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In order to celebrate the release of PrimalForms 2011, I’m releasing a game I created called: Tic Tac Plebius Just as the name suggests, the game is based on Tic Tac Toe, but with a SAPIEN twist. For those of you who are not familiar with Plebius, he is our beloved Super Scripting Monkey mascot. (Fig 1: Tic Tac Plebius PowerShell Game) Because I created the game using PrimalForms 2011, it means the underlining code is completely written in PowerShell. Tic Tac Plebius provides a good example on how to create a multi-form project and demonstrates advanced Windows Forms techniques.…   More »

A new version of PrimalForms 2011, PrimalSQL 2011 and PrimalXML 2011 is available. Registered users can download the latest service builds from MySAPIEN. Release Notes: PrimalForms 2011 v2.0.2 - Updated Projects so parameters can be pass to the Main Function's Commandline variable - Updated the path of Run / Debug Scripts to run in the same location as the source file. - Removed the Export restriction on trial version - Updated Console look & fixed a background rendering issue - When dragging a ToolTip on a control, the tooltip.SetToolTip() code sample will be added to FormLoad event - Fixed an…   More »

Now that the majority of the 2011 versions of our software has been released, you may have questionsabout upgrading. We have compiled a list of the most common questions and listed them below. If this does not answer your questions, please feel free to email sales@sapien.com. However, weask you to be patient; after a release the volume of emails and phone calls is always very large, so wemay take a little while to get back to you. Q: I have a copy of PrimalScript Studio (or Universal) 2009. I don't see an upgrade in my account.A: Since PrimalScript Studio 2011…   More »

You saw PrimalScripts 2011’s new PowerShell debugger and now its time to show you the same debugger in PrimalForms 2011. Multi-Platform Support Since PrimalForms 2011 shares the same debugger as PrimalScript, it  also supports 32 bit & 64 bit script execution with the option to elevate. Variables Pane View all the session variables and their property values. (Fig 1: Variables Pane) Watch Pane The Watch Pane allows you to specify variable expressions that you wish to monitor without having to search for the variable. (Fig 2: Watch Pane) Call Stack Pane View the current call stack when debugging your scripts…   More »

PrimalForms 2011 will ship with a number of predefined templates that will make things easier for you when creating a GUI for PowerShell. (Fig 1: When you create a new form, a list of templates will appear.)   We know some of you will want to create your own reusable templates, so we implemented  any easy way for you to convert your forms: (Fig 2: Create Form Template Menu Option) I want to the option to search the my exported database queries, but the default query form doesn’t support the functionality. So I start by creating a Form with the…   More »

Similar to PrimalForms 2011, PrimalSQL 2011 will allow you to export PowerShell GUI scripts that run your queries. Simply design your query in PrimalSQL’s Query builder and press the “Export Query Form” button. (Fig 1: Export the Query into a PowerShell GUI) PrimalSQL 2011 will then generate a PowerShell script (ps1) or a PrimalForms Form (pff)  depending on the option you select. (Fig 2: Select PS1 Script or PrimalForms File) And finally you can edit and run the script in your favorite PowerShell editor: (Fig 2: Running the PowerShell Query GUI in PrimalForms 2011)…   More »

"Can I ask you a quick question?" This usually precede a long interruption in whatever work you are doing at the time. It doesn't matter if someone sticks their head into your cubicle while uttering these infamous words or if they pop up on an instant messenger window, inevitably you are expected to drop whatever you are doing at the time and attend to someone else's problem. As we have seen in the first part of this blog article, you can configure PrimalScript 2011 to run your scripts in 32 or 64 bit mode. Add that to the already existing…   More »

The question about a 64 bit version of PrimalScript has been raised a few times in our support forum. The question was, however, not really about what platform PrimalScript uses, but what platform the scripts run on. As software transitions from 32 to 64 bit you need a development environment that works on BOTH sides, not exclusively on either side. Many administrators are tasked with supporting legacy 32 bit software and bleeding edge 64 bit server components, some even on the same machine. PrimalScript 2011 will do just that, work on both sides, indifferent to its own "bitness". A little…   More »

Not to be out done by PrimalScript 2011’s change tracking, PrimalForms 2011 will now incorporate line modification tracking as well. For more details on change tracking please read the Feature Peek 2011: Track Changes blog article. Similar to PrimalScript 2011, users will be able to navigate between blocks of changed lines by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Down or Ctrl+Shift+Up keys. Users will also have the option to disable the change tracking feature. Now if you ask me, PrimalForms 2011’s change tracking looks much nicer, but don’t tell Alex I said that.…   More »

Users of Microsoft's Visual Studio have known this feature for a few versions: Anytime you edit a line in your code an indicator in the left border of the window marks the line as changed. Once you save the file, the indicator turns green, signaling that the changes to this line have been saved. Obviously the above screenshots are not from Microsoft's Visual Studio, but from PrimalScript 2011. But to take things a step further than just copying Visual Studio's feature like so many "canned" edit controls, we have added a little twist we think you will like. These change…   More »