Embarcadero C++Builder XE8 Changelog

What's new in Embarcadero C++Builder XE8 XE8 Update 1

Jun 25, 2015

General Update 1 Features and Fixes:
Community toolbar
iOS 8 simulator fix
Several files missing from the initial XE8 delivery
Subscription Update 1 Features:
Community toolbar
Favorites in welcome page
Fast search of Bluetooth LE devices
iOS 8 simulator support
Improved robustness of IDE productivity features
Improvements in multi-device previews
Fixes:
bcc32.exe returns fatal error when compiling DataExtractor.cpp file
[MacOSX10.9.5.sdk] [C++] Can not build app
[Box2D|iOS64] Box2D Delphi converts 'uint32' to 'LongWord'
[C++] It is not possible to compile an iOS C++ project with an iOS 8.3 SDK from XCode 6.3.2
[C++][XE7][iOS 8.3] Build fails with bcciosarm fatal error Corefoundation.h: float.h file not found
[C++|OSX|eval] Delphi RTL kills app in case of bad fCall address causing debugger hang

New in Embarcadero C++Builder XE8 XE8 (Apr 7, 2015)

C++Builder XE8 Introduces Serious Productivity Enhancements with Over 20 New Features:
New coding enhancements include live syntax checking, metrics, structural code highlighting, parenthesis matching, and flow
control highlighting. It all adds up to a more productive developer and to help better understand team productivity and code
quality.:
New! Project Statistics provides developers with a clear picture of team productivity with activity tracking.
New! Clipboard History keeps a record of clipboard contents so developers can paste content previously copied.
New! Multi-Paste Support performs the same paste operation on multiple source code lines at once.
New! Stack Bookmarks improves code navigation.
New! Parenthesis Matching provides a visual queue to keep code clear.
New! Flow Control Highlighting provides visual representation of flow jumps in code directly in the editor.
New! Structural Highlighting
INTEGRATED COMPILERS AND TOOLCHAINS:
New in XE8! Support for iOS Universal Apps (including both 32 bit and 64 bit binaries in an app bundle)
FMX APPLICATION PLATFORM (FIREMONKEY):
New in XE8! FireUI Mobile Previews
New in XE8! Multi-Device Preview
New in XE8! Extended Multi Device Designer views styling, including universal styling and Windows styles customization
New in XE8! FireUI Device Manager, to edit the specifications of the available devices and add more
New in XE8! Memo platform controls for iOS
New in XE8! ListView platform controls for iOS
New in XE8! Calendar platform controls for iOS
New in XE8! Switch platform controls for iOS
New in XE8! MapView component for mobile platforms (iOS and Android) supporting platform specific interactive mapping
libraries (respectively, by Apple and Google)
New in XE8! WebBrowser component for Windows
New in XE8! WebBrowser component for OS X
New in XE8! Improved mixing of platform and styled components, with new platform styling options for iOS and controls Z-order
improvements (with ControlType property for non-platform controls)
New in XE8! ImageList component for FireMonkey
New in XE8! Enhancements in FireMonkey multimedia support
New in XE8! Support for higher resolutions in Camera components
New in XE8! Android Lollipop specific style enabled by default (Android only)
New in XE8! FireMonkey Applications Analytics Support*
* Requires a specific contract and by-volume fee for storing run-time analytics data and accessing it
New in XE8! App Tethering extensions and protocol enhancements
New in XE8! Bluetooth framework improvements and new TBluetooth component for classic Bluetooth
New in XE8! Proximity support based on the "beacons" technology (including the iBeacon and AltBeacon standards) for iOS,
Android, and OS X
VISUAL COMPONENT LIBRARY (VCL):
New in XE8! VCL Font Scaling improvements
New in XE8! VCL Applications Analytics Support*
* Requires a specific contract and by-volume fee for storing run-time analytics data and accessing it
New in XE8! VCL App Tethering extensions and protocol enhancements
New in XE8! Bluetooth framework improvements and new TBluetooth component for classic Bluetooth
LANGUAGE AND RUNTIME LIBRARY FEATURES:
New in XE8! iOS 64-bit API headers and RTL integration for Delphi and C++
New in XE8! Box2D physics engine
New in XE8! Object Pascal interfaces for the Box2D physics engine
New in XE8! New System.Hash RTL unit, with hash functions to support the new HTTP framework
New in XE8! New HTTP client framework, mapped to platforms libraries on all supported platforms
New in XE8! New NetHTTPClient and NetHTTPRequest components, offering easy access to the HTTP client framework
New in XE8! Support for native HTTP(S) client libraries on Windows
New in XE8! Support for native HTTP(S) client libraries on OS X
New in XE8! Support for native HTTP(S) client libraries on mobile platforms (iOS and Android)
