<s>
Clarion	B-Language
is	O
a	O
commercial	O
,	O
proprietary	B-Application
,	O
fourth-generation	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
(	O
4GL	B-Language
)	O
,	O
multi-paradigm	O
,	O
programming	O
language	O
and	O
integrated	B-Application
development	I-Application
environment	I-Application
(	O
IDE	O
)	O
from	O
SoftVelocity	B-Language
used	O
to	O
program	O
database	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
compatible	O
with	O
indexed	B-Application
sequential	I-Application
access	I-Application
method	I-Application
(	O
ISAM	B-Application
)	O
,	O
Structured	B-Language
Query	I-Language
Language	I-Language
(	O
SQL	B-Language
)	O
,	O
and	O
ActiveX	B-Library
Data	I-Library
Objects	I-Library
(	O
ADO	O
)	O
data	O
access	O
methods	O
,	O
reads	O
and	O
writes	O
several	O
flat	O
file	O
desktop	O
database	O
formats	O
including	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
,	O
comma-separated	O
values	O
(	O
CSV	O
)	O
,	O
DOS	B-Device
(	O
binary	O
)	O
,	O
FoxPro	B-Application
,	O
Clipper	B-Application
,	O
dBase	B-Application
,	O
and	O
some	O
relational	O
databases	O
via	O
ODBC	B-Application
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Server	I-Application
,	O
Sybase	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Anywhere	I-Application
,	O
and	O
Oracle	B-General_Concept
Database	I-General_Concept
through	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
accelerated	O
native	O
database	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
,	O
and	O
XML	B-Protocol
,	O
Clarion	B-Language
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
output	O
to	O
HTML	B-Language
,	O
XML	B-Protocol
,	O
plain	O
text	O
,	O
and	O
Portable	B-Application
Document	I-Application
Format	I-Application
(	O
PDF	B-Application
)	O
,	O
among	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Clarion	B-Language
development	O
environment	O
(	O
IDE	O
)	O
runs	O
on	O
the	O
Clarion	B-Language
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
generator	O
then	O
turns	O
this	O
higher	O
level	O
into	O
code	O
,	O
which	O
in	O
turn	O
is	O
then	O
compiled	B-Language
and	O
linked	O
using	O
a	O
normal	O
compiler	B-Language
and	O
linker	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
generation	O
layer	O
is	O
sometimes	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
4GL	B-Language
programming	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Three	O
main	O
Clarion	B-Language
products	O
exist	O
:	O
Professional	O
Edition	O
,	O
Enterprise	O
Edition	O
,	O
and	O
.NET	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
Clarion	B-Language
language	O
was	O
a	O
DOS	B-Device
product	O
named	O
Clarion	B-Language
1.0	O
and	O
was	O
first	O
released	O
in	O
April	O
1986	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
was	O
created	O
by	O
Bruce	O
Barrington	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
founders	O
of	O
healthcare	O
firm	O
"	O
HBO	O
&	O
Company	O
"	O
(	O
later	O
acquired	O
by	O
McKesson	O
Corporation	O
,	O
)	O
and	O
a	O
small	O
team	O
of	O
developers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
1	O
produced	O
pseudocode	B-Language
;	O
the	O
initial	O
release	O
included	O
a	O
screen	O
designer	O
,	O
an	O
interpreter	O
,	O
an	O
editor	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
debugger	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
it	O
supported	O
databases	O
composed	O
of	O
DAT	O
files	O
which	O
was	O
Clarion	B-Language
’s	O
proprietary	B-Application
ISAM	B-Application
file	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
1.0	O
required	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
dongle	B-Device
,	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
when	O
industry	O
sentiment	O
was	O
turning	O
against	O
dongles	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
dongle	B-Device
was	O
omitted	O
with	O
release	O
1.1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
2.0	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
May	O
1988	O
,	O
was	O
named	O
Clarion	B-Language
Professional	O
Developer	O
(	O
CPD	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
included	O
a	O
component	O
named	O
Designer	O
,	O
which	O
incorporated	O
a	O
data	O
dictionary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CPD	O
generated	O
Clarion	B-Language
code	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
contents	O
of	O
that	O
dictionary	O
and	O
a	O
template	O
called	O
a	O
"	O
model	O
