How Will You Leverage Synergy/DE’s Native .NET Capabilities?
You can start figuring that out by becoming a Synergy/DE 9.5 beta tester
Synergy/DE 9.5’s native .NET support will open the door for you to take advantage of what the Microsoft .NET Framework has to offer:
- Interoperability with other .NET languages
- Access to thousands of classes, interfaces, and value types in the .NET Framework Class Library
- Ability to develop and debug Synergy Language code with Visual Studio
Join the Synergy/DE 9.5 beta program and start finding out.
For more information, visit our Beta Test Center (Developer Support required) or contact your Synergy/DE account manager.
What Do Synergy/DE and the World Cup Have in Common?
Both have a worldwide reach - Synergex products are installed in 81 nations; World Cup represents countries from all over the world.
Lately we've enjoyed talking to our customers about the World Cup. And we've also been wondering how we can get the word out to our customers about the useful technical information that our Professional Services Group (PSG team) has been blogging about.
So we decided to give away an official match ball of the 2010 FIFA World CupTM to one lucky PSG blog subscriber!
NOTE: The contest ended on July 12, 2010. However, you may still subscribe to the PSG blog using this form.
So, why is the PSG blog important?
Our PSG consultants spend their time at companies like yours, helping customers advance applications like yours. They also spend time learning about and using the latest technologies, and attend industry conferences to stay up-to-date. When they come up with some information they feel would be valuable to share with other developers, they blog about it.
Don't miss valuable information: Subscribe to the PSG blog and get a notification when a new entry is submitted.
Click here to visit the blog now!
“If data security is of any importance to your business, Synergy/DE 9.3 is the release to be on.”
A top software supplier for the community banking industry shares their story
Jack Henry and Associates (NASDAQ:JKHY) develops Core Director, a Synergy/DE-based client/server banking platform that supports progressive community banks — ranging from new, smaller banks to institutions with assets exceeding $2 billion. They recently upgraded to Synergy/DE 9.3 to take advantage of new features such as data encryption and the Select class, as well as support for Windows Server 2008 Release 2 (added in Synergy/DE 9.1.5b).
“It has always been important for us to stay current,” states Erik Read, Software Engineer for Core Director development at Jack Henry. “And there were several important features in this version that we were anxious to take advantage of.” Of primary importance to Jack Henry were encryption, to provide their customers with a new level of security; the Select class, to streamline application development; and support for Windows Server 2008 R2, because customers were requesting it.
Data Encryption
New in Synergy/DE 9.3, you can now encrypt sensitive Synergy/DE data using industry-standard cipher techniques. Because they are in the banking industry, data encryption is extremely important to Jack Henry. “If data security is of any importance to your business, this is the release to be on,” states Read. “This is especially critical to companies like ours who are dealing with highly sensitive data.” With support for encryption, Jack Henry’s customers have additional options to secure their data. For example, Core Director Teller, Jack Henry’s Synergy/DE-based .NET WinForms application used on banks’ teller lines, can now encrypt sensitive data that must be sent from the database over a wide area network to the teller display.
Click here to watch a short video highlighting Synergy/DE Data Encryption.
Select Class
Also new in Synergy/DE 9.3, the Select class is a group of classes and class members that enable you to simplify your selection logic and significantly improve the performance of remote file access. The results have been very positive for Jack Henry, who reports that the Select class has made their xfServer routines faster and their code much more readable and succinct.
Click here to watch a short video highlighting Synergy/DE's Select Class.
Support for Windows Server 2008 R2
To remain competitive, Jack Henry needed to meet customer requests for Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft’s first 64-bit-only operating system. The upgrade also removed the previous 4-GB memory limit on the application and Web servers that had limited some of their larger customers.
“I strongly recommend that other Synergy/DE customers upgrade to 9.3,” states Read. “All the new features make doing many tasks much easier. In addition, since Synergy Language is now object-oriented, it makes it easier to attract developers, who only have to have an OO background, and the learning curve for new developers becomes much smaller.”
For more information about Synergy/DE 9.3, visit Synergex's Web site.
Programmers New to Synergy/DE?
Attending a Language Essentials class will get them up to speed quickly
Hiring new programmers? Have existing DIBOL programmers who are unfamiliar with the many added features of the Synergy Language? Here's the perfect opportunity to start them out right.
