Gentlemen,

The moral of the story is that .NET is coming - whether we like it or not.
MapInfo has far too much invested to turn back now.  My guess is that you
will soon start to see the Beta versions of the .NET flavored product line.
I attended last year's MapWorld and I was struck by the decision to
litterally scrap the current MI product, replace it's guts and start anew.
During their presentations, it was obvious that the folks at MapInfo were
really trying to deliver a product that was going to be extensible,
flexible, and easier to manage (yes, I know those are salesman verbs).

My curiosity revolves around the MapBasic "Intepreter" that is being built
into the new .NET framework.  MapInfo has said that they intend to backward
support the MapBasic language.  This essentially means that code written for
MapInfo 5.5 should be able to function seamlessly in MI Pro V8.  I have my
doubts.  Think about some of the stuff we MapBasic coders do on a regular
basis!  I wonder how some of the DDE stuff is ever going to function in a
.NET environment.  Only time will tell.  For the most part, I couldn't be
happier about using a high level, object oriented programming language like
C# to customize MapInfo Pro.

In any event, I'm curious as to what those people participating in the .NET
Alpha program might have to say - this is a rhetorical question, as their
agreement with MapInfo may preclude them from discolsing anything - even
their participation in the program.

- Ian

----- Original Message -----
From: "Warren Vick, Europa Technologies Ltd." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "'Lars V. Nielsen, GisPro'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 4:39 AM
Subject: RE: MI-L The future of MapBasic


Hello all,

Unless my memory has failed me since the last MapWorld, Ellis is the name of
MapInfo's current modular code base. MapInfo were lamenting about how simple
it should be to restructure the code base into .NET, but clearly it was not
as simple as first thought. There are many in the industry who think MapInfo
have missed the boat. Personally, I'm interested in seeing what new features
they put into Pro v8.0. It's important to note that .NET will inherently
give very little to Pro - it's the restructuring which will allow improved
features to be implemented more easily. So, it's a two phase operation...
convert to a .NET-based implementation and then put new things in. So far,
all we hear is ".NET this" and ".NET that", but very little in terms of what
actual features we can look forward to. With the delay in v8.0, users will
no doubt start really looking forward to this release as something special.
I really hope it doesn't disappoint!

Regards,
Warren Vick
Europa Technologies Ltd.
http://www.europa-tech.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Lars V. Nielsen, GisPro [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 03 December 2003 11:06
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: MI-L The future of MapBasic


Hi Mats,

> ... I wonder where Ellis went?�
It's right there in front of you - at the foot of that rainbow ;-)

ASAIK, Ellis _is_ the .NET version, and last I heard it was (sofar now)
scheduled for sometime in the Spring of 2004.

As for MapBasic, I fear .NET will doom MapBasic. Again AFAIK, it'll stay but
not be developed any further.

I support your call for a official statement on the matter, but I'm not
holding my breath.

Best regards/Med venlig hilsen
Lars V. Nielsen
GisPro, Denmark
http://www.gispro.dk/
http://www.gispro.biz/

----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 11:36 AM
Subject: MI-L The future of MapBasic


Hi All!

I read this at the FAQ section for the MIUG in UK and Ireland:
Q: What is the future of MapBasic? Given the recent adoption of VBA by ESRI,
are there any plans by MapInfo to follow a similar route?


A:For the next major release of MapInfo Professional we will be moving to a
different code base referred internally at MapInfo as Ellis. The Ellis code
base is being used in MapX since 4.X and is used in MapX Mobile and
MapXtreme. Our estimate for release is approximately June 2003. This will
allow MapInfo to be customised and developed with VBA.


Now it's december 2003 and I wonder where Ellis went?


Or has it been superseded with the current .net effort? It would be nice to
hear some official comments on this?


H�lsning/ Best regards Mats.E
________________________
FB Engineering AB
S�dra F�rstadsgatan 26
211 43 Malm�

Tel: 040-665 64 80
Mobil: 0705-27 60 27
Fax: 040-665 69 90
e-post: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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