file.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
Professional	O
Developer	O
also	O
introduced	O
Language	O
Extension	O
Modules	O
(	O
LEMs	O
)	O
,	O
that	O
could	O
extend	O
the	O
language	O
using	O
modules	O
compiled	B-Language
in	O
other	O
languages	O
that	O
were	O
built	O
to	O
the	O
LEM	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
Software	O
and	O
many	O
third-party	O
tool	O
developers	O
created	O
LEMs	O
for	O
all	O
purposes	O
,	O
including	O
an	O
extension	O
for	O
connecting	O
to	O
other	O
databases	O
such	O
as	O
dBase	B-Application
,	O
Clipper	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Paradox	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
version	O
of	O
Clarion	B-Language
2.x	O
for	O
end-users	O
,	O
Clarion	B-Language
Personal	O
Developer	O
,	O
was	O
also	O
released	O
for	O
the	O
business	O
user	O
to	O
create	O
personal	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
then	O
,	O
Clarion	B-Language
released	O
Clarion	B-Language
Report	O
Writer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
created	O
as	O
both	O
a	O
stand-alone	O
product	O
for	O
end-users	O
of	O
Clarion	B-Language
Personal	O
Developer	O
and	O
users	O
of	O
programs	O
written	O
by	O
developers	O
with	O
CPD	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
a	O
built-in	O
program	O
bundled	O
with	O
Clarion	B-Language
Professional	O
Developer	O
version	O
2.1	O
released	O
in	O
1989	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1991	O
Barrington	O
licensed	O
compiler	B-Language
technology	O
from	O
a	O
company	O
named	O
Jensen	O
&	O
Partners	O
International	O
(	O
JPI	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Philippe	O
Kahn	O
was	O
the	O
marketing	O
person	O
who	O
built	O
Borland	O
around	O
the	O
$49	O
Turbo	B-Application
Pascal	I-Application
compiler	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Niels	O
and	O
his	O
team	O
were	O
working	O
on	O
a	O
new	O
compiler	B-Language
technology	O
at	O
Borland	O
when	O
Kahn	O
decided	O
to	O
buy	O
Wizard	O
C	O
,	O
and	O
name	O
it	O
Turbo	O
C	O
.	O
Niels	O
and	O
several	O
other	O
developers	O
left	O
Borland	O
and	O
started	O
JPI	O
,	O
where	O
they	O
continued	O
to	O
work	O
on	O
their	O
compiler	B-Language
technology	O
,	O
named	O
TopSpeed	O
,	O
which	O
they	O
bought	O
from	O
Borland	O
for	O
$1.7	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
Database	O
Developer	O
3.0	O
(	O
CDD	O
)	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
a	O
revolutionary	O
product	O
adding	O
many	O
features	O
and	O
technology	O
that	O
could	O
create	O
programs	O
with	O
a	O
"	O
Windows	B-Application
like	O
"	O
Common	B-General_Concept
User	I-General_Concept
Access	I-General_Concept
(	O
CUA	B-General_Concept
)	O
user	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Much	O
of	O
the	O
CDD	O
changes	O
fit	O
well	O
into	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
programming	O
paradigm	O
and	O
laid	O
the	O
groundwork	O
for	O
the	O
future	O
Clarion	B-Language
for	O
Windows	B-Application
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
included	O
many	O
professional	O
programming	O
quality	O
tools	O
:	O
editor	O
,	O
project	O
system	O
,	O
compiler	B-Language
,	O
linker	O
,	O
visual	O
debugger	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gone	O
was	O
the	O
p-code	B-Language
of	O
CPD	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
JPI	O
compiler	B-Language
for	O
the	O
Clarion	B-Language
language	O
produced	O
true	O
machine	B-Language
code	I-Language
.exes	O
,	O
LIBs	O
,	O
and	O
dynamic-link	O
libraries	O
(	O
DLLs	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Binaries	O
could	O
be	O
compiled	B-Language
for	O
protected	O
mode	O
allowing	O
DOS	B-Device
programs	O
to	O
use	O
extended	O
memory	O
,	O
breaking	O
the	O
640	O
KB	O
barrier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Clarion	B-Language
3.0	O
language	O
was	O
enhanced	O
in	O
many	O
ways	O
,	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Btrieve	O
,	O
Clarion	B-Language
,	O
Dbase	B-Application
,	O
FoxPro	B-Application
,	O
Paradox	B-Application
)	O
,	O
queues	O
(	O
tables	O
)	O
were	O
enhanced	O
,	O
screen	O
processing	O
was	O
enhanced	O
for	O
CUA	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
kept	O
working	O
on	O
CDD	O
and	O
by	O
version	O
3.007	O
it	O
was	O
usable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
3.1	O
named	O
Clarion	B-Language
for	O
DOS	B-Device
(	O
CFD	O
)	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
