Opinion On Servoy over FileMaker

[rpd]

Hello All.
I'm just looking for some opinons and recommedations regarding Servoy. First of all I come from a FileMaker background. I was looking to develop an automated billing system using FileMaker as a frontend to MySQL.

I like FM's ease of use but getting it to connect to MySQL is turning out to be a chore.

So, how well or should I say so easily is it to connect Servoy to a MySQL backend and perform calculations on the data within MySQL? Can servoy do this without actually importing the data.

Can servoy also attach to FileMaker databases?

Which product would best suit what I am trying to do, Servoy or Servoy Developer?

Thanks.
Rick

[Morley]

I've been using FMP full time since 1996. To maintain existing clients on existing software I still do. But starting in June I began working with Servoy, now occupies about 80% of my time.

Servoy is a dream. This past summer I've been discovering what a constrained world I've been living in. Servoy very quickly feels like "normal" and FMP like living walled up in a fortress. These comments are comparing Servoy with FMP 5 and 6, NOT 7; I have no experience whatever with 7.

If you're just starting out with Servoy, like I did, with no experience in database programming beyond FMP 5 and 6 living entirely in a world of Scriptmaker, then Servoy comes as a shock in the first few weeks. It's like the training wheels of your bicycle have been ripped off and you're now quite capable of falling on your face. The protective barriers of FMP definitely keep you safe, but they also deny you an enormous amount of power.

There's so many more colours available in the Servoy paintbox it takes time to learn them all. Absolutely everything you could do with FMP is definitely here, but that really represents just about a third of the available palette. So for me, learning from scratch, development has been slow over the past five months. I'm putting a good 30% to 40% of my time in learning rather than in just applying known skills.

Nevertheless, this is definitely a rapid development environment in exactly the same way FMP is. One of the major benefits (NOT a small one) is the ability to copy and paste code. Equally large -- add comments liberally everywhere, including within calculations. Another is true variables. And arrays. And fine control over dozens of properties.

Learning Servoy is sort of like learning Photoshop for the very first time.

FMP has always had good support, particularly in the Darren Terry FMP 3 and 4 days, in my opinion falling off sharply in recent years. But FMP doesn't have anything like this Servoy Forum. I can post even the dumbest and most basic questions and get a response within an hour or two. I can (and do) post requests for features and have the Servoy team reply, "Yes, that's a good idea. We'll get schedule that for version 2.5." That interactivity and responsiveness is something FMI have never enabled their world.

I'm now producing an end product with far more elegance than anything I ever could do in FMP 5 or 6. Could I achieve this elegance in FMP7? No. FMP7 is clearly a big jump from FMP 5 and 6, a quantum leap, the best FMP in FMP's history. But in my opinion Servoy is still more flexible and capable by a very wide margin.

I was briefed on the forthcoming FMP7 and Servoy two years ago. The descriptions given by a colleague turned out to be accurate. The way FMP was going I would have to do massive rewrite. If that was going to be the case, looking at the feature sets of both, I opted for Servoy. No regrets whatever.

Enough of my rave. Time to post a tech question to this forum about arrays and value lists.

Good luck and kind regards,

[pcbg]

Hi!

I am also new to Servoy, although I have been on FMP (Windows) for the last 5 years.

Can I seek some kind Samaritans' advice on the following:

1) When installing Servoy, besides those features already ticked (some are greyed), I also select one that's named something like Servoy Runtime (if I can recall correctly), but did not select "Install Servoy Services as Windows"

Will this pose any problem?

What does "Servoy Services as Windows" suppose to do? What difference would it make, whether to install or not to install?

2) I read the Servoy Advanced Programming Guide for filemaker developers, and it says that before I can do anything in Servoy, I need to create a connection to a SQL database. And to do this, I must first install JDBC driver and place it inside the "Drivers" folder inside the "Servoy" folder in "Program Files."

I have already installed the j1.4.2_04. I found four files in the "Drivers: folder, namely: mysql, postgresql which are Jar files, and two Executable Winzip files named jconnect and firebird. Do I miss any driver? If so, what are the exact file name and which folder could I get them from?