PERSONAL DEVELOPER PRODUCTIVITY:
New in XE8! GetIt Package Manager for easy discovery, download and update of source code libraries, components, and other
features from Embarcadero GetIt servers
New in XE8! Configuration settings migration tool, to migrate configurations of older versions of the product to a newer
version, or between different installations of the same version
New in XE8! Start Here page improvements
New in XE8! extra code refactoring, live syntax checking, metrics, and more integrated right into the IDE
New in XE8! Project Manager enhancements, with the support for adding database files and simplifying their deployment
New in XE8! Improved installation experience and reduced installation footprint
New in XE8! Virtual form positioner for FireMonkey designer
New in XE8! Project Statistics provides developers with a clear picture of team productivity with activity tracking.
New in XE8! Clipboard History keeps a record of clipboard contents so developers can paste content previously copied.
New in XE8! Multi-Paste Support performs the same paste operation on multiple source code lines at once.
New in XE8! Modeless and Context-Sensitive Refactoring support which includes: renaming variables, classes, field and
properties, inlining, introducing and splitting local variables, removing unused variables, eliminating with statements,
extracting methods, adding parameters, and moving classes to a different unit (Object Pascal language only).
New in XE8! Stack Bookmarks improves code navigation.
New in XE8! Parenthesis Matching provides a visual queue to keep code clear.
New in XE8! Flow Control Highlighting provides visual representation of flow jumps in code directly in the editor.
New in XE8! Structural Highlighting
New in XE8! Code Navigation Toolbar places classes and methods into a drop down box for easy in-code navigation (Object Pascal
language only).
New in XE8! Smart Keys and Smart Symbol Search (Object Pascal language only)
New in XE8! Code Analysis tracks code quality with several code statistics like length parameters, nested statements, and
cyclomatic complexity (Object Pascal language only).
SOURCE CODE MANAGEMENT:
Enhanced in XE8! Version Insight – Integrated framework for supporting source code management tooling inside the IDE
Enhanced in XE8! Subversion integration into the IDE, including change list labels, SVN merge dialog, branches switching and
more
Enhanced in XE8! Git version control integration into the IDE, now including authentication, Push and Pull changes to and from
remote repositories
Introduced in XE8! Mercurial version control integration into the IDE (supports cloning your remote repository, commit changes
locally, show log data)
INTEGRATED UNIT TESTING:
New in XE8! Integrated unit testing with the DUnitX testing framework
Updated in XE8! Unit test wizards for quick and easy unit test and unit test project creation
DATABASE:
New in XE8! Core DB.PAS TField optimizations
FIREDAC MULTI-DEVICE DATA ACCESS LIBRARY:
New in XE8! FireDAC Teradata database support, based on the Teradata database ODBC driver
New in XE8! FireDAC support for XE7 Change Views
New in XE8! FireDAC support for change notifications
New in XE8! Improved FireDAC updates management
New in XE8! Tools and scripts to help migration of dbExpress code to FireDAC
Updated in XE8! iOS and Android mobile database support, including SQLite, InterBase ToGo and IBLite
Updated in XE8! Comprehensive support for SQLite v3.+ database, including "smart" data type recognition, supporting both
dynamic and static linking
ENTERPRISE MOBILITY SERVICES:
New in XE8! FireDAC / EMS integration improvements, specifically focused on updates management
New in XE8! EMS Push Notifications server support for iOS and Android
New in XE8! EMS external credentials support
New in XE8! Extended EMS Administrative API, now with EMS Installation and EMS Push Resources
New in XE8! Database Connection Pooling and other EMS optimizations
New in XE8! New EMSClientAPI component to simplify EMS client side development
Enhanced in XE8! User, groups, sessions, and API calls analytics and reporting using a web based interface using the EMS
Console
New in XE8! Ability to export data from EMS Console to .CSV files
New in XE8! Improved analytics for users and groups
New in XE8! EMS client application to manage user accounts
DATASNAP CONNECTORS:
Enhanced in XE8! DataSnap mobile connectors for ObjectiveC, supporting iOS 7 and iOS 8 SDKs
INCLUDED DATABASES:
Enhanced in XE8! InterBase XE7 Developer Edition – up to 20 users and 80 logical connections
LICENSING AND TOOL MANAGEABILITY:
Enhanced in XE8! Earlier version licenses included in network licenses (Delphi 2007- XE7, C++ Builder 2007-XE5, HTML5 Builder
XE3, RadPHP XE2). Delphi 7 and C++Builder 6 available separately

