Helix Express 4.0.3

Release Notes for 4.0.3:

These are useful comments on version 4.0.3 features that did not make it into the printed documentation.

Problems Corrected in 4.0.3:

• If the enter command was not present on a menu, enter operations in a sequence would not work.

• Static Enter Override now works correctly.

• The frame of command buttons will now print in the correct color.

Release Notes for 4.0.2:

These are useful comments on version 4.0.2 features that did not make it into the printed documentation.

Problems Corrected in 4.0.2:

• You will need to run Update Collection on all Collections in previous versions of Helix Express. This version will break compiled forms, which will be compiled automatically when the Collection is opened by the Helix Server. Indexes that were built on Styled Text Fields or Abacuses will automatically rebuild when the Collection is opened for the first time in 4.0.2.

• A problem was fixed involving non-US Systems would cause dates to appear incorrectly for the international system that Helix Express was running under.

• A system crash could occur when Clients were abandoned by the Helix Express Server.

• This version corrects the draft mode double-printing problem on ImageWriters. Printing on all types of printers should be slightly faster.

• The Lookup and Use From tiles used to show Fields and Abacii with inappropriate data types in the selection list for items in the first hole of the tile.

• According to Apple Tech Note 1082, WDEF resources should be non-purgeable. If a WDEF is purged under low memory conditions, a System Error 87 can occur while switching between applications. So, we corrected this in Helix Express.

• We added the Cut and Clear commands to the Sequence icon's list of menu items.

• We did a clean up of the Enter command processing. Now all three ways of entering a record (Enter key, Enter command (in a menu or sequence), and Enter Override (in a sequence)), all use the same code. This avoids minor inconsistancies. Specifically this fixes a problem where field validation could be overridden by selecting Enter from a menu or Sequence instead of hitting the Enter key.

• On the Helix Client, an entry form opened through a clickable list would not build some dynamic popups.

• Dynamic popups that use UseFrom in the Text or Value items are now dependent on the Fields that they "use from". Dynamic popups based on Use From abacii should now update correctly when the data in the Use From Field changes.

• Problems related to copy and paste structure of Templates and Views (especially those that contain subforms) have been corrected. We also fixed a problem where non-printable rectangles on a Template become printable after the paste of the Template.

• The arrow key processing in data rectangles on Views, and the Quick Query box now conform to the Apple Human Interface guidelines.

• Menu items and command buttons were not enabled correctly in these situations:
  • After typing into the Quick Query box, then hitting Enter, the Find Next and Find Previous commands were not enabled.
  • Select All was not enabled when the cursor was placed in a data rectangle on a View.
  • Font and Style menus were not enabled correctly (or checked correctly) for Styled Text data rectangles on Views.
  • Edit menu commands were not being enabled properly when a Template was selected.

• When logging is already turned on, the File menu now correctly shows 'Save & Log' if it is in a heirarchical menu (submenu).

• Copy and Paste operations should work better in low memory conditions.

• Helix error messages caused by running out of memory (RAM) should give more information on how much memory was requested and how much memory was available when the error occurred.

• Update Collection now creates the correct format information for a Template's Data Rectangles even if the current format information is bogus.

• Update Collection will set all Indexes that were built on Styled Text Fields or Abacii to rebuild because of a problem with the construction of these Indexes in version 4.0.

• Update Collection 4.0 failed to properly handle an obscure flag condition in a small number of Flag Fields. Flag Fields affected by this problem would be missing the custom "True/False" names assigned within the Flag Field or Data Rectangle format resulting in a crash when Helix attempted to display this custom name on a View. While we have only seen one collection that has been affect by this problem, we recommend that anyone updating from Helix Express 3.7 or earlier use Update Collection 4.0.2. Helix Express 4.0 collections that encounter this problem can be corrected by replacing the missing custom names.

• Posting needed to be reevaluated in certain situations.

• Statistics query optimization would get confused over the difference between an unoptimizable query and an uncomputable query.

• Inert Fields should now only be validated if the inert Field is on the View that data is being entered into. Non-inert Fields should be validated whether they are on the View or not.

• The Enter command should be enabled on forms where the Fields are inert and the form has Posts attached to it.

• Duplicating a group of icons including a Template that contains a conditional sequence button would cause the Template to reference the old Abacus/Field in the conditional sequence instead of the duplicated Abacus/field.

• Fixed option zero posting cycle problem: If an option zero post set a field which was the source of a default value used by a field in the abacus used to set the field, (That is: Post Abacus "A" into Field "F", where "A" is a function of Field "G", and "G" is defaulted (via abacus "B") to some function of Field "F"), then the computed value would be released before doing the post assignment.

• The keyword Index is now correctly removed when a keyword Field is dragged to the trash.

• The trash will no longer reject a Field icon that is attached to itself via a dynamic popup.

• Helix would issue a message that you should build an Index on an Abacus which contains a Today tile when such an Index could never be built.

• Indexed items in the selection lists of the winnow dialog of a Power Query now fit correctly. These items appear in bold type.

• The Query icon's Label rectangles now draw correctly in multi-styled text.

• A gray/blue pattern would draw in the area of command buttons when a form was first opened.

• The color of popup rectangles and the popup indicator should be the same as the frame color that is set by selecting "Set Rectangle Color" under the Edit menu.

• An appropriate error message was added for when the user types into a non-editable Data Rectangle.

• Controls (checkboxes & radio buttons) can not be edited if the "Allow Edit" menu item is not checked for the Data Rectangle. To be consistent, the "Paste" menu item is only enabled when the cursor is in an "editable" Data Rectangle.

