Smalltalk Digest: July Edition

Welcome to the July 2018 edition of the Cincom Smalltalk™ Digest. In this edition, we look at the value of the Resolutions Newsletter, the next step in using Cincom Smalltalk with MongoDB and a hidden gem about using IEX API. 

What is the Cincom Smalltalk Resolutions Newsletter and Why is it a Valuable Tool for Customers?

Last month, we highlighted the value of Cincom SupportWeb® for Cincom Smalltalk customers.  We discussed having the ability to use SupportWeb to solve issues that may come up using our products, receiving monthly technical status reports, announcements about new services and offerings, getting the status of open and closed cases, as well as test cases that allow Cincom Support to re-create your problems in our environment and help test future releases.

This month, we want to highlight the value of the Cincom Smalltalk Resolutions Newsletter. The Resolutions Newsletter is another benefit of being a customer and was created to be a useful tool in making it easier to do business with Cincom.

In this monthly newsletter, you’ll find things like:

• Hidden Gems
• Featured Cincom Smalltalk programs
• Upcoming activities and Smalltalk events

However, the most important reason we publish the Cincom Smalltalk Resolutions Newsletter is to let customers know what’s going on with the product since the last release so they can see what resolutions might be available to them. 

Hear more from Kimberly Thomas, the Director, Global Product Support, here:

Getting Started with Cincom Smalltalk Objects and MongoDB

In the last Cincom Smalltalk Digest, we posted a story about using Cincom Smalltalk and MongoDB.  Due to an overwhelming response and interest in this story, we decided to publish a second post to show you how to get started.

Assuming that you’re already comfortable using Smalltalk, Cincom® VisualWorks® and the Store code repository system, just load MongoObjectRepository (1.1) from the public repository and select any test from the class MongoObjectGraphsTest. The tests are different examples of storing and retrieving objects and use the Mongo(class)>>default values for connecting with your MongoDB server (host: ‘localhost’ port: 27017). Change this method’s values as necessary.

For anyone who isn’t an expert Smalltalker or is unfamiliar with VisualWorks, here are more details for getting started:

• Start VisualWorks and load the parcel (under Suggestions/Popular) ‘StoreForPostgreSQL’.
• Next, load the parcel RBSUnitExtensions (under Suggestions/Popular). This allows you to run the tests, which serve as examples.
• Using Store/Connect to Repository from the main menu, connect to the Cincom Public Repository using the standard ‘guest’ login as follows:

Interface: PostgresSocketConnection

              Environment: store.cincomsmalltalk.com:5432_store_public

              User Name: guest

              Password: guest

              Table Owner: BERN

• After connecting, in the Published Items window that appears, select ‘MongoObjectRepository’ and right-click ‘load’ on version 1.1. This will also load MongoTalk, the essential interface code contributed by experts, which the examples depend upon.
• Open a browser and locate MongoObjectRepository in the left (Package) pane.
• Locate the class MongoObjectGraphsTest in the next pane and highlight that class so that its methods appear in the two rightmost panes (protocol and method).
• In the bottom of your browser, click the ‘Run’ button to run all of the tests.
• Insert a breakpoint (right click in the bottom, source code pane) anywhere near the start of a test that interests you and run the test again to single step through the code.

Ready to Try Cincom Smalltalk for Yourself?

If this story has inspired you to use Cincom Smalltalk and MongoDB together, here’s your chance to try it out for yourself.  Download your personal use copy for free here. To learn more about using Cincom Smalltalk and MongoDB, click here.

Using Cincom Smalltalk for Retrieving Data from New IEX API Enhancements

Contribution from Arden Thomas, Cincom Smalltalk Product Manager

In some recent hidden gems, we brought together a number of earlier topics, such as using the DomainMaster for building and connecting applications together, custom views for displaying custom drawings, parsing JSON and creating objects, using HTTPS and making web API calls to retrieve data.

One web API that we used in these examples was the “investor’s exchange” or IEX API.  Recently they have expanded and added many new API calls. This Hidden Gems screencast shows some of these new capabilities and how to use it with Cincom Smalltalk. Investors Exchange (IEX) is an independent exchange started by Brad Katsuyama and was created to offer a transparent and fair exchange in the stock market.

The need for this was a topic of Michael Lewis’ financial drama, Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt. In this book, Lewis wrote about the rigging of the stock market by high-frequency traders, which allowed these traders to “front run” orders ahead of others. “Flash Boys” also focuses on the creation of the IEX, which was aimed at eliminating the advantage of those high-frequency traders. This story has gained so much popularity, that Netflix recently acquired the movie rights to this book. 

Please watch the video below:

Please send feedback, comments and suggestions to Arden Thomas, athomas@cincom.com.

Cincom Smalltalk Stories

Each Thursday, we highlight a different Cincom Smalltalk story on Facebook and Twitter using the trending hashtag #ThursdayThoughts.

Recently, we highlighted:

• Cincom Smalltalk Makes Adventure World German Language a Reality
• With Cincom Smalltalk, EBC Informatique Enhanced and Improved TotalHorizon
• Cincom Smalltalk Helps Texas Instruments Meet Defense Department Semiconductor Cost and Time-to-Market Requirements
• Cincom Smalltalk Helps JP Morgan Consistently Beat Their Competition

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for these and other updates throughout the month.

How Can You Benefit from the Cincom Smalltalk REV Program?

One exciting program we have is the Cincom Smalltalk REV Program.  The REV program is an opportunity for YOU to take your hobby to the next level … create your own business.

We created this program for you to become a customer. What does it mean to be a customer?  As a Cincom Smalltalk customer, you receive:

• The full product
• Full support for the product
• An opportunity to join the Developer Program to get early beta releases of our product to see where we are taking it and comment to help us build out the future of commercial Smalltalk
• An opportunity to join the Partner Promotion Program to promote your application, help you develop the right markets or find the right space to promote what you have been working on.

Are You Ready to Take Your Business to the Next Level?

This quick, easy way to partner with us and grow your business is only $500 and is a great investment that could pay big dividends as you grow your business. Plus, this program gives you all the benefits of being a customer with us.

Don’t let another day go by. Let’s grow your business together and take your passion to the next level. Join the REV program today.

• GET the Limited Value Added License – $500