3) Via the Application Preferences, I tried to Autosetup the Firebird
server. When the Server Config window appears with all data pre-entered, I clicked the "OK" button, and it kept prompting "Change the name." Which name to change and to what name?

I read the Servoy Advanced Programming Guide again on page 8, and it says that URL that MUST be changed are shown in BOLD, and those that might have to be changed are shown in Italics. The Firebird Database Server URL string shown has <databasename> in bold, and "localhost" in Italics. To what name do I need to change for <databasename> and "localhost"? Is <databasename> the name of my database I created? Must every database stored in one folder, or anywhere I wish ?

4) When creating a new solution, the New Form window prompts me to select "Using Server" and "Using Style." What are the reasons to select a particular server already created in there? How do I create a new server to use?

I should appreciate if anyone could tell me the proper steps in sequence in setting it up correctly.


Thanks very much.



Terry

[Harry Catharell]

Hi Terry,

Welcome to Servoy.

1) Even though I use OS X I am fairly certain that this would mean installing Servoy Server as a Windows Service. This will pose no current problem as you are using Servoy under Developer in order to learn the environment.
Having the Server as a Windows service would allude more to when you would move to the next level and were deploying Servoy Server to access your solution(s) via Servoy client
Carry on as you are for now !

2) If you are using the current Servoy release version then this Servoy comes complete with Sybase database server as part of the install and gives you several standard database drivers for other RDBMS. For example you do not get MSSQL drivers with a standard install so you need to go to Java's web site and search for them and download them from there. Thus it is the same for any other database which you may need to connect to.
You can work fine with what you have got so far in order to learn !

3) The name for the auto setup server defaults a value into the Server name box and the system wants you to change this to be a server name which you can recognise for the use which it will be put !
A database can be anywhere !! Literally ! This is why you also need the IP address of the database. Localhost is on your machine but the database could easily be hosted at an ISP anywhere on the internet !!

4) A form must be based upon a table - a table is part of a database - a database is hosted on a server. You can have many Server connections setup simultaneously using Servoy ! Hence you must first nominate which of your server connections you wish to use, then point to the database which is hosted on that server and then choose a table in that database to use to base your form upon.
Remember that Servoy is a RAD tool which gives you the chance to create your interface and business logic which then accesses the data layer. The data can be anywhere but is never a physical part of Servoy ! Therefore to create a database to connect to you must use the database server itself (e.g. MySQL) to create the database and then use Servoy to connect to that database and interact with it !

At this stage in the game, if you are indeed very new to Servoy I would not concern myself too much with referencing external servers.

Servoy is installed with Sybase ASA as a standard.

There are several databases and connections to those databases preinstalled which run under Sybase and so is an environment for you to use for testing.

There are sample solutions which are preinstalled (CRM is the main one) and you can use and abuse this in order to find your way around.

When you launch Servoy you will be prompted to open a solution and there will be crm available to you.

If you have already done this then apologies for asking you to go down one rung of the ladder !

If you use wish to set up a new database connection to try it out then :

Use Auto setup and choose Sybase ASA (maybe at the bottom of your drivers list so scroll down !)
Change the <databasename> to 'crm'
Change the Server Name to 'terryTest'
Enter a password of 'sql'
Click on OK

This will give you another connection to the crm database and access to all its structure.

Hope this helps but please come back with further questions if needed.

Cheers
Harry

[Westy]

Hi Terry,

Welcome to Servoy! I hope your question does not get lost because it appears to be listed under the wrong subject. But that is okay. Do not hesitate to ask questions.

With regard to your first question

1) When installing Servoy, besides those features already ticked (some are greyed), I also select one that's named something like Servoy Runtime (if I can recall correctly), but did not select "Install Servoy Services as Windows"

Will this pose any problem?

What does "Servoy Services as Windows" suppose to do? What difference would it make, whether to install or not to install?

Servoy Runtime is similar to the FileMaker Runtime that you are probably already familiar with.

Servoy Developer and the database that it uses run as Windows applications. When Servoy developer starts up it automatically starts the database.

