Real’s Announcement of User Control’s in 2012r2

Real Software has announced that users will be able to create their own WE controls in 2012r2. What does this mean for Web Custom Controls? Quite simply Web Custom Controls works and is shipping now, and will adapt as needed to support future Real Studio releases.

  • I will continue to support the wcc framework for a short time to maintain compatibility with 2011r3-2012r1. The wcc framework, and controls based on the wcc framework, should continue to run on 2012r2, side by side with Real’s new framework.
  • Over time I will port the controls I’ve created to Real’s new framework. For control users this should be a seamless transition. There should only be minor changes…if any…in the public properties and methods of the controls in this toolkit.
  • I need to see Real’s new framework to know what can be done here, but I may port the wcc framework to sit on top of Real’s new framework, thereby making it easier for control developers to port their own wcc based controls. Regardless, based on the information I have now I don’t think it will be difficult at all to port a wcc based control to Real’s framework.
  • In the long run Real’s framework will naturally replace wcc, and the new controls I develop will be based on Real’s framework. The exact timing of all of this will depend in part on how long my customers require support for older versions of Real Studio.

Customers have already told me that Web Custom Controls means they can move ahead with projects they otherwise couldn’t finish, or start projects in WE that otherwise would have been done in another language. I know from first hand experience that you simply cannot tell a client it’s impossible to use some cool widget in a WE project where a PHP or .NET programmer could have. 2012r2 will not ship until fall, 2012. With Web Custom Controls you can confidently use WE for projects today and be ready for the future.

I’m looking forward to the beta releases of 2012r1 and 2012r2, and to exploring how the new framework can be used to compliment and expand Web Custom Controls. I’m also very excited about some of Real’s other announcements, including the Cocoa fixes, and wish to extend my thanks to their development team for all the hard work they are doing.

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