What's New in Data Abstract 7 and RemObjects SDK 7 ("Fall 2012")?

The Fall 2012 release, with Version 7, is a major milestone in the continuing evolution of our Data Abstract and RemObjects SDK frameworks, with over 1700 new commits to the product since the Summer release, encompassing a wide range of fixes, enhancements and major new features across the entire product suite.

All New Schema Modeler 7

Probably the biggest and most notable change for the product is the release of our all new Schema Modeler 7. Build from the ground up in modern technologies and incorporating many things we learned during the development of Schema Modeler for Mac last year, DASM7, as we call it in short, replaces the old Schema Modeler that has been shipping, in varying shapes and forms, since the first Data Abstract for Delphi release in 2003.

It provides a more intuitive and easier-to-use interface for designing and testing schemas, and many enhancements and new features, such as better access to Business Rules Scripts and full-blown server-side Relativity Schema Modeling.

Schema Modeler 7 ships in all editions of Data Abstract, except DA/Cocoa (which of course already has its own Mac-based Schema Modeler for Mac).

URL Schemes

Another big feature that has been added across the board to all platforms of both Data Abstract and RemObjects SDK is consistent support for URL Schemes across all channel and message types.

RemObjects SDK channels and Remote Services, as well as Data Abstract Remote Data Adapters, can now be initialized using a URL string and will automatically pick the right channel type (be it HTTP(S), TCP or the Super channels) and message types, as needed.

This helps make client configurations simpler, including the option to easily let the user switch channels and messages simply by adjusting the URL.

  superhttp://yourserver.com:8099/bin

New and Improved DA LINQ IDE Integration

Vast improvements have been made to the workflow for creating and updating DA LINQ strongly typed classes in Visual Studio, with new .daRemoteSchema and .relativityClient files in your client project that give you easy one-click access to update DA LINQ classes, and a new wizard for creating and updating these classes that better persists settings from previous runs.

As an added benefit, .daRemoteSchema and .relativityClient also give you quick access to the schemas for your client project in Schema Modeler, including full modeling support when using Relativity Server.

Visual Studio 2012 and Metro support

Both Data Abstract for .NET and the free Data Abstract for JavaScript have been updated with full Visual Studio 2012 RTM support and the ability to create WinRT (also known as Metro, or "Windows Store") client applications for Windows 8 and ARM-based Windows RT devices. This includes updated WinRT libraries, as well as a Project Wizard and templates for WinRT.

RemObjects SDK for .NET, JavaScript and Java also gain official support for Visual Studio, the first two including the ability to create WinRT apps, the latter supporting our latest Oxygene for Java in Visual Studio.

Improvements to Data Abstract for Cocoa

Significant improvements have been made to Data Abstract for Cocoa, including new properties and delegate callbacks on the Remote Data Adapter that significantly help with user authentication, and enhancements to the logic for applying updates that now let the client application keep making further changes to a table, even wile other changes are still being asynchronously applied to the server.

Significant performance and memory load improvements have also been made, all across the DA library and the underlying RemObjects SDK, leading to particular gains on iOS and when dealing with relatively large messages and binary fields (such as those transferred in DA data requests)

Full support for Delphi XE3

Among many other improvements and fixes, both Data Abstract and RemObjects SDK for Delphi gain full support for the all new Delphi XE3 and FireMonkey 2.

JavaScript Client Library Improvements

Our native JavaScript client libraries introduced early this year have been very well received, and continue to be improved and enhanced. In this release, the DataTable implementation has been thoroughly streamlined, and large parts of the library have undergone internal refactoring and cleanup.

We have also added support for namespaces in RODL-generated code, and extended events support to cover the JSON message type.

Speed and Reliability Improvements in RemObjects SDK for .NET and Cocoa

Enhancements in RemObjects SDK have mostly been under the hood, with a lot of continuing effort having gone into code streamlining and improvements to message processing speed and memory footprint. This is bearing fruit in much lower overall memory consumption in .NET clients and servers, as well as Mac and iOS apps.

Extensive improvements have also been made to the Super Channels on both .NET and Cocoa, to provide even better reliability and improved recovery in cases of connection loss. On the Cocoa side, the SuperHTTP channel has also gained the ability to detect the system going to sleep with an active connection (Mac), and there shave been general improvements to backgrounding support (iOS).

Cryptography changes in RemObjects SDK for Cocoa

Cryptography support in RO/Cocoa has also been fully ported from OpenSSH (which has been deprecated on OS X and had to be included as part of the RO static library for iOS) to use Apple's native Common Crypto framework, meaning that the RO/DA libraries no longer contain any direct cryptography code themselves anymore.

The HTTP channels also have been improved with new delegate callbacks to better handle HTTPS connections to servers with self-signed certificates in a secure fashion. (This is the first step in an ongoing effort to enhance SSL support across all platforms.)

AESMessageEnvelope in RemObjects SDK for Java

As the final item on our list, RemObjects SDK for Java, first release this spring, continues to evolve further, with the most notable addition in this release being the introduction of the Message Envelope infrastructure and the AESMessageEnvelope.

Improved Licensing UX

To round things off, Data Abstract, RemObjects SDK and the new Hydra release also benefit from the new and improved "Everwood Live" Licensing System we first shipped with Oxygene in August, which reduces the hassle of obtaining updated license files when you update your products to newer versions, and in general provides a much nicer user experience when dealing with licenses, trial mode, etc.

Summary

This text only highlights some of the many enhancements and improvements to RemObjects SDK and Data Abstract in this release. Make sure to check out the Change Logs for the complete list of changes.

All four editions of Data Abstract and RemObjects SDK are available now, both to licensed users and as free 30-day trial editions (or in the case of Data Abstract for JavaScript, as free edition) — check out remobjects.com/trials or your Customer Portal.

RemObjects SDK is available starting at $399 per user for a single edition, Data Abstract at $899 (which includes RO). Bundle pricing is available for all platform combinations, and as always, existing users can choose to up-renew to additional platforms simply by renewing the bundle.

Read more on remobjects.com/da and remobjects.com/ro