Alternatively, the Servoy Application Server can run as a Windows Service. The database that it uses can also be run as a Windows service. Windows services can be started and stopped from Start/Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services (after they have been properly installed), by right-clicking the Service name and selecting either "Start" or "Stop". Unlike Servoy Developer, Servoy Application Server does not automatically start the database. Although you can create a dependancy between the two Windows services to make sure that they start in the right order. You can also set them to automatically start when Windows starts.

Because you are new to Servoy, it is probably best that you focus on using Servoy Developer. You can connect up to three Servoy Clients to Servoy Developer, so you will have the ability to fully test out your solution. Later, when you want to deploy, you can learn about installing Servoy Application Server and the database as Windows services.

With regard to your other questions, is there any reason you are not using the included Sybase database? That might be easier. After you gain more experience you can always go back and try other databases like Firebird, MySQL, etc.

[mnorman]

Hi Terry,

Welcome to Servoy.

We are in the process of expanding the Servoy Advanced Programming
Guide - which will include updated information about configuring database
server connections, among many other changes and improvements.
(Prior to Servoy 2.0, the database server that shipped with Servoy was
Firebird; the current database server that is included with Servoy is
Sybase iAnywhere ASA.)

In the meantime, here are some suggestions for finding the information
you are asking about in the Servoy Developer Edition Volume 1: User's
Guide:

1)What does "Servoy Services as Windows" suppose to do? What difference would it make, whether to install or not to install?

For information about a database as a Windows Service, see chapter 15
in the printed Servoy Developer Edition User's Guide, "Installing a
Database as a Service", beginning on page 491.

3) Via the Application Preferences, I tried to Autosetup the Firebird server. When the Server Config window appears with all data pre-entered, I clicked the "OK" button, and it kept prompting "Change the name." Which name to change and to what name?

I read the Servoy Advanced Programming Guide again on page 8, and it says that URL that MUST be changed are shown in BOLD, and those that might have to be changed are shown in Italics. The Firebird Database Server URL string shown has <databasename> in bold, and "localhost" in Italics. To what name do I need to change for <databasename> and "localhost"? Is <databasename> the name of my database I created? Must every database stored in one folder, or anywhere I wish ?

For an explanation and more detail about database server connections,
including how to set up a database connection, see chapter 14 in the
printed Servoy Developer Edition User's Guide, " Database Connections",
starting on page 465.

4) When creating a new solution, the New Form window prompts me to select "Using Server" and "Using Style." What are the reasons to select a particular server already created in there? How do I create a new server to use?

I should appreciate if anyone could tell me the proper steps in sequence in setting it up correctly.

For step-by-step creation of forms, see chapter 7, "Forms" in the printed
Servoy Developer Edition User's Guide, starting on page 145.

The chapters mentioned above should help you find answers to your
questions and point you in the right direction.

This same information is also available in both the pdf format files as
well as the Servoy online Help Navigator.


______________
Marc Norman
Servoy

[pcbg]

Hi Harry,

I'm sorry for not responding earlier, because I got to read your posting and several others who responded to my posting only just now. I didn't know several kind souls like you ave already responded, and I was still waiting in vain for an email notification to inform me of someone's response. Servoy didn't send me any email notification despite that I had that setup.


Welcome to Servoy.

1) Even though I use OS X I am fairly certain that this would mean installing Servoy Server as a Windows Service. This will pose no current problem as you are using Servoy under Developer in order to learn the environment.
Having the Server as a Windows service would allude more to when you would move to the next level and were deploying Servoy Server to access your solution(s) via Servoy client
Carry on as you are for now !

OK. Thanks.

2) If you are using the current Servoy release version then this Servoy comes complete with Sybase database server as part of the install and gives you several standard database drivers for other RDBMS. For example you do not get MSSQL drivers with a standard install so you need to go to Java's web site and search for them and download them from there. Thus it is the same for any other database which you may need to connect to.
You can work fine with what you have got so far in order to learn !

Yes, my Servoy version does come with the iAnywhere Sybase database.

3) The name for the auto setup server defaults a value into the Server name box and the system wants you to change this to be a server name which you can recognise for the use which it will be put !
A database can be anywhere !! Literally ! This is why you also need the IP address of the database. Localhost is on your machine but the database could easily be hosted at an ISP anywhere on the internet !!

