My 2c (Oz) worth: .NET certainly makes programming very much easier (with the caveat that there's a lot to learn in order to do it 'properly', the way that the Framework wants it done). >From what I see in the MapXtreme object model, and its language elements, throwing away MapBasic *completely* will be the best thing most people can do. Whether it is VB.NET or C#, the user interface that .NET provides is infinitely more rewarding and capable than MB has (not) provided, and the more object way of doing things in the 'new' spatial language is much nicer than the MB command strings. Add to that a much more powerful SQL language (with its spatial extensions) - who would want to stay with MI and MB under Win32?
I agree that Visual Studio is the preferred GUI programming interface - but there is also the SharpDevelop programming interface (for free). It's different, but works well. And under beta trial at present (downloadable from Microsoft) are the Visual (C#,VB,SQL Server) "2005 Express" versions aimed to introduce more people to .NET coding, without the higher price tag of the (still to come) Visual Studio 2005 (Whidbey). Ian Thomas GeoSciSoft - Perth, Australia > -----Original Message----- > From: Bill Thoen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, 16 December 2004 10:58 AM > To: MapInfo-L > Subject: MI-L Dot NET and the Future of MapInfo Applications > > In an effort to see where MapInfo is going with this dot-NET thing, I have > been fooling around with Microsoft's Visual Studio C# IDE and MapInfo's > MapXtreme 2004 free trial package. So far, all I have to say is that this > development environment really rocks! > > I had a few misconceptions about MapXtreme too. Turns out that your MX > applications run just fine on the desktop just like any normal local > Windows executables (because that's exactly what they are.) I thought you > had to do everything via a web server, like it or not. You don't. However, > if you DO like building distributed Internet applications, you can run > your application over the web too. The core functions are designed to work > in either environment. > > It supports normal *.TAB files, with all the attributes you want (unlike > MapX which can't build a TAB file with more than one attribute.) Of > course, you also have access to the entire ADO.NET suite of class > functions too, so you might want to think about going beyond the old *.TAB > file. > > I wasn't sure of this, but it seems to be true. You don't actually need > Visual Studio to build applications. Just to see, I tried writing a little > scrapplication to create a mappable Tab file of city locations with > varying point styles in the ancient edlin line editor (a minimalist's > programming environment, for sure!) The .NET SDK Framework from Microsoft > is free, and that supplies the csc.exe compiler. I just compiled my app in > a DOS window, with references to the MapInfo MapXtreme dlls, and it > worked! But even though you CAN build .NET MapXtreme applications this > way, I now think that Microsoft's Visual Studio IDE is maybe worth the > outrageous thousand-clam price. Visual Studio's IDE is probably the most > convenient programming tool I've ever used. > > However, if all you know is MapBasic, the learning curve is pretty steep. > I have some Visual Basic and C background, but very little C++, so > learning C# is a bit of a stretch. However, after a couple of weeks, it > seems to be coming together. MapInfo's PDF documentation and Help files > (while full of stupid little errors that will plague the greenhorn) are > not too bad, and the MapXtreme 2004 online forum is very responsive. If > you're thinking of going the .NET route with MapInfo, I don't think the > transition is going to be all that horrible. It'll take effort, but it's > not quite as hard as I thought it would be. > > But I'm curious about what others think. What warts does this Brave New > World have? How will the licensing affect your businesses? For those who > have tried it so far, what do you think? > > - Bill Thoen > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Message number: 14572 --------------------------------------------------------------------- List hosting provided by Directions Magazine | www.directionsmag.com | To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message number: 14574