New in Embarcadero C++Builder XE8 XE7 (Apr 7, 2015)

Multi-Device Designer:
C++Builder delivers the only true single source solution for natively compiled applications on Windows, OS X, iOS, and Android.
A revolutionary new way to build a single user interface based on visual form designer that scales and adjust to different types of devices, form factors, and operating systems
Develop your UI once and then view and adjust or customize it for each device type (mobile, tablet and desktop; iOS, Android, Windows and OS X)
Make changes on the main user interface that are propagated to other device specific user interfaces; fine tune a device specific form factor without affecting the other views
Customize layouts and styles for each device as desired or easily utilize the inherited style
Predefined views including size and layout standards are included for many popular mobile device, tablet and desktop form factors. You can also add your own.
Only one "form class" is required across all of the form factors allowing the developer to create a single source file managing all of the common user interface events in one shared source file.
FireMonkey Behavior service:
A new service API that allows the framework and developer to query information about the device the app is running on to dynamically adjust itself for the form factor and platform
UI element locations are automatically adjusted for each type of target device (for example, the position of tabs on different mobile platforms)
MultiView component:
The MultiView component is brand new unique FireMonkey component that utilizes the behavior services to dynamically displays itself depending on the form factor and desired platform behavior.
The multi-view lays outs menus appropriately for a phone as a drawer and for a tablet as popup or docked menu
Enterprise Mobility Services:
Enterprise Mobility Services is a turnkey REST based MEAP (Mobile Enterprise Application Platform) middleware stack that includes API hosting, data access, and SQL Database access and deployment, serving mobile, desktop and web application clients
Data management across tiers through middleware that is stateless, restful, and scalable
Create custom APIs for your business functionality
High-performance enterprise database access for Oracle, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server Informix, SQL Server, and many more from a mobile application through the middleware
Custom Mobile API management with REST/JSON through loadable modules
Data access components for multi-tier data access through standard REST/JSON
User, session, and API calls analytics and reporting using a web based interface
Secure Data Storage Service on both servers and mobile devices
Rapidly connect your apps to your enterprise APIs and databases and services on-premises or in a private cloud
Flexible deployment license options. Purchase deployment licenses based on the numbers of users that access the Enterprise Mobility Services
App Connectivity with App Tethering, REST and Bluetooth:
With App Tethering, RAD Studio makes it extremely easy for apps to broadcast and find other apps to tether with over local WiFi or Bluetooth
Extend existing VCL Windows apps with mobile companion apps or Bluetooth devices by simply adding a few components to each app
Connect with Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE enabled gadgets like healthcare sensors and wearables to build unique and domain specific solutions
Easily connect to REST APIs on any near field device to interact with that gadget
Specific Bluetooth LE component to connect with power sipping micro gadgets
Parallel Computing Library:
The Parallel Computing library helps you exponentially increases performance making it easier to write multi-threaded applications that take advantage of multi-core CPUs
Boost the performance of your existing VCL and FireMonkey applications, with a self-tuning thread pool
Include the new System.Threading unit in your apps and you can do the following:
Parallel 'for' loops
Scheduling of tasks
Futures
Joining of multiple tasks and waiting for all to complete
Easy integration for a significant performance boost
IDE and Development Tools Enhancements:
The new PAServer Manager is an OS X tray app that allows you to start and manage multiple instances of PAServer (the Platform Assistant app for developing iOS and OS X apps)
Improved Subversion version control support with new Git version control support
New integrated multi-device designer
IDE support for adding Java classes to an Android apk
IDE Guided Tours to help learn about RAD Studio features
New Java2Delphi native bridge file generator for Android
RTL and VCL Enhancements:
New OmniXML library for faster performance, particularly on mobile platforms and easier selection of default XML engine
Improved JSON low level processing
Updated C++ STL library for iOS and new versions of Boost and Dinkumware Libraries for Win64
Enhancements to the taskbar component introduced in XE6 to support with a new TJumpLists VCL component for Windows Taskbar Jump Lists
New unit for Web encoding and decoding
Hundreds of quality and performance improvements
Object Pascal Language Enhancements:
Improved initialization for dynamic arrays
Mix and match constant and dynamic arrays
String-like operations on dynamic arrays including + operator concatenation, Insert and Delete
An array constructor can be used to specify an initial value of a global dynamic array variable
Also, generics containers optimizations
Database and FireDAC Enhancements:
IBLite embeddable database now available for Windows, OS X, Android and iOS
FireDAC streaming support for blob fields and support for MSSQL file streams
Support for DBMS API command native timeouts
FireDAC connection parameters are now displayed in the Object Inspector as a record
Data Explorer enhancements (primary keys and fields are displayed, foreign keys and fields are displayed, sequences/generators are now displayed)
Other FireDAC enhancements including a new IBLite driver for desktop and mobile
FireMonkey Enhancements:
TEdit and TCalendar controls haves been rewritten to utilize a new presentation architecture: you choose whether you want the control to use the standard styled presentation or a platform native control presentation on iOS dynamically
Multi monitor support on desktop platforms
The TBannerAd component now supports the Google Mobile Ads API from Google Play Services
Immersive full screen mode on Android KitKat
TListView pull to refresh on iOS and Android

