio 2012

Enjoy!

Kind regards,
Dennis

 

Windows 8 – News and Solutions

SamLogic have recently published some articles at their blog about Windows 8 and the news for it. Personally I have difficulties to work with Windows 8. Maybe I’m too old and simple don’t understand how wonderful the new UI actually is.

One thing we know for sure, when Microsoft designed Windows 8 it was not the desktop platform in focus. For me Windows 8 works well with smart devices and pads.

Anyway, here comes the links to each article:

• Windows Desktop App vs Windows Store App: What’s Difference?

• How to install a desktop application / desktop app in Windows 8
• How to install a Windows Store app in Windows 8
• Why Were the Start Button & Start Menu Removed in Windows 8?

 

Enjoy!

Kind regards,
Dennis

POEditor: An Excellent Translation Tool!

It’s very exceptionable that I get thrilled over a software. The last time must be the first version of Excel 2.1d, that’s nearly 30 ago, I got in my hand!

I can only say that it’s an excellent software and it’s also free. It’s so good that I say its speak for itself.

The URL to POEditor is: http://poeditor.com/

Enjoy!

Kind regards,
Dennis

Black clouds over MS Office 2013

I’m getting worried over what’s going on. For every new version of Office and Excel there has been a positive tone in the online community and an excitement with the new features.

But that’s not really true with MS Office 2013. The terms to use a license shrink and some features are no longer available in some packages like Office Professional effectively prevent all happiness with the new version.

Instead of going on with the details I give two URLs that explain the new issues with Office 2013.

• Office Watch: Office 2013 Software License Agreement
• PowerPivotPro: “Hey, Who moved My (PowerPivot 2013) Cheese?”
• SoftMakers: Competition Watch

If we view it friendly we could say that both the new license agreement and the lack of some tools are due to that the new version actually targets smart devices and pads. It makes sense that softwares are tight to the devices in a different way than to the Desktop platform.

However, the future is not here yet so still the Desktop platform plays a critical role and will still do it for some time.

The only reasonable conclusion is to not upgrade to MS Office 2013.

• If we have MS Office 2010 there is no reason to upgrade to MS Office 2013.
• If we have MS Office 2003 or MS Office 2007 then consider to upgrade to MS Office 2010 but not MS Office 2013.

The above two alternatives offer best value for our money and still support our business very well.

It will also send a clear message to Microsoft: Do it again! Do it right!

Kind regards,
Dennis