proved	O
much	O
more	O
stable	O
,	O
but	O
by	O
this	O
time	O
there	O
was	O
little	O
interest	O
in	O
DOS	B-Device
development	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
significant	O
feature	O
was	O
the	O
TopSpeed	O
file	O
driver	O
,	O
an	O
ISAM	B-Application
file	O
format	O
allowing	O
all	O
indexes	O
and	O
multiple	O
data	O
files	O
to	O
be	O
contained	O
in	O
one	O
disk	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
this	O
time	O
the	O
relationship	O
between	O
Clarion	B-Language
Software	O
and	O
JPI	O
grew	O
closer	O
,	O
and	O
on	O
April	O
30	O
,	O
1992	O
,	O
Clarion	B-Language
merged	O
with	O
JPI	O
to	O
form	O
an	O
entity	O
which	O
would	O
eventually	O
be	O
named	O
TopSpeed	O
Corporation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TopSpeed	O
released	O
Clarion	B-Language
for	O
Windows	B-Application
version	O
1.0	O
(	O
a.k.a.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IDE	O
was	O
completely	O
written	O
as	O
a	O
Windows	B-Application
GUI	O
and	O
could	O
produce	O
Win16	O
EXE	O
and	O
DLL	O
binaries	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
Windows	B-Application
3.x	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
language	O
featured	O
many	O
enhancements	O
needed	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
event	O
driven	O
Windows	B-Application
user	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Clarion	B-Language
developer	O
could	O
easily	O
create	O
a	O
multithreaded	O
MDI	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CW	O
1.0	O
continued	O
the	O
database	O
flexibility	O
added	O
in	O
CDD	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
adding	O
an	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	O
allowing	O
connection	O
to	O
SQL	B-Language
databases	I-Language
,	O
or	O
any	O
source	O
supported	O
by	O
ODBC	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DOS	B-Device
monolithic	O
template	O
model	O
was	O
significantly	O
enhanced	O
in	O
CW	O
1.0	O
and	O
replaced	O
by	O
a	O
model	O
that	O
allowed	O
a	O
window	O
to	O
use	O
multiple	O
templates	O
(	O
Extension	O
,	O
Control	O
or	O
Procedure	O
templates	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
in	O
DOS	B-Device
a	O
screen	O
procedure	O
could	O
support	O
browsing	O
one	O
data	O
table	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
design	O
change	O
was	O
a	O
major	O
improvement	O
in	O
the	O
ability	O
of	O
Clarion	B-Language
code	O
generation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
for	O
Windows	B-Application
version	O
1.5	O
(	O
a.k.a.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
version	O
added	O
support	O
for	O
creating	O
native	O
Win32	O
binaries	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
95	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
NT	O
4	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IDE	O
remained	O
16-bit	B-Device
but	O
added	O
32-bit	O
compilers	B-Language
,	O
linker	O
,	O
and	O
debugger	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
for	O
Windows	B-Application
version	O
2	O
(	O
a.k.a.	O
</s>
<s>
CW20	O
added	O
classic	O
object-oriented	B-Language
programming	I-Language
features	O
to	O
the	O
language	O
,	O
including	O
inheritance	O
,	O
encapsulation	O
,	O
virtual	O
methods	O
,	O
and	O
overloading	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CW20	O
enhanced	O
32-bit	O
support	O
,	O
added	O
ActiveX	O
support	O
and	O
enhanced	O
SQL	B-Language
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
4	O
(	O
a.k.a.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
DOS	B-Device
development	O
being	O
dead	O
the	O
name	O
dropped	O
the	O
"	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
"	O
title	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
C4	O
came	O
with	O
a	O
new	O
template	O
set	O
and	O
class	O
library	B-Library
named	O
Application	O
Builder	O
Classes	O
(	O
ABC	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ABC	O
template	O
set	O
generated	O
far	O
less	O
code	O
,	O
and	O
leveraged	O
the	O
class	O
library	B-Library
,	O
which	O
contained	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
logic	O
for	O
windows	B-Application
,	O
browses	O
,	O
forms	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
5	O
(	O
a.k.a.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
5.5	O
(	O
a.k.a.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
6.0	O
(	O
a.k.a.	O
</s>
<s>
C6	O
)	O
was	O
released	O
November	O
2003	O
,	O
and	O
added	O
direct	O
support	O