I see.

4) A form must be based upon a table - a table is part of a database - a database is hosted on a server. You can have many Server connections setup simultaneously using Servoy ! Hence you must first nominate which of your server connections you wish to use, then point to the database which is hosted on that server and then choose a table in that database to use to base your form upon.
Remember that Servoy is a RAD tool which gives you the chance to create your interface and business logic which then accesses the data layer. The data can be anywhere but is never a physical part of Servoy ! Therefore to create a database to connect to you must use the database server itself (e.g. MySQL) to create the database and then use Servoy to connect to that database and interact with it !

Thanks for this explanation.

At this stage in the game, if you are indeed very new to Servoy I would not concern myself too much with referencing external servers.

Servoy is installed with Sybase ASA as a standard.

There are several databases and connections to those databases preinstalled which run under Sybase and so is an environment for you to use for testing.

There are sample solutions which are preinstalled (CRM is the main one) and you can use and abuse this in order to find your way around.

When you launch Servoy you will be prompted to open a solution and there will be crm available to you.

If you have already done this then apologies for asking you to go down one rung of the ladder !

No. I haven't done this yet. Thanks.

If you use wish to set up a new database connection to try it out then :

Use Auto setup and choose Sybase ASA (maybe at the bottom of your drivers list so scroll down !)
Change the <databasename> to 'crm'
Change the Server Name to 'terryTest'
Enter a password of 'sql'
Click on OK

This will give you another connection to the crm database and access to all its structure.

Thanks for this explanation.

Hope this helps but please come back with further questions if needed.

Yes, all of the above do help a great deal in making me understand better about the Servoy concept.


Anyway, I'm still getting the identical error message: "Cannot setup server"

The error details still states: "java.sql.SQLException: JZ00L:

Login failed. Examine the SQLWarnings chained to this

exception for the reason(s)"

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with my McAfee Firewall, and do I need to remove it, or has it anything to do with my Servoy Licence key.

After purchasing my Servoy Developer, I received an email with my Registration Code shown as : SD123ServoyDeveloperEdition (I'm using 123 after SD here to represent another real 3-digit number. And below my email, it shows another 19 digit code: 5435476-135243-171234 (This is not the real number). When I entered SD123ServoyDeveloperEdition as the License Code in the Application Preferences, I kept getting a message that I'm using a trial copy everytime I opened Servoy. But when after I entered 5435476-135243-171234 as the license code, it initially also displays the same message, but out of the blue no more messages appear. Do you know which is the correct license code ? The former code shown above <SD123ServoyDeveloperEdition> does not have any spacing. Not sure if that's correct.


Cheers

Terry

[pcbg]

Hi Westy,

sorry for responding late, as I was waiting in vain to receive an email notification that someone has responded to my posting. As I received no email notification, I didn't about the responses.

Welcome to Servoy! I hope your question does not get lost because it appears to be listed under the wrong subject. But that is okay. Do not hesitate to ask questions.

Thanks.

With regard to your first question

Quote:
1) When installing Servoy, besides those features already ticked (some are greyed), I also select one that's named something like Servoy Runtime (if I can recall correctly), but did not select "Install Servoy Services as Windows"

Will this pose any problem?

What does "Servoy Services as Windows" suppose to do? What difference would it make, whether to install or not to install?

Servoy Runtime is similar to the FileMaker Runtime that you are probably already familiar with.

Servoy Developer and the database that it uses run as Windows applications. When Servoy developer starts up it automatically starts the database.

Alternatively, the Servoy Application Server can run as a Windows Service. The database that it uses can also be run as a Windows service. Windows services can be started and stopped from Start/Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services (after they have been properly installed), by right-clicking the Service name and selecting either "Start" or "Stop". Unlike Servoy Developer, Servoy Application Server does not automatically start the database. Although you can create a dependancy between the two Windows services to make sure that they start in the right order. You can also set them to automatically start when Windows starts.

