[xwt-users]Clarion xwt and xul

Hi!

I don't know about any demo version of Clarion. I search for it and i
found that it's now supported by an entity named SoftVelocity
(www.softvelocity.com). Apart many limitations, it's very good and it was
even recommended by IBM. I have a personal developer license and i think i
can not send you a copy by legal reasons. Is there any way to make it
possible (for me there are no problems...)?
What I really like in Clarion is it's base concept. It's a template driven
tool using a "Browse-Form" paradigm. For example, if you want to create an
application, you start by defining a dictionary (a db specification with
bindings to future controls on windows and reports); then you can generate
a generic application based on your dictionary (...not often very useful
...). After that, to manage a table in the database, ie, you can choose a
"new procedure with browse template". After selecting files, fields and
filters, it creates automagically a nearly complete procedure with a
auto-populated table and tabs to select sort orders, locators and filter
conditions based in dictionary info, and even an update form respecting
relational constraints (with popup windows assigned to fields, ie, to
select allowable values from a related table). You just have to refine it,
create code to particular actions, assign events to particular functions,
and thats not all but a lot!...
For example, I remember a past episode on an application to control all
procedures of a clinical lab. I made it based on a given specification,
and, when I deployed it - on a Friday - i saw that specification was wrong
and result was useless... So, i made new analysis and during a working
holiday everything was made from beginning: -Database specification and
creation, code for client control and evaluation tracking, special screens
to allow creation of  wizards used by lab to create customizable forms to
suite any kind of specific analysis with different parameters, error range
checking, ..., reports, statistics, connection to stock control and
billing system, and so on. On Monday, new application was deployed
avoiding contract cancel. This can just be done with really good tools.
With enhydra, I don't use the whole of the platform, because i reuse a
generic java RMI server component to all of database access and mid level
functionality. Servlets just invoke RMI methods.
My target is the development of a set of reusable components that allow
fast application development as with Clarion (well... nearly). BTW,
Clarion was the first platform i saw allowing direct deployment of
traditional applications as web applications, recompiling it to generate a
set of ASP scripts (aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!). This approach is so terrible
that led to the creation of an open source project (OpenClarion - found it
today) with nearly 100 programmers but (...) no released code yet.

I still bet in xwt. Am I correct (my only doubt is still about xul+soap)?

Best regards,
Antonio Marques