A Better DataFlex 2017/19.0 Is Available Now

We are pleased to announce the availability of a new build, 19.0.33.4, of DataFlex 2017/19.0. It delivers numerous refinements, changes and bug fixes to DataFlex 19.0. See the ReadMe for full details. Download DataFlex 19.0.33.4.

DataFlex 19.0.33.4 is a new build of DataFlex 19.0 that replaces build 19.0.30.8 released in August, 2017. Since these are builds of the same 19.0 product revision, they cannot co-exist on the same computer. To use the new build, developers must uninstall the 19.0.30.8 build and then install 19.0.33.4 just as they would when going from one build to another during alpha and beta prereleases. Once a DataFlex Studio development environment has been updated to the new build, the same process of uninstalling 19.0.30.8 and updating to 19.0.33.4 must be followed for all deployed DataFlex WebApp Servers or DataFlex Windows Clients that will run applications created with the new build.

The 19.0.33.4 build reflects a general change to how we will now sequence the work in some DataFlex releases with the goal of delivering bug fixes and minor enhancements to developers faster.

In the past, following a given release, we started planning and implementing the next revision focusing on new DataFlex features and enhancements. At the end of the development cycle, we addressed bugs with the result that the new release contained both new features and fixes to the previous revision. There is also a practical reality that some enhancements planned for a particular release get deferred at the last minute because they are not quite done, require more testing or documentation. Deferred enhancements would then be completed and delivered in the next major product release too.

The result of the sequencing of bug fixes and deferred enhancements into a new revision is that developers didn’t get their benefits until the next major DataFlex revision was published – at least several months. To deliver bug fixes and deferred enhancements to developers faster, we are making the following changes:

1. Fix bugs in a new revision’s code branch at the beginning of its development cycle
2. Developers’ reports of needed refinements or changes received soon after a release are addressed at the beginning of a new release project
3. Deferred enhancements are completed at the beginning of a new release project

When a reasonable volume of the above has been completed in the new release code branch, some that will not affect prior-build compatibility or product stability will then be back-ported to the released product and delivered as a new build. Version 19.0.33.4 is the first DataFlex build to be delivered as a result of this new scheme.

To put these changes into practical terms, after DataFlex 19.0 was released, the three types of development listed above were undertaken in a new, DataFlex 19.1 code branch. Certain of the new 19.1 fixes and changes were then back-ported to the DataFlex 19.0 code branch. A new 19.0 build including the 19.1 fixes and changes was created which is now available to developers in build 19.0.33.4.