Helix Express 3.7.1

Version 3.5 was the first PowerMac native version of Helix Express. The following applications: Helix Express, Helix Express Server, Helix Express Client and Helix Express Engine are all Fat Binary applications. Since these applications contain both the code to run on a PowerMac as well as the code to run on a 680x0 Mac the applications' file sizes have almost doubled from Helix Express 3.0.

When you install the applications you will be given the opportunity to install just for your type of Mac or for both types of Macs. If you install only for your Macintosh, the installer only copies the PowerMac portion of the applications to your hard disk if you are installing on a PowerMac or only copies the 680x0 portion of the applications if you are installing on an older Mac.

Fixes in version 3.7.1:

• A bug was corrected in the Apple Event External Access (AEEA) code of the Helix Express Server that caused the Server to crash when AEEA Dump/Laod operations were performed on queried Views.

Fixes in version 3.7:

• Drawing on forms that contain subforms was slow in version 3.5.5 when no records met the query criteria.

• The Helix Express Server could be pre-empted from the network if the server machine is running System 6.0.x.

• This is the first Helix Express version which is compatible with Helix Power Mover. Power Mover is a utility used for high performance import and export of data in a Helix Express Collection using Helix Express Apple Events.

Fixes in version 3.5.5:

• For PowerMac users, we modified the Helix cache settings to improve performance on large-structure Collections. Specifically we increased the "minimum application heap" for the PowerMac version from 2.5 to 4.5 MB. (Min app heap is part of the HCCC resource ID = 0.) We also increased the Thread Manager stack from 60K to 90K. (This is in the HMTS resource ID = 2.)

  Note on the Thread Manager: The thread manager cache value appears to be very small (90K). But in use, this value is multiplied by the number of clients visiting a Collection at any given moment. For example, if 5 clients are visiting a PowerMac Helix Express Server, then the amount of RAM allocated to the thread manager is 90K x 5 = 450K. So with 5 clients about 1/2 MB of RAM on your Server machine is used for the thread manager. Setting this value too high (200K for example) can cause a RAM shortage for the Helix caches and other basic Helix operations.

• Some rare situations involving Fields defaulted with statistics Abacii, the default would inconsistently calculate has been corrected.

• Some performance improvements were made to the Unique tile in the Abacus.

• Double-clicking on a Subform to open an Entry Form, then deleting the record from the Entry Form could cause minor damage in the Subform's Index. The Helix Utility would report this damage properly and schedule the Index to be rebuilt in Helix Express. The initial damage to the Index should no longer occur.

• Validation on Inert Fields will work more consistently in this version. Now, if an Inert Field is on an Entry Form it will be validated. If the Inert Field is NOT on the Entry Form, the validation will be ignored.

• Update Collection would report damage in a Collection if the Collection contained the following: (A) Open a Template and draw a Command rectangle (a button) on it. (B) Double-click to open the Command rectangle dialog. (C) Click the Options button to access the Button Name / Conditional Sequence dialog. (D) Select a Field in either of the selection lists in this dialog where Fields are shown. (E) Save and Close the Collection. (F) Check the Collection's structure using Update Collection. Actually there is no damage in the Collection. The new Update Collection corrects this oversite.

• On a PowerMac, using the division or multiplication Abacus tiles with larger Fixed Point values could cause your PowerMac to hang or crash. This problem has been corrected.

• The Publish Now command has been added to the list of menu commands in the Sequence window as the Reference Manual indicates.

Fixes in version 3.5.4:

• A bug was fixed that could cause View names to become corrupted with unusual characters. This only occurred on PowerMacs and was not a widespread problem.

• A crash could occur when viewing a date field that is formatted as YY/MM/DD. This has been fixed. This is the default date format for some European Mac Systems. In the U.S. System you can set this format in the Date & Time control panel.

Fixes in version 3.5.3:

• A bug was fixed that caused the message "The owner of this application has preempted you from the network" to appear when it should not. This only occurred on some network configurations.

• Some Collections containing complex entry forms (many popups, posts, etc.) may need a higher setting for the "Thread Manager Stack Space". The symptoms of this problem are crashes in Helix Express or Helix Express Server when you open a complex entry form or enter data into such a form. (Specifically a System Error Type 11.) This setting has been increased for this version.

• Helix Express no longer crashes during launch on a Mac running under System 6.0.x MultiFinder.

• A subform (or dynamic popup) would display all records in a Relation in the following situation. A True link ties the subform to the host form and the subform query result is undefined. This was corrected so that no records appear on the subform if the subform's query result is undefined for every record.

• Message dialogs in Helix Express have been improved for when it tries to automatically launch Update Collection via AppleEvents.

• If you launch Helix Express then click on the splash screen before the Open Collection dialog appears you could end up in the Finder with an incomplete dialog open in the background. This has been corrected.

• It was possible to crash in Custom Mode if you accidently typed characters into the regular Query window. In Full Mode this selects a Template from the list, in Custom Mode the typed characters are now ignored.

• A specific network alert window no longer causes a crash on PowerMacs.

• Clicking on an Abacus window's format button will always open the format dialog, even when the button is dimmed. This has been corrected.

• Entering an illegal value for a Fixed Point field, such as "0.001" could lead to a crash in the form Query dialog box. Now you will get an error if you type an illegal Fixed Point value.

• The Get Info window for an icon attached to a Template would display the Template's name twice in some rare situations. This has been corrected.

• The selected item in the point size slot of the Command Rectangle and Data Rectangle dialogs would not draw correctly if you selected a different font in these dialogs. This has been corrected.

• Dragging an item from the Sequence window's View slot and releasing it before it is in the destination slot no longer can lead to a crash.

• Version 3.5 of Helix Express contained a problem when opening a Runtime Collection on a PowerMac. If any of your Collections were converted to Runtime Collections, trying to open these Collections with version 3.5 on a PowerMac could result in a System crash or System Error. This problem has been corrected in version 3.5.1. This problem only affected Helix Express, Helix Express Engine and Helix Express Server.

Protect Your Databases:

• Be sure to make backup copies of your Collections before Updating them to version 3.7.1.

• Pre-3.5 Helix Express Collections will need to be updated using the Helix Translator and Update Collection applications. Be sure to run the Helix Utility's "Data Damage Check" (under the "Tools" menu) on all Collections before they are updated to Helix Express 3.7.1. The Helix Translator converts your Collections to a format that can be read by both the PowerMac version and the 680x0 Mac version of Helix Express 3.7.1. This process requires all data in the Collection to be read. If any damage exists in the Collection before it is Translated, the damage will be worse in the Translated copy of the Collection.

• Because the Helix Translator reads every record in a Collection, you should expect the Helix Translator process to take much longer than previous Update Collection passes have been.

• After successfully Translating and Updating your Collections, you will need to run the Helix Utility's "Data Damage Check" again to verify that the data in the Collections is OK before proceding to use the Collections.

Special Note for PowerMac Users Only:

The 680x0 applications do not use the Threads Library and therefore do not need to run under System 7.5.

Updating Collections to Version 3.7.1:

Note that you need to quit from the Helix Translator and Update Collection applications before Helix Express will be able to launch them using AppleEvents. All three applications must be in the same folder and the names of Helix Translator and Update Collection applications must not be changed for the AppleEvent update to work.