Because you are new to Servoy, it is probably best that you focus on using Servoy Developer. You can connect up to three Servoy Clients to Servoy Developer, so you will have the ability to fully test out your solution. Later, when you want to deploy, you can learn about installing Servoy Application Server and the database as Windows services.

Thanks for the above explanation.

With regard to your other questions, is there any reason you are not using the included Sybase database? That might be easier. After you gain more experience you can always go back and try other databases like Firebird, MySQL, etc.

No, no special reason. I was just experimenting. My version does come with Sybase database.

I'm still getting the identical error message: "Cannot setup server"

The error details still states: "java.sql.SQLException: JZ00L:

Login failed. Examine the SQLWarnings chained to this

exception for the reason(s)"

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with my McAfee Firewall, and do I need to remove it, or has it anything to do with my Servoy Licence key.

After purchasing my Servoy Developer, I received an email with my Registration Code shown as : SD123ServoyDeveloperEdition (I'm using 123 after SD here to represent another real 3-digit number. And below my email, it shows another 19 digit code: 5435476-135243-171234 (This is not the real number). When I entered SD123ServoyDeveloperEdition as the License Code in the Application Preferences, I kept getting a message that I'm using a trial copy everytime I opened Servoy. But when after I entered 5435476-135243-171234 as the license code, it initially also displays the same message, but out of the blue no more messages appear. Do you know which is the correct license code ? The former code shown above <SD123ServoyDeveloperEdition> does not have any spacing. Not sure if that's correct.


Thanks again, Westy.

Best Regards:

[pcbg]

Hi Terry,

Welcome to Servoy.

Thanks, Marc. I didn't know of your response and some other forumners' responses, as I was anticipating to receive an email notification first, but no email came in.

We are in the process of expanding the Servoy Advanced Programming
Guide - which will include updated information about configuring database
server connections, among many other changes and improvements.
(Prior to Servoy 2.0, the database server that shipped with Servoy was
Firebird; the current database server that is included with Servoy is
Sybase iAnywhere ASA.)

OK, Thanks. Yes, my version does come with Sybase iAnywhere ASA.

In the meantime, here are some suggestions for finding the information
you are asking about in the Servoy Developer Edition Volume 1: User's
Guide:

pcbg wrote:
1)What does "Servoy Services as Windows" suppose to do? What difference would it make, whether to install or not to install?

For information about a database as a Windows Service, see chapter 15
in the printed Servoy Developer Edition User's Guide, "Installing a
Database as a Service", beginning on page 491.

Thanks. This topic is in Chapter 14 from page 459 in my copy of Servoy Developer Edition User's Guide Vol 1. Is mine an older or newer version?

pcbg wrote:
3) Via the Application Preferences, I tried to Autosetup the Firebird server. When the Server Config window appears with all data pre-entered, I clicked the "OK" button, and it kept prompting "Change the name." Which name to change and to what name?

I read the Servoy Advanced Programming Guide again on page 8, and it says that URL that MUST be changed are shown in BOLD, and those that might have to be changed are shown in Italics. The Firebird Database Server URL string shown has <databasename> in bold, and "localhost" in Italics. To what name do I need to change for <databasename> and "localhost"? Is <databasename> the name of my database I created? Must every database stored in one folder, or anywhere I wish ?


For an explanation and more detail about database server connections,
including how to set up a database connection, see chapter 14 in the
printed Servoy Developer Edition User's Guide, " Database Connections",
starting on page 465.

Thanks. This topic is Chapter 13 from page 431 in my copy.

pcbg wrote:
4) When creating a new solution, the New Form window prompts me to select "Using Server" and "Using Style." What are the reasons to select a particular server already created in there? How do I create a new server to use?

I should appreciate if anyone could tell me the proper steps in sequence in setting it up correctly.


For step-by-step creation of forms, see chapter 7, "Forms" in the printed
Servoy Developer Edition User's Guide, starting on page 145.

The chapters mentioned above should help you find answers to your
questions and point you in the right direction.

This same information is also available in both the pdf format files as
well as the Servoy online Help Navigator.

Thanks. This topic is from page 143 in my copy.