New in Embarcadero C++Builder XE8 XE6 (Apr 7, 2015)

New in Embarcadero C++Builder XE8 XE5 (Apr 7, 2015)

New in Embarcadero C++Builder XE8 XE4 (Apr 7, 2015)

New in Embarcadero C++Builder XE8 XE3 17.0.4625.53395 (Sep 12, 2012)

Fastest path to Windows 8:
Windows 8 is here and provides new opportunities for Windows developers. Whether you’re looking to develop new applications for Windows 8 that run on desktops and x86 tablets or want to give your existing VCL and FireMonkey applications a new Windows 8 look, C++Builder XE3 makes it easy.
Get a fast start with Windows 8 project templates:
Getting started creating Windows applications couldn't be easier. Choose from popular Windows 8 style application templates including blank, grid and split pane. Your application will include standard Windows 8 fonts, colors, layout and full screen behavior.
Create touch enabled apps:
Windows 8 brings a new level of importance for touch support in Windows applications. With C++Builder, you can touch and gesture-enable your apps with minimal effort.
Fully Windows 8 Ready:
The C++Builder XE3 IDE is fully tested to be Windows 8 compatible and the applications you create with C++Builder will run great on Windows 8 PCs and x86 based tablets such as the Microsoft Surface Pro and Windows Slate tablets running on Intel, Intel Atom and AMD processors. Your apps will also run on earlier versions of Windows including Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.
Quickly customize buttons with popular Windows designs:
C++Builder XE3 provides a full set of Metropolis UI Windows 8 style button designs that you can easily apply to TButtons in your FireMonkey apps using the StyleLookup property in the Object Inspector. Buttons with borders, no borders, standard app commands and more.
Easily convert existing VCL and FireMonkey apps to Windows 8 style:
C++Builder XE3 makes it easy to convert your existing VCL and FireMonkey forms to the Windows look. Simply right click on your form and select Convert to Metropolis UI from the context menu. The correct Windows 8 UI form properties are automatically set and the style is applied. Just resize and realign the existing controls in your application and you're done.
Live Tile Support:
Create an interactive application experience by adding Live Tile support into your applications. With the use of a component and some simple steps, you can create an interactive experience for your customers who are using Windows 8 Enterprise edition and stay more connected with your users than ever before.
FireMonkey FM2 Application Platform:
FireMonkey continues to grow in capabilities and performance. Here's what's new in FM2, the next-generation CPU/GPU powered application platform for businesses, enabling developers to rapidly build visually engaging and data rich HD and 3D applications with blazing native performance on Windows including Windows 8 and Mac OS X with Retina Display.
New FireMonkey FM2 features include:
Anchors and layout management
Fat finger touch support for tablet users
Pixel perfect user interfaces
Non client area styling
Improved performance and quality
New FireMonkey components:
ActionLists and Actions help you separate business logic from UI elements and connect action for increased re-use
Audio/Video support including motion video and audio with media control components
New grid control
Visual LiveBindings:
LiveBindings provide a way to connect user interface controls and datasets. This powerful technology is now more accessible in C++Builder XE3 with new Visual LiveBindings. No need to write expressions or do all your work in code. See the big picture and make your connections with drag-and-drop simplicity.
Save time and effort by binding visually:
The LiveBindings Designer makes it really easy to visually bind user interface elements with data. Bind data and properties by simply drawing lines between objects. Whether you’re binding properties of two user interface elements to keep them in sync or binding data to controls, you can see the available bindable properties and fields, and make the connections visually – without coding.
View and manage your LiveBindings:
Once you’ve created your LiveBindings, you can use the LiveBindings designer to manage them too. Visually view the connections to see the big picture or zoom in on the details. The designer also provides layers management so you organize your LiveBindings into layers and show or hide the layers to filter your view as you work on different areas of your project.
Quickly prototype and move to production:
Now it’s easier than ever to prototype the database connectivity in your applications. The PrototypeBindSource component gives you sample data in multiple formats that you can bind into your application and test with. When you’re ready to switch to real data, simply swap the connections to your production database and you’re on your way.