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Category: Development

VisionX 5.3 is available

VisionX 5.3.2 is available!

It's a minor update release with big changes.
The release got updates of open source libraries like JVx and Vaadin UI.

But the biggest changes are the integrated Java 12 support. VisionX 5.3 comes with and runs under Java 12 (openJDK).

What's different?

  • Performance improvement of Designer
  • Performance improvement of HTML5 UI
  • New App Elements

    Save All Changes, Reload All Changes, Advanced Panel and Advanced Group Panel

  • REST documentation contains admin services
  • Bundled open JDK 12
  • Support for latest Workflow AddOn (1.5)

The download area already contains links to latest VisionX binaries.

Please report any problems as usual and have fun with VisionX.

Eclipse 2018.12 with ANT and JRE 6

The support for ANT and JRE6 with Eclipse 2018.12.

The plugin was created for:

Version: 2018-12 (4.10.0)
Build id: 20181214-0600

Don't forget the -clean start (read the original article for more details)!

One more thing you should do:

Photon includes ANT > 1.10. This version requires Java 8. In order to use Java 6, you have to download ANT 1.9.x. Simply download ANT and set the ANT Home to your version, via

(Window >>) Preferences >> ANT >> Runtime >> Ant Home...

If you try to use the bundled ANT with JRE 6, it will fail with an Exception.

Download the plugin from here. It works for us - no warranty!

More Details: Eclipse Photon with ANT and JRE6.

VisionX 5 update Release-3

VisionX 5.2.27 is available!

It's a small bugfix release with an update of open source libraries like JVx and Vaadin UI.

What's different?

  • Group Panel visibility now working in Browser
  • Group Panel text color now working in Browser
  • Set additional css class names for labels and checkbox editors
  • It's now easier to extend search behavior of NavigationTable
  • Checkbox alignment fixed in Browser
  • Support for latest Workflow AddOn

The download area already contains links to latest VisionX binaries.

Please report any problems as usual and have fun with VisionX.

VisionX 5 update Release-2

We're happy to anounce that VisionX 5.1.221 is available!

It's a bigger update release of VisionX 5.1.8 with with some new "visible" features and many awesome new features under the hood.

Let's start with important bug fixes

  • Popup Menu in Browser application

    A custom Popup Menu in Browser applications was always empty. This problem was fixed in an OpenSource library and is now available in VisionX applications.

  • Timeout with customizer changes

    If VisionX timeout while a customizer with changed values was open, the timeout operation failed and VisionX was unusable.

  • Element selection not always working

    Sometimes it wasn't possible to select elements if they where behind other elements.

  • Database procedure and function calls with more than 10 parameters

    It's now supported to call database procedures and functions with max. 100 parameters.

  • External CSS file detection

    VisionX had some path problems with Linux and MacOS to find the external CSS file for browser applications.

  • Fixed painting of overlays (MacOS)

    The position of e.g. VisionX Guides wasn't correct. The small numbers were wrong positioned.

  • Workflow integration

    The workflow engine wasn't always started correctly and not in the correct window.

  • All bugfixes of JVx, VaadinUI and other OpenSource libraries

What's new?

  • A new Workflow AddOn
  • Swagger documentation

    The documentation now contains information about sub storages (used in drop down boxes) and default admin services. It's now easier to grant access to external applications based on the REST API of your application.

  • Java 9+

    It's now possible to use e.g. Java 11 as runtime for VisionX.

  • Storage editor for Developers

    Out storage Editor was only available if you bought the Forms license. Now all users with Development license will be able to use the Storage Editor. The storage editor is a feature which allows you to change the database query of a table, directly in VisionX.

  • Prompt/Placeholder support
  • Better layouting in browser application

    We improved the layouting in our browser applications and also improved scrolling of panels.

  • Experimental (Early Access) Features

    We added some experimental features in this release: QR code authentication, Spnego (Active Directory) authentication base support (needs an additional AddOn), SSO authentication feature for REST services (bypass option).

    This features are available for interested developers. Simply talk to your contact person.

The download area already contains links to latest VisionX binaries.

Please report any problems as usual and have fun with VisionX.

JVx 2.8 is available

We're happy to announce that JVx 2.8 is available. It's a big release with lots of important bug fixes and some awesome new features. The last release of JVx was in January. It was version 2.7 which was more or less a small bugfix release with few new features. We took more time for JVx 2.8 to make it awesome.

What's new?

  • Placeholder/Prompt support

    This feature is available for input fields and cell editors. Simply enable this feature:

    editor.setPlaceholderVisible(true);
    editor.setPlaceholder("PLACEHOLDER");

    to get

    Prompt support

    Prompt support

  • New popup menu button

    This new button reduces the visible components. It's a must have for modern applications:

    Menu button

    Menu button

  • Savepoints for transaction handling in PostgreSql
  • Components have a unique name

    This is an important feature fore UI tests and our headless UI as well. It's now possible to address components in vaadin UI by their id to apply custom css.

  • Configurable REST services
  • Mac OS UI improvements

The full changelog is available here.

Start with JVx

New VisionX Demo application is available

Our VisionX solution store got a new demo application. It's a demo for calculated columns. A calculated column is a virtual column, filled with custom content.