for	O
preemptive	B-Operating_System
multithreading	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
6.1	O
was	O
released	O
May	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
6.2	O
was	O
released	O
May	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
6.3	O
as	O
released	O
Jan	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Excluding	O
patches	O
this	O
is	O
the	O
final	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
16	B-Device
bit	I-Device
Clarion	B-Language
development	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
16	B-Device
bit	I-Device
IDE	O
produced	O
some	O
problems	O
using	O
current	O
Windows	B-Application
technologies	O
(	O
ActiveX	O
,	O
OCX	O
,	O
COM	O
,	O
DOC	O
,	O
...	O
)	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
note	O
that	O
the	O
series	O
6.x	O
of	O
Clarion	B-Language
produces	O
native	O
Win32	O
executables	O
(	O
32-bit	O
exes	O
and/or	O
dlls	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Previous	O
versions	O
produced	O
both	O
16-bit	B-Device
and	O
32-bit	O
executables	O
,	O
the	O
16-bit	B-Device
support	O
was	O
dropped	O
from	O
the	O
end-user	O
product	O
with	O
version	O
6.0	O
of	O
Clarion	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
April	O
13	O
,	O
2009	O
SoftVelocity	B-Language
released	O
Clarion	B-Language
7	O
(	O
a.k.a.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
IDE	O
will	O
look	O
familiar	O
to	O
SharpDevelop	B-Language
users	O
,	O
SoftVelocity	B-Language
obtained	O
a	O
commercial	O
license	O
for	O
the	O
SharpDevelop	B-Language
code	O
and	O
integrated	O
Clarion	B-Language
's	O
code	O
generation	O
and	O
application	O
generation	O
technology	O
,	O
fixed	O
and	O
extended	O
the	O
basic	O
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Major	O
new	O
features	O
(	O
other	O
than	O
the	O
standard	O
modern	O
IDE	O
features	O
lacking	O
in	O
C6	O
)	O
include	O
a	O
build	O
system	O
based	O
on	O
MSBuild	O
and	O
backward	O
compatibility	O
with	O
all	O
releases	O
of	O
Clarion	B-Language
back	O
to	O
Clarion	B-Language
for	O
Windows	B-Application
1.5	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
is	O
still	O
a	O
Win32	O
development	O
environment	O
,	O
but	O
a	O
beta	O
.NET	B-Application
Framework	I-Application
version	O
of	O
the	O
language	O
,	O
named	O
,	O
is	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
Clarion#	O
and	O
C7	O
share	O
the	O
same	O
IDE	O
,	O
although	O
at	O
present	O
they	O
are	O
shipped	O
as	O
separate	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
Clarion	B-Language
7	O
and	O
later	O
releases	O
,	O
Clarion#	O
does	O
not	O
yet	O
have	O
a	O
dictionary	O
editor	O
or	O
application	B-Application
generator	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
expected	O
that	O
one	O
Clarion7+	O
/Clarion.Net	O
IDE	O
would	O
have	O
supported	O
both	O
Win32	O
and	O
.NET	B-Application
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
given	O
that	O
at	O
least	O
14	O
years	O
have	O
passed	O
since	O
Clarion.Net	O
was	O
announced	O
without	O
a	O
gold	O
release	O
,	O
Clarion.Net	O
'	O
s	O
future	O
is	O
unclear	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
IDE	O
(	O
in	O
Clarion#	O
mode	O
)	O
retains	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
build	O
.NET	B-Application
applications	O
with	O
VB.NET	O
and	O
C#	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
September	O
12	O
,	O
2011	O
SoftVelocity	B-Language
released	O
Clarion	B-Language
8	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
continues	O
the	O
line	O
of	O
Clarion	B-Language
7	O
(	O
the	O
latest	O
release	O
was	O
C7.3	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2015	O
,	O
Clarion	B-Language
10	O
was	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
2018	O
,	O
Clarion	B-Language
11	O
was	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
is	O
historically	O
notable	O
as	O
being	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
4GL	B-Language
computer	O
programming	O
tools	O
,	O
first	O
developed	O
in	O
the	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
no	O
trial	O
version	O
of	O
any	O
Clarion	B-Language
edition	O
,	O
as	O
of	O
2023	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
thus	O
not	O
possible	O
to	O
produce	O
a	O
simple	O
"	O
Hello	O
World	O
"	O
program	O
in	O
Clarion	B-Language
,	O
without	O
buying	O
a	O
license	O
first	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
free	O
Clarion	B-Language
Community	O
Edition	O
was	O