On August 9-13, Synergex will host a Synergy Language Essentials class at our headquarters in Sacramento. Students will discover the Synergy Language Essentials through lecture and applied examples, followed by hands-on lab exercises to reinforce learning. This is a great opportunity for programmers new to Synergy/DE to quickly get up to speed so they can immediately put their skills to work when they get back to the office.
Visit our Web site for more information about the class and to register.
Quickly Brush Up on Synergy/DE Products and the Latest Features
It’s easy with Synergy/DE product videos
Looking for a quick overview of the major features in Synergy/DE 9.3, or just want to brush up on Synergy/DE products? Visit our video library for a comprehensive selection of product videos to help get you started.
Synergy/DE Tech Tip
Configuring xfODBC access to multiple databases on a single OpenVMS machine
Question
I have several customer databases on the same OpenVMS server. How do I configure xfODBC to use them?
Answer
You can use xfODBC to access multiple databases on the same OpenVMS server by using process-level logicals and setting up a separate SQL OpenNet server for each database. Do the following on the server:
1. Modify the DICTSOURCE line of the connect file to specify a logical. For example:
DICTSOURCE DB1_TABLES
2. Make copies of the STARTNET.COM file so that there's one STARTNET.COM file for each database. For example, if you have three databases, create two copies and name them something like STARTNET1.COM and STARTNET2.COM.
3. In each new file, change the SQL OpenNet process name so that it is unique among the files. By default, the process name is VTXSERVER, so if you have STARTNET.COM, STARTNET1.COM, and STARTNET2.COM, you could change the process name for STARTNET1.COM to VTXSERVER1 and the process name for STARTNET2.COM to VTXSERVER2.
4. Edit the STARTNET.COM files so that they each reference different NET.COM, NET.OUT, and NET.ERR files. For example, you could leave the original STARTNET.COM file as is, but edit STARTNET1.COM to contain the following:
/input=CONNECTDIR:NET1.COM-
/output=CONNECTDIR:NET1.OUT-
/error=CONNECTDIR:NET1.ERR-
and then edit STARTNET2.COM to contain
/input=CONNECTDIR:NET2.COM-
/output=CONNECTDIR:NET2.OUT-
/error=CONNECTDIR:NET2.ERR-
5. Create copies of the NET.COM file so that there's one NET.COM file for each database. Use the names you used in step 4, which would be NET.COM, NET1.COM, and NET2.COM for the example above.
6. Define the data location logicals and the logical used in the DICTSOURCE line as process-level logicals. Do this either by defining them in each of the NET.COM files or by doing the following: Create a command file for each database, define the logicals in these command files, and then, in each of the NET.COM files, add a command to execute one of the new command files.
Following these steps will enable you to access multiple databases on the same OpenVMS server with xfODBC.
This Tech Tip is also an article in the Synergy/DE KnowledgeBase*. KB is a searchable, fully indexed technical library where you can research thousands of answers to previously asked support questions.
*You must have Synergy/DE Developer Support in order to access the Synergy/DE KnowledgeBase. If you do not have Developer Support, contact your Synergy/DE account manager.
Quiz
Synergy/DE pros, see if you can answer this question!
What is the output of the following contrived program?
main
record
a ,int
x ,int
proc
open(1,o,'TT:')
goto label
try
begin
a = 1
label,
x = 1 / a
writes(1,"fine")
end
catch (e, @Exception)
begin
writes(1,"error")
end
endtry
end
a. "fine"
b. "error"
c. A compile error
d. A runtime error
Click here for the answer and explanation.
Platform News
Read a selection of recent articles
Windows
- An Application which Calls the ReadFile Function on a Named Pipe Server May Stop Responding when You Run the Application on a Windows Vista or on a Windows Server 2008-based Client Computer
- NOTE: This Windows bug could affect the Synergy/DE License Manager, causing a client program to “hang” due to the license server being shutdown.
- NOTE: This Windows bug could affect the Synergy/DE License Manager, causing a client program to “hang” due to the license server being shutdown.
- IE9 Platform Preview 3 Marches to the Standards Beat
- Microsoft .NET vs Java - The Trailer [Video]
- Microsoft: Azure's Showing Business Allure
- The Pros and Cons of Windows 7 Security
- Windows 7 Service Pack Coming