EsGRID grid control

[srod]

Hi,

I would like to announce that an Emergence Basic wrapper (in the form of an OO class) is available for the dll version of my EsGRID grid control.

Before going any further I would like to say, that whilst I am relatively new to EMBasic, I am very much here to stay as EMBasic is one excellent product, totally addictive. I point this out in case there is any misunderstanding here as egrid has been developed not in EMBasic (which wasn't around when I started development), but in Another Language which is my primary development tool. 
In fact I will use EMBasic and Another Language exclusively now as they are a perfect complement to each other (with some possible use of Aurora when I get around to studying it!  )

I say this because those who will know me from the PB forums know that I release loads of software for free; the only exception being EsGRID because of the shear effort and time that has gone into it's development and the fact that I am now self-employed. This is still the only piece of software which I do ask for some remittance for and I don't see myself ever straying beyond the EMBasic and PB communities with this in terms of creating wrappers and demo programs etc. Indeed, I will definitely be looking to give back to this community as soon as my knowledge of EMBasic advances sufficiently for me to be of some use around these parts! 


Anyhow, back to EsGRID then. 

Tough to know where to start really. I would describe it is a powerful grid control; it is being used by a very large number of PB developers and is now very stable having been in development (and used in commercial products) for about 18 months.

It is very very customisable and very simple to use, particularly with EMBasic because of the oop.

Rather than ramble on, I'll post a few links which will give you just about all the info there is. The links include a bunch of demos compiled with EMBasic and a complete package with the source for the demo programs etc. Screenshots... the works!

Rather than pussy-foot around; the price for the dll version is ÂÃ,£14.95 (GB) or 22.5 euros and for that you get free updates for life. And almost instant support if you need any assistance etc.

Link 1 - The Another Language Language forum topic for EsGRID 5 is here:  http:///www.Another Language.fr/english/viewtopic.php?t=26647
I post this (and the next link) so that you can get a feel for the way EsGRID has developed etc.

Link 2 - The Another Language Language forum topic for EsGRID 4 is here:  http:///www.Another Language.fr/english/viewtopic.php?t=23769
I include this one so you can see some of the history and get an idea for the speed of fixing bugs etc. (Not that any bugs remain of course!  )

Link 3 - The EsGRID website is here:  http://www.purecoder.net/esgrid.htm
Here you can read a very detailed description of EsGRID and it's capabilities. There's also screenshots etc.

Link 4 - 8 demo .exe's (compiled with EMBasic) can be downloaded here :  http://www.purecoder.net/egrid demos.zip
Each one has an accompanying xp manifest which I didn't add as a resource for convenience.

Final link - The entire Emergence Basic package (including the source for the demos) can be downloaded here : http://www.purecoder.net/egrid5DLL_V2.02_EMBasicPackage.zip
This is the same package which is available from the download section of the EsGRID website.  The libraries contained in this package are fully functional but will limit the number of rows of each egrid to 10 until a licence is obtained.  NOTE that whilst there are ansi and unicode versions of the dll and import libs provided and the include files have conditional compilation to handle unicode, the demo's will compile for ansi only and will require minor adjustments for unicode etc.
Note also that the help manual provided is for c-style entry into the dll. If I get some free time then I'll create a dedicated EMBasic manual, but the existing one should suffice in the meantime.


I think that should do it for now; any more and I'll probably start repeating myself in an endless loop!

I am always happy to answer questions so please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions etc. or if I've missed out anything obvious!

Regards.

Stephen.

[Ionic Wind Support Team]

Nice work Stephen!

[srod]

Thanks Paul.  I wouldn't like to estimate the number of hours spent on it!

[ts-soft]

I love eGrid, thank you 

[Brice Manuel]

Proud egrid user here.  My custom golf score keeper made with egrid is the envy of my buddies.

I would encourage users more skilled than me to help Stephen convert the EBASIC wrappers to Aurora 

[pistol350]

Great Job and thanks for sharing!
I too would like to see that ported to Aurora!

Regards!
Peter

[srod]

Great Job and thanks for sharing!
I too would like to see that ported to Aurora!

Regards!
Peter

Thanks.

