There is still some changes and updates we want to do to 8.1 before we put it on general release but as the tests so far is very favourable and the need for migration from Pre 7.x DFW is pressing, we have decided to put it on general Pre-Release from today.

The main focus in 8.1 is on migration and compatibility with pre. 7.x versions of DataEase for windows, but as a result we have found and fix many other issues that has "marred" DFW over the years.

We have done a major fix to OML so you will now be able to open your forms even when the OML has gone haywire. This is not a permanent fix of OML but it is a great improvement as you will no longer loose your work (which was very much a show stopper). We have identified the main problem with OML and will address it in due course, but for now you will be able to simply re-compile your OML if it goes "haywire".

It is a sad fact that migration from pre 7.x to 7.0.to 7.2 never worked. Not in any real sense of the word. There was taken a lot of "bold" decisions in 7.0 about leaving DFD behind, changing the format and modernising the product. The truth is that the main consequence of the changes was trouble.

By removing Menu documents - the backbone in any pre 7.x application - migrated applications lost their flow and logic. Add that to the fact that many forms didn't migrate over at all due to changed object rules that invalidated things like buttons without actions and other screen object (GPF), you simply didn't have an application that could be used directly if at all.

If you managed to work around this and re-create your menus and change your forms prior to migration so they would migrate over, your quickly realised that the conversion of old style memo to new style memo was slow if it worked at all.

I won't spend much more time on what didn't work, but the "sum total" was that most users stayed put in 6.x with existing applications.

It is our policy to give our existing users an easy and viable way forward, so instead of compiling an extensive book on do and don't when migrating, we decided that we should fix the product and migration tool so it worked.

It is a big gap from DFW 5.x to DFW 8.x so we can't guarantee that everything works, but we can guarantee that you will get a working application that you will be able to fix/update in a matter of hours if not minutes to run perfectly fine (and faster and better) under 8.1.

If you don't believe us, simply download 8.1 and have a go yourself. You find the migration tool in the Start-Menu or directly in the program catalogue. It is called DEMIGRATE.EXE

For fun we migrated all the samples that was shipped with DataEase 6.0 today and you can download them here.

Download Migrated 6.x Samples

We have not fixed or updated anything after the migration, but the only problems we can see is related to styles and DFWACTS which was converted from CDFs to internal functions in 7.x.

The latter problem is simply solved by recompiling the derivations where the CDFs where used (the new functions are called the same but the way they are called are different so need recompilation).

The first problem is simply solved by removing the styling prior to migration or by touching the objects after.

Enjoy!