Is there light at the end of the tunnel with CSPro 8.0?

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New release: CSPro 8.0
vgonzalez
Posts: 27
Joined: March 12th, 2020, 4:19 pm
Location: VENEZUELA

Is there light at the end of the tunnel with CSPro 8.0?

Post by vgonzalez »

I only consult it as one more developer of CAPI solutions in CSPro who needs to structure and organize the development commitments for this 2023, where it is imminently necessary to make the consultation to know when it is estimated to have the new version of CSPro 8.0.

Although I asked Santa for it in previous Christmases, but I only got coal, I hope to hear from you in the next news.

Regards.
Gregory Martin
Posts: 1777
Joined: December 5th, 2011, 11:27 pm
Location: Washington, DC

Re: Is there light at the end of the tunnel with CSPro 8.0?

Post by Gregory Martin »

There's a lot changing for CSPro 8.0, and we have a limited programming staff at the moment, so it's taking a bit longer to finish than planned.

We'll hopefully have a beta out in a couple months, and then we'll likely target the summer for a release.
dabwil
Posts: 21
Joined: January 7th, 2021, 11:33 am

Re: Is there light at the end of the tunnel with CSPro 8.0?

Post by dabwil »

Il serait intéressant de revoir la présentation des formulaire cspro sur windows pour tendre vers une présentation web. Incluant les développements HTML CSS et autres. Ça serait génial
htuser
Posts: 631
Joined: December 19th, 2011, 6:26 pm
Location: Silver Spring Area, MD, USA

Re: Is there light at the end of the tunnel with CSPro 8.0?

Post by htuser »

Thanks Greg for informing us about the CSPro 8.0 delay. I'm not the only CSProuser who want to have HTML/CSS centric forms instead of the legacy quarter century old fmf technology. so having one form technology for any device: HTML/CSS forms in a webview everywhere... and remove the one question by screen on Android.

In the meantime, in the next cut, if we can have a way to :
1) run JS libs in CSPro logic;
2) Inject JS to an already loaded Webview;
this will be very important for us.

Android and Windows already have specific methods for this.
a) Android: webView.loadUrl("javascript:"+script); webView.evaluateJavascript(script, resultCallback) , @JavascriptInterface;
and the new https://developer.android.com/develop/u ... s/jsengine
b) Windows: CoreWebView2.ExecuteScriptAsync, CoreWebView2.AddScriptToExecuteOnDocumentCreatedAsync(String)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/micro ... javascript
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotne ... .0.1462.37
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotne ... em-string)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotne ... .0.1518.46

In the long run, if you integrate Emscripten/Wasi technologies in the CSPro designer, it will be possible to output standalone "built once, deploy everywhere" CSPro apps in a wasi container using among others: https://wasmer.io/posts/wasm-as-univers ... xecutables
So the very small CSPro developer team will not have to deal with different workflows (windows, Android runtime engine)...
Best,
G.VOLNY, a CSProuser from Haiti, since 2004
dabwil
Posts: 21
Joined: January 7th, 2021, 11:33 am

Re: Is there light at the end of the tunnel with CSPro 8.0?

Post by dabwil »

Ça sera un grand pas pour cspro. Sinon ça fait vieux c'est formulaire. On ne peut appliquer aucun design web. C'est frustrant
vgonzalez
Posts: 27
Joined: March 12th, 2020, 4:19 pm
Location: VENEZUELA

Re: Is there light at the end of the tunnel with CSPro 8.0?

Post by vgonzalez »

Thanks for the answers. It is very pleasant to know this detail in order to plan and focus the solutions that we develop in CSPro.
VirtuesArios
Posts: 32
Joined: June 2nd, 2022, 5:55 am

Re: Is there light at the end of the tunnel with CSPro 8.0?

Post by VirtuesArios »

How about the learning curve from 7.xxx to 8.xxx is there much of a different?
Gregory Martin
Posts: 1777
Joined: December 5th, 2011, 11:27 pm
Location: Washington, DC

Re: Is there light at the end of the tunnel with CSPro 8.0?

Post by Gregory Martin »

CSPro 8.0 won't be too different from 7.0 from a dictionary / forms / logic perspective. The file formats will look very different though, but unless you are editing dictionaries or other files outside of CSPro, that won't be a big deal.

There will be some amount of JavaScript integration in CSPro 8.0, but that is going to be an optional feature that can be used to enhance your programs. There will be no need to use JavaScript in CSPro 8.0.
htuser
Posts: 631
Joined: December 19th, 2011, 6:26 pm
Location: Silver Spring Area, MD, USA

Re: Is there light at the end of the tunnel with CSPro 8.0?

Post by htuser »

Thanks Greg for informing us.
There's some ideas about the learning curve of CSPro compare to other CAPI system. I don't think CSPro don't have millions of users because it's more complicated in terms of programming or having high learning curve as some peoples thinks. Python, R and Javascript are far more difficult than CSPro logic. However they attract millions of developers in their ecosystems. CSPro have a medium learning curve and it's closed... So until the limited one way CSPro-JS API, it was almost impossible for a CSPro app developer to enhance it's application using more powerful programming languages than CSPro logic. I think this may be main reason that lot of people prefer using open source ODK, Survey Solutions etc.

Hopefully long time ago, you had the vision about opening CSPro to other programming languages: viewtopic.php?p=458

And, with actual technologies such as WASM, it's possible to have CSPro logic as a standalone programming language. Give us an open source JS/WASM libs of the engine so whatever institutions can use it in any in house app developement via JS, WASI SDK or frameworks will unlock the power of CSPro.
In the long run, it will not be difficult to integrate Cordova/Electron, React etc. technologies in a CSPro designer able to output standalone "built once, deploy everywhere" CSPro powered applications.

In the meantime, after dictionary symbol that are unknow until the runtime and allowing definition of dictionary symbol alias for items and records in logic , it will be very important to expose JS worker thread communication in CSPro logic. Since the first alpha of CSPro 7.7, I was trying how to have one single map engine, Leaflet, on both Windows and Android, this based on the map-logic you provided. But, I faced to a wall because the window.chrome.webview.postMessage and Android equivalent are not wrapped at CSPro logic level. While you're integrating JS in CSPro, please give us a direct communication way between workers and CSPro logic for running code in parallel using a form of threading. Beneficiaries could be automatic and silent sync, sync and writecase inside main dictionaries etc.
Thanks in advance,
Last edited by htuser on April 4th, 2023, 6:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
G.VOLNY, a CSProuser from Haiti, since 2004
Gregory Martin
Posts: 1777
Joined: December 5th, 2011, 11:27 pm
Location: Washington, DC

Re: Is there light at the end of the tunnel with CSPro 8.0?

Post by Gregory Martin »

@htuser: I added the ability to post messages to a web view in CSPro 8.0. The CSPro JavaScript interface is changing to a much more robust system that allows the same set of functions to be run in CSPro logic as well as in the web view JavaScript environment. So in 8.0, you'll be able to do something like:

Code: Select all

const CS = new CSProActionInvoker();

CS.getWindowForEventListener().addEventListener("message", (event) => {
    // do something with event.data
});
And then in CSPro, or in JavaScript, you can do:

Code: Select all

CS.UI.postWebMessage({
    message: `here's a message posted at ${new Date().toISOString()}`
});
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