announced	O
at	O
the	O
Clarion	B-Language
International	O
Developers	O
Conference	O
(	O
CIDC	O
)	O
in	O
2019	O
but	O
has	O
not	O
yet	O
been	O
made	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
's	O
documentation	O
is	O
of	O
a	O
varying	O
standard	O
with	O
the	O
mixture	O
of	O
"	O
Enterprise	O
Level	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
.NET	B-Application
"	O
abilities	O
being	O
combined	O
into	O
one	O
,	O
for-all	O
Help	O
Source	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
Clarion.Net	O
documentation	O
is	O
included	O
,	O
even	O
when	O
the	O
clarion.NET	O
product	O
is	O
not	O
installed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
numerous	O
references	O
to	O
"	O
Clarion	B-Language
7	O
"	O
within	O
the	O
"	O
Clarion	B-Language
9	O
"	O
documentation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
is	O
an	O
imperative	B-Application
programming	I-Application
language	I-Application
which	O
supports	O
an	O
object-orientated	B-Language
programming	I-Language
syntax	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
code	O
syntax	O
most	O
resembles	O
BASIC	O
and	O
Pascal	B-Application
in	O
structure	O
,	O
although	O
the	O
language	O
is	O
quite	O
different	O
from	O
those	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
generates	O
its	O
code	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
templates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Clarion	B-Language
language	O
can	O
interact	O
with	O
DLL	O
's	O
produced	O
by	O
other	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
compatible	O
with	O
libraries	O
using	O
the	O
Pascal	B-Application
method	O
or	O
C	O
method	O
of	O
parameter	O
passing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
application	O
programming	O
interface	O
(	O
API	B-General_Concept
)	O
calls	O
can	O
be	O
made	O
directly	O
from	O
the	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
is	O
data-centric	O
,	O
meaning	O
it	O
is	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
among	O
a	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
database	O
vendors	O
and	O
is	O
focused	O
on	O
the	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
supports	O
both	O
SQL	B-Language
databases	I-Language
and	O
non-SQL	O
data	O
stores	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Support	O
for	O
popular	O
ISAM	B-Application
file	O
types	O
(	O
dBase	B-Application
,	O
Btrieve	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
are	O
built	O
in	O
and	O
two	O
proprietary	B-Application
ISAM	B-Application
file	O
systems	O
(	O
Topspeed	O
(	O
TPS	O
)	O
and	O
Clarion	B-Language
(	O
DAT	O
)	O
)	O
are	O
also	O
provided	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Table	O
access	O
is	O
provided	O
by	O
a	O
standard	O
DLL	O
interface	O
(	O
termed	O
a	O
database	B-Application
driver	I-Application
)	O
which	O
separates	O
the	O
program	O
from	O
the	O
chosen	O
data	O
store	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
natively	O
supports	O
many	O
database	O
formats	O
,	O
including	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
limited	O
to	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ODBC	B-Application
driver	O
allows	O
access	O
to	O
any	O
ODBC	B-Application
source	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Firebird	O
and	O
Postgres	O
are	O
both	O
popular	O
options	O
which	O
are	O
accessed	O
via	O
ODBC	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
ability	O
to	O
readily	O
interact	O
with	O
any	O
.NET	B-Application
class	O
library	B-Library
,	O
it	O
is	O
able	O
to	O
leverage	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
latest	O
technologies	O
from	O
a	O
database	O
perspective	O
,	O
including	O
ASP.NET	O
and	O
any	O
others	O
that	O
Microsoft	O
makes	O
available	O
,	O
including	O
Windows	B-Application
Communication	O
Foundation	O
,	O
Windows	B-Application
Communication	O
Foundation	O
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
Workflow	O
Foundation	O
,	O
of	O
any	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
is	O
a	O
simple	O
language	O
,	O
resembling	O
BASIC	O
or	O
Pascal	B-Application
,	O
but	O
with	O
objects	O
and	O
classes	O
added	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
that	O
variable	O
is	O
entered	O
on	O
a	O
form	O
in	O
Clarion	B-Language
's	O
IDE	O
,	O
it	O
adopts	O
those	O
properties	O
and	O
they	O
are	O
reflected	O
automatically	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
data	O
dictionary	O
(	O
or	O
'	O