Simply install the application from our solution store:

Demo application - Solution store

Demo application - Solution store

The application has 3 workscreens. One demonstrates client-side calculated columns, the second one server-side calculated columns and the third screen demonstrates calculated columns directly in the database. You have different options to use calculated columns, simply check what you prefer.

JVx' REST interface Update for JVx 2.8

Our generic REST interface in JVx is well documented and different examples for different technologies are available. The generic approach itself is smart but not super specific because the implementation follows the CoC paradigm. It's awesome for "REST out-of-the-box" without additional coding effort, but the flexibility is sometimes missing.

We tried to break some of this restrictions and get more flexibility. Here is a list of new features to explain some details:

  • Fetch on demand

    The old implementation always returned all records from the database. It wasn't possible to implement paging or lazy loading. To solve this problem, we introduced new request parameters:

    _firstRow
    _maxRows

    With _firstRow (starts from 0) you define the start record number. The _maxRows defines the amount of records for the resultset, e.g. start from 0 and return max. 20 records, start from 20 and return 20 records

  • Configure visible columns

    The old implementation returned the same column list for the REST call and the GUI/frontend. But sometimes the REST call should return a different list of columns because some internal columns aren't relevant or should be hidden. The new implementation got a new property in the metadata object: visibleColumnNames. If you set this property, the REST interface will return only the configure columns. The GUI won't recognize the new property because GUI controls have own visible column properties.

  • Actions with Array parameters

    The old implementation didn't support simple Arrays like BigDecimal[] as parameter types for action calls. Only List was supported. The new implementation supports Arrays but it's not possible to mix Array and List parameters. An example:

    //valid
    public String createPerson(String[] name, String[] title)
    //valid
    public String createPerson(List<String> name, List<String> title)
    //invalid
    public String createPerson(String[] name, List<String> title)
  • New admin zone

    We introduced a new admin zone for generic admin options. The URLs are:

    http://.../services/rest/APPLICATION_NAME/_admin/ACTION_NAME
    http://.../services/rest/APPLICATION_NAME/_admin/ACTION_NAME/ACTION_PARAM

    Currently, we support following actions (POST requests): changePassword, testAuthentication

    The request needs a JSON object with username, oldpassword, newpassword or password properties.

  • Configurable zones

    We now allow custom zones. The current default zones are:

    http://.../services/rest/APPLICATION_NAME/_admin/...
    http://.../services/rest/APPLICATION_NAME/LIFECYCLE_CLASS/data/OBJECT_NAME/...
    http://.../services/rest/APPLICATION_NAME/LIFECYCLE_CLASS/action/ACTION_NAME/...
    http://.../services/rest/APPLICATION_NAME/LIFECYCLE_CLASS/object/OBJECT_NAME/...

    The zone names are: _admin, data, action, object
    It's possible to set custom names with following parameters in the deployment descriptor: zone.admin, zone.data, zone.action, zone.object

  • Hide object names

    If you want to hide the object name(s), e.g.

    https://.../demoerp/services/rest/DemoERP/Customers/data/customer/

    The URL contains the Lifecycle Name (Customers) and the object name (customer). Both are easy to understand. In this example, we return the customer list from our customers object. If you want to use different names, it's possible to change the name in the lifecycle object code, e.g.

    @Replacement(name="business")
    public class Customers extends Session
    {
        @Replacement(name="clist")
        public IStorage getCustomer()
        {
            ...
        }
    }

    With above code, it'll be possible to request:

    https://.../demoerp/services/rest/DemoERP/business/data/clist/

The updated implementation is still a generic solution but it's now more flexible than before and should help you to offer new services. To use the new features, simply use our nightly JVx builds.

Eclipse Photon with ANT and JRE6

The support for ANT and JRE6 with Eclipse Photon.

The plugin was created for:

Version: Photon Release (4.8.0)
Build id: 20180619-1200

Don't forget the -clean start (read the original article for more details)!

One more thing you should do:

Photon includes ANT > 1.10. This version requires Java 8. In order to use Java 6, you have to download ANT 1.9.x. Simply download ANT and set the ANT Home to your version, via

(Window >>) Preferences >> ANT >> Runtime >> Ant Home...

If you try to use the bundled ANT with JRE 6, it will fail with an Exception.

Download the plugin from here. It works for us - no warranty!

More Details: Eclipse Oxygen.2 with ANT and JRE6.

VisionX intro Videos

We have some great Videos for new VisionX users on our YouTube channel.

Here are the links:

Getting started
How to create your first application
How to use Eclipse & VisionX in real time

Check them out!

These Videos will help new users learning VisionX ;-)

Workflow Engine for Oracle Forms

I'm happy to announce that our Workflow Engine will work with Oracle Forms.

The current state is beta but we'll release our Workflow engine in the next days. We found some time to test the integration in Oracle Forms and the result is soo cool. It works like a charm.

So it will be possible to embed our Workflow engine in your oracle Forms. It'll be possible for your users to design custom flows and processes. The engine itself is database driven and will work with your Oracle Forms application.

More details will follow in the next days, but here's a first impression:

Workflow Engine - Oracle Forms

Workflow Engine - Oracle Forms

It's a standard Oracle Forms window/canvas with our Workflow Designer, embedded as Java Bean.

Feel free to ask your questions ;-)