• You will no longer crash when using type-selection in the "Use From" tile's dialog box when the Template switch is selected.

• Attribute changes made through the "Set Window Type" dialog would only get applied to the first View or Query selected.

• Opening a User icon and selecting the Auto button would cause all the keys on the keyboard in this dialog to become enabled even though some were already used for command key equivalents for some menu items.

Limitations of using a Mac Plus or Mac SE with Helix Express 4.0.2:

Mac SE and Mac Plus CPUs do not have Color Quickdraw, so if you use Helix Express 4.0.2 on a Mac Plus or Mac SE, some items that pertain to color will be disabled.

• You will be unable to select the following menu items:
  • Edit - Set Rectangle Color
  • Icon - Set Window Color
  • Set - Color Preferences
  • Style - all 8 Color menu items (still enabled, but they will never get / marked)

• When pasting a Template into a different Collection, the black and white colors will translate correctly, but all other colors in the Template will default to black.

• The dialogs for the repeat rectangle and the limit rectangle will not contain a Color selection list when the Frame checkbox is checked.

• Words that appear on customized checkboxes and radio buttons on subforms would sometimes draw incorrectly.

• A crash could occur if you double clicked on an Abacus within the Get Info "Used By" selection list and the Abacus contains tiles with empty (black) holes.

Known Problems in 4.0.2:

• A Data Rectangle with a background color but without a frame will not fill the frame area with the background color. The work around for this would be to put a frame on the rectangle and to set the frame color to the color of the rectangle's background.

• Helix will not redraw the frame in the new color when a Data Rectangle with Conditional Color set on the rectangle's frame. The work around for this is to redraw the rectangle by scrolling down on the View, then scrolling back up to redraw the rectangle and its frame.

• The frame of command buttons will always print in black though it will appear in the correct color on the screen.

• In the Data Rectangle dialog, clicking the Conditional Color button will display a list of conditional Abacuses if you have set conditions for this rectangle. If more than one conditional Abacus appears in this list, the order of the Abacuses could change when you close the Template window. This causes incorrect colors and styles to get applied to each Abacus. Until we fix this problem in a future maintenance release you should do the following:
  1. Move all the Abacuses that you want to use for conditions to the conditional selection list.
  2. Close both dialogs by clicking OK. Then close the Template window.
  3. Open the Template window and go to the conditional color dialog again.
  4. The Abacuses will appear in the order that they will be executed in.
  5. Now you can apply the correct colors and styles to each Abacus.

• Some users have reported that their View windows have a background color of red or pink even though they have not set this color. This appears to be a corruption of the 'pltt' resource (color palette) in the Collection. You can correct this problem by opening the Collection with ResEdit, opening the pltt resource ID=0. ResEdit should ask if you want to correct this resource because black and white should be the first two colors in the palette.

• A crash may occur when pasting a View in which the Quick Query box is enabled. Before copying and pasting a View, disable the Quick Query by clicking the Cancel button in the Quick Query box.

• Neither the Static Enter Override sequence command nor the Static Enter Override custom menu item will allow entry or modification of a record on a View for which Add or Replace permission (whichever is applicable) has been removed. The Enter Override command is unaffected by this problem. Adding Add or Replace permission to the View will solve the problem. [fixed in 4.0.3]

Release Notes for 4.0:

These are useful comments on version 4.0 features that did not make it into the printed documentation.

• The "Get Info" and "Open" menu commmands are no longer enabled when an icon is selected in any window's selection list: For example the Index window's list of Fields and Abacii. You can open the related icon by double-clicking on its name in the selection list. Holding down the command key while double-clicking in the selection list will open the "Get Info" window for the related icon.

  This shortcut will only apply to the actual item clicked on, as opposed to all selected items. For example, in the View's Show Setup mode, double-clicking on a Template name in the first selection list will only open the Template's window.

• Icons within the Index that are placed inside the icon insertion hole cannot be opened by double-clicking on them. To open an icon within the Index, double-click on items within the icon selection list (on the left-hand side of the window).

• Popup menus on forms will appear as black text with the style of the Data rectangle, even if Styled Text is the data type. When a new selection is made in a Styled Text type popup Field, only the text in the Field will change, the style will be taken from the Data rectangle.

• In the "Set Window Color" dialog, the "Title Bar" color only applies to Rounded Windows. This type of window is set using the "Set Window Type" menu item.

• You may get out of memory errors if you try to copy too many icons at one time. If this occurs, you should allocate more memory to Helix by selecting the Helix application icon in the Finder and selecting Get Info from the File menu.

• If you do not double-click on a Styled Text tile to assign a specific style definition to the tile, the default will be no-style. This means that the text from the tile could take on style attributes from a Styled Text Field that it is being concatenated. Concatenation is done by using the "Followed by" or the "Followed/or" tiles.

• There are no new menu commands for copying and pasting of structure. Use the Edit menu's Copy and Paste commands for this.

• Only one level of hierarchical menus can be created in a User icon's menu.

• There is a limit of 31 menus (this includes hierarchical menus) which can be added to a single User icon.

• There is a set limit to how many menu items can appear in one menu. If you are unable to add menu items to a particular menu (especially the Apple menu), you may need to remove some menu items before proceding.

• The radio buttons and checkboxes in the Quick Query box (at the top of a View window) will take on the background color attribute set for the window. If the background color is set to white, this will not be a problem.