REALbasic adds ability to build Linux applications
February 25, 2004 - 06:24 PST   REALbasic 5.5 is shipping from REAL Software, and the new version of development environment adds the ability to build Linux applications from Mac and Windows systems, as well as other features of particular interest to Mac OS X users. "Even if Mac users have never had any experience with programming before, they can learn REALbasic and create useful applications to improve their productivity," Geoff Perlman, president and CEO of REAL Software, told MacMinute. "Those applications can integrate with their existing software because we support AppleEvents and AppleScript. And with version 5.5, we also have direct, native support for things like the Address Book and Microsoft Office."

REALbasic 5.5 will initially support the Red Hat Enterprise and SuSE Linux distributions. However, other Linux distributions that have the GTK+ 2.0 and CUPS libraries installed should also work. This is another expansion for REALbasic, which was once a Mac-only product.

"In 1999 when we added support for Windows, Mac users were concerned that we would someday abandon the Mac or that it would take a back seat to Windows," Perlman says. "They now see that that has not happened and most are glad to be able to provide their applications to a larger audience."

The new version of REALbasic also lets you debug Mac, Windows or Linux applications from the Mac or Windows IDE thanks to new remote debugging capability.

"It used to be that you'd build the app, then move it over to the other computer, run it and see how it behaves," Perlman says. "If there was a bug, you'd have to go back to your code and inspect it to determine what went wrong. With remote debugging, you can develop on your Mac and tell REALbasic to build and run a debug version of your app on another computer that could be running a different operating system (like Windows or Linux). The debugger then runs on your Mac so you can see what code is running, check the values of variables, etc. This is a huge productivity gain for REALbasic users who are developing cross-platform."

With REALbasic 5.5, you can create native Mach-O applications for Mac OS X and build console applications (applications without a user interface such as server applications or daemons) for Mac, Windows or Linux. The update also allows you to interact with Mac OS X's Address Book for adding contact management features to REALbasic applications. Perlman says this was one of the top 10 most requested features.

"Now REALbasic users can access the Address Book from within their applications the same way that iChat and Mail do," he says.

REALbasic 5.5 also adds the ability to build single-user database applications with a new embedded database and the ability to build Web-aware applications by communicating with and parsing data from Web sites with new SOAP/XML support. The update also improves the ability to: compile applications faster and create smaller built Mac applications as a result of compiler code optimization; connect to Oracle 8i and 9i databases from Mac OS X and Windows; incorporate the user accessibility features included in Mac OS X in applications built with the app; view pictures and memory blocks and edit arrays with an enhanced debugger; copy underlying code while copying a control; and automate Microsoft Office with REALbasic.

" We support both the Mac and Windows versions of Office," Perlman says. "Basically, anything you can do manually can be automated via code. In the Windows world, there is an entire category of applications made with Visual Basic that are designed to drive Office. For example, say you're a lawyer with a database of sections of contracts and you want an application that lets you choose the appropriate sections then tell Word to construct the contract. That's an easy thing to build with REALbasic and MS Office."

REALbasic 5.5 costs US$99.95 when purchased directly from REAL Software. The Professional Edition, required for cross-platform software deployment (including the capability to build Linux applications), starts at $399.95; it includes database server connectivity and team development capabilities. Upgrades for REALbasic 5.5 start at $29.95. A demo version is also available.

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