I'm still getting the identical error message: "Cannot setup server"

The error details still states: "java.sql.SQLException: JZ00L:

Login failed. Examine the SQLWarnings chained to this

exception for the reason(s)"

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with my McAfee Firewall, and do I need to remove it, or has it anything to do with my Servoy Licence key.

After purchasing my Servoy Developer, I received an email with my Registration Code shown as : SD123ServoyDeveloperEdition (I'm using 123 after SD here to represent another real 3-digit number. And below my email, it shows another 19 digit code: 5435476-135243-171234 (This is not the real number). When I entered SD123ServoyDeveloperEdition as the License Code in the Application Preferences, I kept getting a message that I'm using a trial copy everytime I opened Servoy. But when after I entered 5435476-135243-171234 as the license code, it initially also displays the same message, but out of the blue no more messages appear. Do you know which is the correct license code ? The former code shown above <SD123ServoyDeveloperEdition> does not have any spacing. Not sure if that's correct.

Page 448 from my copy of User's Guide says that in order for a new database to be recognised in Servoy, I need to :

1. Exit Servoy

2. Stop the SQL repository database server.

3. Relaunch Servoy

And that to stop the SQL repository database server, I have to exit Servoy first, then Right-click the repository server tray icon on the Window Task bar.

The repository server tray icon appears only at the final database creation stage, and following the instructions on page 443, if I were to Close to dismiss the Creating Database dialog after creating the CONTACT_MGMT database, the repository tray icon on the Window Task bar will disappear as soon as I close the dialog.

So, what I did was after creating the CONTACT_MGMT database, before closing the dialog, I Right-clicked the repository server tray icon on the Window Task bar and Exit first, before Closing to dismiss the Creating Database dialog.

However, despite that the above were done, I'm still getting the same error message : "Cannot setup server"

The error details still states: "java.sql.SQLException: JZ00L:

Login failed. Examine the SQLWarnings chained to this

exception for the reason(s)"


Please advice.


Thanks, Marc.



Best Regards:









______________
Marc Norman
Servoy

[pcbg]

Sorry, Marc. Forgot to mention another thing.

Page 449 of my Users' Guide says that in an emergency, I can open the Windows Task Manager to select :dbsrv9.exe and dbisqlg.exe on the Process tab and press End Process. However, I can't find dbsrv9.exe so I can't End this process. I can only find dbisqlg.exe and End the process.

Thanks.

Please advice.

Best Regards:

[mnorman]

Hi Terry,

Regarding the answers to these questions:

For information about a database as a Windows Service, see chapter 15
in the printed Servoy Developer Edition User's Guide, "Installing a
Database as a Service", beginning on page 491.

This topic is in Chapter 14 from page 459 in my copy of Servoy Developer Edition User's Guide Vol 1. Is mine an older or newer version?

The Servoy Developer Edition User's Guide you are referring to is slightly
older. Servoy documentation - including all printed books, their respective
pdf files, as well as the online Servoy Help Navigator - is updated with
each new release of Servoy. The most recent version which includes the
expanded features and functionality of Servoy 2.1 is 696 pages.

After purchasing my Servoy Developer, I received an email with my Registration Code shown as : SD123ServoyDeveloperEdition (I'm using 123 after SD here to represent another real 3-digit number. And below my email, it shows another 19 digit code: 5435476-135243-171234 (This is not the real number). When I entered SD123ServoyDeveloperEdition as the License Code in the Application Preferences, I kept getting a message that I'm using a trial copy everytime I opened Servoy. But when after I entered 5435476-135243-171234 as the license code, it initially also displays the same message, but out of the blue no more messages appear. Do you know which is the correct license code ?

For information about a configuring a Servoy Developer license
(including a detailed picture), see chapter 17 in the printed Servoy
Developer Edition User's Guide, "Settings"; section 17.1.4, "Preferences:
License" on page 531.

______________
Marc Norman
Servoy

[pcbg]

Thanks very much, Marc.

From what's shown on the book, I have entered all the info correctly, but am still getting the "Bad Code" sign. I have just emailed to Servoy support and sales, with screen shots of my Invoice and the failed attempt to Register (with the "Bad Code" showing)

Thanks again.

Best Regards: