Confusion re version compatibility b/w FWH and xHarbour.com

Colin Wisbey · Post by **Colin Wisbey** » Tue May 06, 2008 2:50 pm

I'm a bit confused. I want to update FWH from 7.01 to 8.05 when it is available but I also currently use xHarbour.com's Builder of Dec '06. I'm reluctant to take another 6 months subscription to the Builder just yet as it seems a new stable version is released only about once a year (IIRC the last version was going to be "very soon" for very many months) so I want to time my Builder renewal to get the next stable xHarbour version.

Will FWH 8.05 work with xHarbour.com's Dec 2006 commercial build? If not, some posts seem to suggest problems (?) with the Nov 2007 version (eg with Vista + Excel). What is my best upgrade approach for stability as I enjoy the simplicity of xHarbour.com's Builder but I also want to upgrade from FWH 7.01 to 8.05?

Hope my query makes sense.

TIA
Colin Wisbey

TimStone · Post by **TimStone** » Tue May 06, 2008 3:10 pm

Colin,

xHarbour.com last released a "stable" version in November, 2007. Ever since then they have been betas.

Patrick posted that a new version would be released "any day" over a week ago, but in a response to my question, he indicated it was still a beta with many changes and good only for testing and not production.

As you noted, stable releases are "few and far between" so it is best to avoid betas for production work because if your clients have a problem, you won't get a true fix for a long time. This happened to me over a year ago when I made this mistake, and I lost several clients and a lot of income as a result.

FWH 8.04 was unusable for me because it required the latest xHarbour.com beta, which was soon to be replaced, and has reported problems. I was able to use 8.03 with my xHarbour NOV stable build.

In my case, I'll have to wait for further FWH upgrades until there is a version compatible with a stable xHarbour release. Until then I'll use FWH 8.03 and xHarbour Nov 2007. I know both products will improve significantly over the coming months. so the wait will be worth it.

FWIW, most development products do not have new releases every month. There may be patches out, but most products ( ie. Visual Studio ) only offer major updates every couple of years. Antonio is adding new capabilities every month, and that is admirable. xHarbour has a lot of people working on a variety of tasks, and that often requires some time for them to all get on the same page. I don't see a negative here ... we just need to be patient for the two to once again come together in a release we can use for our clients. Until then, we could work with a separate install to test the newer features which actually means we can move to the stable releases, and distribute our products, more quickly when that time comes.

Tim

Post by **Antonio Linares** » Tue May 06, 2008 6:02 pm

Colin,

Meanwhile a new xHB.com version gets available, I suggest you to try and use the free xHarbour for Borland version.

You can use a free tool like "Verce" with FWH and xHarbour (Borland), which it is very popular, and that will offer you the same simplicity that you get with the "builder"

Patrick Mast · Post by **Patrick Mast** » Tue May 06, 2008 6:09 pm

Hello Colin, Tim,

Yes, latest FWH 8.04 and 8.05 needs a new xHarbour Builder.

I can only tell that we are working hard to get a new xHarbour Builder beta out as soon as possible. The bug that's stopping me now is about quitting windows apps which don't quit until you kill its process in the task-manager. So, as you see, I'm so depended on so many freelance open source programmers. A new release "look" so easy to do, but its' not. Believe me .

I just wanted you to know that we ALSO are very much awaiting a new xHarbour Builder release. And after this new BETA release, its up to you guys. The more people try the BETA and report bugs, the faster we get to a stable release.

Off course we are also testing the beta's! For sure!

Patrick

Post by **Antonio Linares** » Tue May 06, 2008 6:35 pm

Dear Patrick,

>
The bug that's stopping me now is about quitting windows apps which don't quit until you kill its process in the task-manager
>

Is that bug also present in the free xHarbour Borland version ?

We haven't noticed it and haven't got any report about it (with the Borland version I mean). Thanks!

Patrick Mast · Post by **Patrick Mast** » Tue May 06, 2008 6:43 pm

Antonio Linares wrote: >
The bug that's stopping me now is about quitting windows apps which don't quit until you kill its process in the task-manager
>

Is that bug also present in the free xHarbour Borland version ?
We haven't noticed it and haven't got any report about it (with the Borland version I mean). Thanks!

I'm not sure if it's also in the BCC edition of xHarbour. I did not had the change to test it in BCC yet. But this is something that developers are fixing in xH.org core yes. The bug does not manifest itself always, so its kinda hard to catch.

Patrick

Post by **Antonio Linares** » Tue May 06, 2008 7:08 pm

Patrick,

thanks for the info

Detlef Hoefner · Post by **Detlef Hoefner** » Tue May 06, 2008 10:12 pm

Hi all,

am i missing something?
I use xHarbour Builder from Nov. 2007.
In my xbp-settings i chose the Borland compiler instead of Pelles C.

I dont have any problem using FWH 8.04.

Just wondering about this discussion,
Detlef

TimStone · Post by **TimStone** » Tue May 06, 2008 10:59 pm

Well I may be way off base. I use the default xHarbour.com compiler ( Pelles ) because it is Microsoft C compatible. So, yes, it does have the problem with 8.04.

I know many people are happy with Borland but I simply made the decision several years ago to not use it. Ultimately I feel we get more support with Microsoft compatibility from a wide range of resources, and Borland, while useable, does not enjoy the same amount of development.

Also, I'm not being critical of the time it takes to get the build working right with xHarbour. People are busy and it takes time to get things right. For now I'm OK with my current versions, and when all is resolved I'll use the new versions and enjoy the advancements.

Roger Seiler · Post by **Roger Seiler** » Wed May 07, 2008 12:04 am

I noticed the problem of an app not exiting completely when using xBuilder of Nov '07 with FHW 8.04 so I revered back to 8.03 and then the app exited correctly.

For whatever that's worth.

- Roger

Detlef Hoefner · Post by **Detlef Hoefner** » Wed May 07, 2008 6:28 am

Roger,

are you using the xHBuilder/Pelles C compiler too?

Regards,
Detlef

dutch · Post by **dutch** » Thu May 08, 2008 4:47 am

Dear All,

I used xHb Builder Nov'07 with FWH 8.04 without any problem. I use xCC of xHarbour.com.

Regards,
Dutch

Post by **nageswaragunupudi** » Thu May 08, 2008 5:38 am

Is it possible to download and test Nov 2007 demo version? When I download demo from xharbour.com it is Feb 2008 beta. Can we not get Demo for Nov 2007 ?

Patrick Mast · Post by **Patrick Mast** » Thu May 08, 2008 8:04 am

nageswaragunupudi wrote:Is it possible to download and test Nov 2007 demo version? When I download demo from xharbour.com it is Feb 2008 beta. Can we not get Demo for Nov 2007 ?

No sorry, the Demo versions are always the latest BETA's.

if you want the PRE-Beta build of the DEMO version of xHarbour Builder, please email me and I will send it via email.

Patrick

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Confusion re version compatibility b/w FWH and xHarbour.com

Confusion re version compatibility b/w FWH and xHarbour.com

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