I suppose the problem with having a 'Save as older version .." option for workspaces is that they are potentially a huge list of statements, each of which depends on the success of the previous one, and each of which COULD refer to a version-specific feature. If you chop out all the v6.5 specific staments you could be left with a workspace which runs but doesn't give the expected result.
If it were a program then you could trap the error and continue, but a workspace isn't compiled. Its more like saving Excel or Word macros (VBA) for use in earlier versions than saving a file, so probably my analogy wasn't very good. Does this work (anyone?) If the workspace 'reader' in MI Pro were more robust - ie ran to completion ignoring errors (but flagging them to you) then it would be OK. SUGGESTION - If anyone has an old copy of MapBasic they could compile a short MBX to read a workspace file, run the statements (if possible) and continue. It could be called "RunAnything.mbx" Then stick it on the Directions site and we can all include it in TOOLS. I'd do it myself but I haven't got an old copy (honest) and as my ex-colleagues at MI WIndsor will tell you I'm far too much of a dilletante to actually do any work :-) Paul Crisp Syntegra Direct: 0191 461 4522 Mobile: 0776 414 3762 Fax: (0191) 461 1959 Innovation Place Metro Riverside Park Delta Bank Road Gateshead Tyne & Wear NE11 9DJ -----Original Message----- From: Richard Dibley [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 31 January 2002 10:52 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: MI-L RE: MapInfo 6.5 , 6.0 , 5.5 compatibility Paul, I agree with your philosophy but surely it is not beyond MapInfo to design a system that allows you to save as an older version and automatically removes any features in your workspace that are unique to the newer version. For instance in Microsoft Excel 2000 you can save as Excel 97, or earlier. When you do this you are told that some of the features in your current worksheet may not be supported by the format you have chosen blah blah blah. That's fine. Why can't MapInfo do this? Richard -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 31 January 2002 10:11 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: MI-L RE: MapInfo 6.5 , 6.0 , 5.5 compatibility Richard - You're always going to be running a risk using 6.5 to provide workspaces for users on older versions of the software. Its like writing all your reports in Office 2000 when all your colleagues have Word 6. There are lots of features in the recent versions of the software which might creep into your workspaces without you realising. Purely for quality control you ought to try and ensure that you are using the same platform as your users but then I'm a techie rather than a user :-) You USED to be able to run more than one version of MI Pro on a PC - I'm running 6 and 6.5 on my NT development box so it seems to work OK (but I'm sure there will be people out there with conflict horror stories). Otherwise try and keep a machine handy for assembling your workspaces in the 'right' version. HTH - probably not! Paul Crisp Syntegra Direct: 0191 461 4522 Mobile: 0776 414 3762 Fax: (0191) 461 1959 Innovation Place Metro Riverside Park Delta Bank Road Gateshead Tyne & Wear NE11 9DJ -----Original Message----- From: Richard Dibley [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 31 January 2002 09:54 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: MI-L RE: MapInfo 6.5 , 6.0 , 5.5 compatibility I have no problem with backwards compatibility in MapInfo regarding opening old Workspaces. But why oh why can't I tell MapInfo 6.5 to save a workspace in an older workspace format? I know I can edit the workspace in a text editor but that is, frankly, a pain in the ass. This has to be high on my wish list. Richard -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 30 January 2002 21:55 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: MI-L RE: MapInfo 6.5 , 6.0 , 5.5 compatibility Valued MI-L Members, First, please let me answer the original question of compatibility: MapInfo Professional always had and will continue to have backwards compatibility as a high priority. To simply put this, an MBX or a WOR that was created with an older version of MIPro should open in newer versions of MIPro as is, no extra work needed. As of today, we don't know of any instances where backwards compatibility was not supported. If one finds such a case, we will regard it as a bug. As for older versions of MIPro opening new workspaces, a quick way to see the oldest version a workspace can be opened in is by opening the WOR file in a text editor like Notepad and looking at the second line called !Version. That will list the oldest version of MIPro the workspace can be read in. MapBasic: We have no plans to bundle MapBasic with MapInfo Professional. Customers that are interested in simple MapBasic scripting can do this by pasting MapBasic code in a workspace or in the MapBasic window. That is why we bundle the MapBasic Reference Guide PDF with the MapInfo CD. If one on the other hand wants to build UI enhancements and complex automated routines then they will need to purchase the product. Users that have been with us for some time now, know that we ensure that all the major features we add to the product are exposed via MapBasic this provides the flexibility users are requesting and the robustness we demand from our product. Thank you for your support, ___________________________________ Moshe Binyamin Product Manager MapInfo Corporation _______________________________________________________________________ List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put "unsubscribe MapInfo-L" in the message body. _______________________________________________________________________ List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put "unsubscribe MapInfo-L" in the message body. ******************************************************************** This email may contain information which is privileged or confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, please notify the sender immediately and delete it without reading, copying, storing, forwarding or disclosing its contents to any other person Thank you Check us out at http://www.syntegra.com ******************************************************************** _______________________________________________________________________ List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put "unsubscribe MapInfo-L" in the message body. ******************************************************************** This email may contain information which is privileged or confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, please notify the sender immediately and delete it without reading, copying, storing, forwarding or disclosing its contents to any other person Thank you Check us out at http://www.syntegra.com ******************************************************************** _______________________________________________________________________ List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put "unsubscribe MapInfo-L" in the message body.