database	O
 '	O
in	O
SQL	B-Language
terms	O
)	O
,	O
contains	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
data	O
,	O
and	O
about	O
how	O
it	O
should	O
be	O
represented	O
in	O
applications	O
which	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
"	O
database	O
"	O
declaration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
more	O
time	O
a	O
Clarion	B-Language
developer	O
spends	O
defining	O
the	O
data-dictionary	O
,	O
the	O
more	O
time	O
they	O
will	O
save	O
later	O
when	O
the	O
4GL	B-Language
application	B-Application
generator	I-Application
produces	O
output	O
,	O
typically	O
lists	O
of	O
data	O
with	O
full	O
CRUD	O
abilities	O
,	O
validation	O
,	O
and	O
automatic	O
lookup	O
from	O
"	O
child	O
"	O
tables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
"	O
Hello	O
World	O
"	O
program	O
in	O
Clarion	B-Language
:	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
accepts	O
several	O
different	O
syntaxis	O
,	O
so	O
the	O
same	O
program	O
can	O
be	O
presented	O
in	O
different	O
ways	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
sample	O
code	O
shown	O
in	O
the	O
"	O
Hello	O
World	O
"	O
example	O
is	O
an	O
example	O
of	O
hand-written	O
code	O
,	O
which	O
the	O
Clarion	B-Language
compiler	B-Language
will	O
compile	B-Language
readily	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
this	O
ability	O
to	O
describe	O
a	O
program	O
at	O
a	O
level	O
higher	O
than	O
code	O
,	O
Clarion	B-Language
has	O
been	O
most	O
popular	O
with	O
both	O
nonprogrammers	O
and	O
programmers	O
with	O
limited	O
skills	O
or	O
abilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
Clarion	B-Language
feature	O
is	O
named	O
Global	O
Map	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Inside	O
it	O
,	O
procedure	O
definitions	O
are	O
declared	O
,	O
including	O
,	O
if	O
needed	O
,	O
declarations	O
to	O
external	O
DLL	O
's	O
or	O
libraries	O
written	O
in	O
non-Clarion	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
use	O
by	O
the	O
Clarion	B-Language
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clarion	B-Language
also	O
can	O
generate	O
DLL	O
's	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
consumed	O
by	O
external	O
non-Clarion	O
applications	O
,	O
taking	O
full	O
advantage	O
of	O
all	O
of	O
Clarion	B-Language
's	O
4GL	B-Language
abilities	O
and	O
simply	O
plugging	O
in	O
to	O
the	O
procedures	O
it	O
has	O
created	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
this	O
MAP	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
able	O
to	O
leverage	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
Windows-API	O
declarations	O
,	O
using	O
,	O
if	O
needed	O
,	O
the	O
no-longer	O
documented	O
data	O
types	O
that	O
are	O
core	O
to	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
(	O
OS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
Clarion#	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
.NET	B-Application
version	O
4	O
(	O
the	O
same	O
version	O
used	O
to	O
develop	O
the	O
Clarion	B-Language
10	O
IDE	O
)	O
,	O
it	O
allows	O
the	O
developer	O
to	O
use	O
other	O
.NET	B-Application
libraries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
advantage	O
of	O
using	O
Clarion#	O
directly	O
is	O
that	O
compiling	B-Language
a	O
Clarion#	O
DLL	O
generates	O
a	O
LIB	O
file	O
that	O
is	O
compatible	O
with	O
Clarion	B-Language
for	O
Windows	B-Application
and	O
allows	O
a	O
Clarion	B-Language
for	O
Windows	B-Application
program	O
to	O
call	O
the	O
.NET	B-Application
functions	O
in	O
the	O
Clarion#	O
DLL	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
manner	O
as	O
for	O
other	O
Win32	O
DLLs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
a	O
Clarion	B-Language
developer	O
wants	O
to	O
use	O
code	O
compiled	B-Language
using	O
other	O
languages	O
,	O
they	O
can	O
use	O
Unmanaged	O
Exports	O
-	O
a	O
NuGet	O
package	O
developed	O
by	O
Robert	O
Gieseck	O
(	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unmanaged	O
Exports	O
allows	O
a	O
developer	O
to	O
expose	O
functions	O
developed	O
using	O
.NET	B-Application
to	O
native	O
languages	O
on	O
Windows	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
helpful	O
for	O
those	O
who	O
must	O
maintain	O
a	O
Clarion	B-Language
product	O
but	O
have	O
no	O
way	O
to	O
upgrade	O
third	O
party	O
tools	O
due	O
to	O
lack	O
of	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
of	O
the	O
third	O
party	O
tools	O
can	O
be	O
rewritten	O
in	O
.NET	B-Application
with	O
ease	O
.	O
</s>