I'm working my way through EMBasic at the moment, so Aurora is a little way off yet! 

[splakidas]

i take a look and buy it !!

[srod]

i take a look and buy it !!

Please bear in mind that the same limitation of the header control which I describe in my reply to your post in the 'Editable list view' thread also holds for an egrid.

Although it is far easier to remove the header and then 'simulate' header cells in an egrid than a regular list view control.

[splakidas]

i saw the demos exe but was not abble to compile the code. I get errors

Compiling...
demo1.eba
eGrid.eba
Unable to Open - C:\Pure basic\egrid5 -dll version EMB\projects\egrid\eGrid.eba
Error(s) in compiling "C:\Pure basic\egrid5 -dll version EMB\projects\egrid\eGrid.eba"

[srod]

It is because the project files have the folder names used on my system.  What you need to do is get EMBasic itself to alter all of the path names for you.

DO NOT double click one of the egrid demo project files. This will lead to the errors you've already described.

Instead, you need to load up the EMBasic editor and close any open projects.

Now use the open project menu option in the ide to open one of the egrid demo projects.  EMBasic will then prompt you to alter all path names etc.

One done you should be able to compile the project etc.

[srod]

Update - 1st Aug 2007.

Whilst I haven't as yet converted the help manual to cover the EMBasic wrapper for the egrid library, I have nevertheless altered the 'Installing' page of the chm help manual to explain how to install the library files and how to develop applications in EMBasic which use the library.

I may add a small installation program at a later date which automatically place the library files in the correct folders etc.

Incidentally, ts-soft has used sapero's excellent dll2lib application in order to successfully create a static lib from the ansi version of the egrid dll (haven't tested the unicode one). I point this out just to emphasise that it is possible to use a static lib version of egrid for those who prefer not to use dll's etc. 

Please see the first post for the download links.

Stephen.

[ts-soft]

[Incidentally, ts-soft has used sapero's excellent dll2lib application in order to successfully create a static lib from the ansi version of the egrid dll (haven't tested the unicode one). I point this out just to emphasise that it is possible to use a static lib version of egrid for those who prefer not to use dll's etc. 

Stephen.

Here are both, unicode and ansi static lib with egrid_static.inc and egrid_static.eba
Only small changes required to use it. Works with all demo's

Thomas

PS: Not official supported, use it  on own risk

[JoaoAfonso]

Good evening.

Larry pointed me to this thread and I wish to test EsGRID, but in the link in your site I cannot download it. Something wrong?

To solve a problem I might need it Seems very good!

Thanks

[srod]

Hi,

yes I removed all the download links simply because 'cracks' were appearing on various Warez sites etc. Kind of flattering in a way I guess! 

If you wish to try out the control then please send me your e-mail address and I'll send you a copy of the EMBasic package. Use the e-mail link on the EsGRID webpage.

Regards.

Stephen.

[srod]

@Brice

sorry to contact you this way, but you seem to be refusing all other attempts at communication for some reason?

Just to say that I will of course comply with your request.

Also, just so that you are at least aware, I sent you a private message ages ago because I attempted to send you an updated version of the EsGRID library. You are of course fully entitled to the complete source code to the library. In fact the pm is still sitting there, dated Feb 25th!

Regards.

Stephen.

[JoaoAfonso]

Thank you Sent an e-mail alredy.

[Duffer]

Srod:  I have no idea why you choose to make private matters public, but there are probably better forums to do it on.

[srod]

Because, whilst you're happy to send me a PM, you've needlessly blocked all of my replies etc. I have no means of replying to your mailings or concerns or whatever. Makes things a little one sided wouldn't you say?

Beside's, I never realised there was any kind of 'private matter' to contend with as such. All I've ever tried to do is ensure you received the latest updates to the library. All those who purchased the lib and who have requested the update (in the form of the full source code) have received the package at no extra cost - as per the licence agreement; free updates for life etc. As I have explained publicly, the package is only available on request because of the attention of various warez sites etc. I have no way of combatting their hacks and cracks and hence the downloads were removed.  The library is now in source code form because of the ongoing problems with Tailbite, which I am sure you are aware of. The alternative would be to deny a lot of people the most up to date version of the library whilst the Tailbite issues are addressed (which doesn't seem like any time soon!) It was just simpler all round to release the source code instead  and thus bypass the issues with static libraries altogether etc.

