We are pleased to announce the release of Recital 10.0.2.

Here is a brief list of features and functionality that you will find in the 10.0.2 release. 

• New commands
  SAVE/RESTORE DATASESSION [TO variable]
  CONNECT "connectString"
  DISCONNECT 
• New functions (OData compatible)
  startsWith(haystack as character, needle as character)
  endsWith(haystack as character, needle as character)
  indexOf(haystack as character, needle as character)
  substringOf(haystack as character, needle as character)
  concat(expC1, expC2)
• New system variables
  _LASTINSERTEDSYNCNUM
• Enhanced commands
  Added CONNSTRING "connectingString" to the USE command to connect to remote servers (Recital, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, ODBC)
• Further SQL query optimizer improvements to boost performance
• Performance improvements in Recital Web
• Forced all temporary files into temp directory (improves performance when local tmpfs is used as temp directory and reduces network i/o)
• Fixed cookie and session variable problems in Recital Web
• Fixed problem with temporary files being left after some server queries involving memos and object data types
• Improved performance of the Windows ODBC driver
• Fixed a security flaw in Recital Web
• Fixed all reported bugs 

In this article Barry Mavin explains step by step how to setup a Linux HA (High Availability) cluster for the running of Recital applications on Redhat/Centos 5.3 although the general configuration should work for other linux versions with a few minor changes.

I am a fan of the previous incarnation of the PlugComputer so I was excited to see that Marvell have unveiled a new PlugComputer dubbed imaginatively "PlugComputer 3.0."

PlugComputer 3.0 Features:

Smaller sleeker design,
More powerful CPU - 2gz Armanda 300 CPU,
120GB 1.8-inch SATA hard drive,
Wifi,
Bluetooth,
10/100/1000 wired Ethernet,
USB 2.0.
512MB of RAM
512MB of Flash memory

I for one would like to see an additional Ethernet port added to increase application flexibility, for some applications where you are using clustered plugs or even for routing, having multiple Ethernet ports is a must.

Even without multiple ethernet ports, these low power consumption devices really could have a place in SME environments, replacing large cumbersome legacy hardware with compact Linux plug servers.

More information about the PlugComputer can be found here

In this article Barry Mavin, CEO and Chief Software Architect for Recital, details Working with Stored Procedures in the Recital Database Server.

Overview

Stored procedures and user-defined functions are collections of SQL statements and optional control-of-flow statements written in the Recital 4GL (compatible with VFP) stored under a name and saved in a Database. Both stored procedures and user-defined functions are just-in-time compiled by the Recital database engine. Using the Database Administrator in Recital Enterprise Studio, you can easily create, view, modify, and test Stored Procedures, Triggers, and user-defined functions

Creating and Editing Stored Procedures

To create a new Stored Procedure,  right-click the Procedures node in the Databases tree of the Project Explorer and choose Create. To modify an existing stored procedure select the Stored Procedure in the Databases Tree in the Project Explorer by double-clicking on it or selecting Modify from the context menu . By convertion we recommend that you name your Stored Procedures beginning with "sp_xxx_", user-defined functions with "f_xxx_", and Triggers with "dt_xxx_", where xxx is the name of the table that they are associated with.

Testing the Procedure

To test run the Stored Procedure, select the Stored Procedure in the Databases Tree in the Project Explorer by double-clicking on it. Once the Database Administrator is displayed, click the Run button to run the procedure.

Getting return values

Example Stored Procedure called "sp_myproc":

parameter arg1, arg2
return arg1 + arg2

Example calling the Stored Procedure from C# .NET:

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// include the references below
using System.Data;
using Recital.Data;

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// sample code to call a Stored Procedure that adds to numeric values together
public int CallStoredProcedure()
{
	RecitalConnection conn = new 
		RecitalConnection("Data Source=localhost;Database=southwind;uid=?;pwd=?");
	RecitalCommand cmd = new RecitalCommand();
	cmd.Connection = conn;
	cmd.CommandText = "sp_myproc(@arg1, @arg2)";
	cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
	cmd.Parameters["@arg1"].Value = 10;
	cmd.Parameters["@arg2"].Value = 20;
	conn.Open();
	cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
	int result = (int)(cmd.Parameters["retvalue"].Value);    // get the return value from the sp
	conn.Close();
	return result;
	}

Writing Stored Procedures that return a Resultset

If you want to write a Stored Procedure that returns a ResultSet, you use the SETRESULTSET() function of the 4GL. Using the Universal .NET Data Provider, you can then execute the 4GL Stored Procedure and return the ResultSet to the client application for processing. ResultSets that are returned from Stored Procedures are read-only.

Example Stored Procedure called "sp_myproc":

parameter query
select * from customers &query into cursor "mydata"
return setresultset("mydata")

Example calling the Stored Procedure from C# .NET:

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// include the references below
using System.Data;
using Recital.Data;

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// sample code to call a stored procedure that returns a ResultSet
public void CallStoredProcedure()
{
	RecitalConnection conn = new 
		RecitalConnection("Data Source=localhost;Database=southwind;uid=?;pwd=?");
	RecitalCommand cmd = new RecitalCommand();
	cmd.Connection = conn;
	cmd.CommandText = "sp_myproc(@query)";
	cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
	cmd.Parameters["@query"].Value = "where not deleted()";
	conn.Open();
	RecitalDataReader dreader = cmd.ExecuteReader();
	int sqlcnt = (int)(cmd.Parameters["sqlcnt"].Value);    // returns number of affected rows
	while (dreader.Read())
	{
		// read and process the data
	}
	dreader.Close();
	conn.Close();
}