I mean you no offence Brice, but there does seem to be an unspoken accusation on your part that I have attempted to deny you the latest version of the library. Just check your PM over at the other place to verify the fact that I have been trying to contact you for quite some time now.  If I am wrong about this then I apologise, but with no other way of contacting you, I have effectively had to defend myself publicly, which is not something I would normally even contemplate. Give me a private means of addressing your concerns (e.g. an e-mail address or simply remove the restriction on receiving my pm's) and I'll happily resolve this in a more civilised manner.

My apologies to everyone else.


@JoaoAfonso - have you received the EBasic package as yet?  I've tried using several e-mail servers now so hopefully one of them has gotten through! 

Stephen.

[Duffer]

Because, whilst you're happy to send me a PM, you've needlessly blocked all of my replies etc.

Everybody but Paul is blocked.  I do so since I do not usually visit the forums unless there is an update and here recently popping in and checking to see when I can go buy a boxed version of EB in the store. 

I have no means of replying to your mailings or concerns or whatever.

I don't have any "concerns" other than asking for my name (I could care less about the quote) be removed as I don't want my name quoted in association with that other langauge (not your product).

but there does seem to be an unspoken accusation on your part that I have attempted to deny you the latest version

Not at all.  Take a deep breath and think for a moment.  Lets be honest, you know me well enough to know that if I harbored those feelings, it would NOT remain unspoken, right?  ROFL

Just check your PM over at the other place

I have no access to my forum account or even access to download the software or updates by tht company.  If you have sent me a PM, there is literally no way I can access it.  IIRC (my memory has been failing parity checks lately) I did notify you of my updated email addy a few months back, but as soon as I hit "post", I will PM you my private email addy which is my main one and has not changed in many years 

I'll happily resolve this in a more civilised manner.

You have ALWAYS been civilized and AFAIK you and I have never had a beef, we don't now and I hope we never do. 

[srod]

Not at all.  Take a deep breath and think for a moment.  Lets be honest, you know me well enough to know that if I harbored those feelings, it would NOT remain unspoken, right?  ROFL

Now that is the one thing which did seriously puzzle me!    I would indeed have expected a bit of a mauling had I pi**ed you off somehow! hehe.

Thanks for the pm, I have your e-mail address now. You did indeed furnish me with an e-mail address some time ago, but in switching computers, some things unfortunately got left behind.

I understand now and apologise for my misunderstanding. I must admit that I was puzzled because well, firstly I had tried and tried to get the latest update to you, and, well, no one has backed this library in quite the way that you have in the past etc. No, you have always been very supportive, something which I have always appreciated.

I shall remove your name post haste from the quote. Actually, how would you feel about me leaving your name and instead removing the reference to the 'other place' from the text?

Regards.

Stephen.

[JoaoAfonso]

No, still haven't received

Are you trying to send to joaodiasafonso@gmail.com?

[srod]

Yes,

I've sent 3 now.  If you don't receive my latest attempt then could you please pm me another e-mail address.

Stephen.

[Bruce Peaslee]

I have the downloaded version and like it a lot. I want to pay for it now to be rid of the nag screens    so how does that work? I don't see where to enter a code, so do I just get a full version?

Thanks for such a nice product.

[srod]

Hi Bruce,

I'm glad you like it. 

I have changed the download mechanism - it is now through a password protected part of the website : www.nxsoftware.com
As soon as a purchase is made (through the aforementioned site), I will e-mail you requesting that you choose a username and a password and I will create an account for you etc.  From there you can download all future updates (there has already been one update since I sent you the trial version!)

Note that because of this arrangement, I have now removed the need to register the dll in order to derestrict it. It comes fully de-restricted now. You also have access to the full sourcecode should you ever require it (Purebasic).

@ALL existing registered EsGRID users should contact me (through the above site) with their choice of username/password etc. in order that I can create an account for you which allows access to the latest updates etc.



Stephen.