OrbForms Designer is the newest development tool from OrbWorks, designed for creating powerful Palm OS applications very quickly. It integrates the ease of a visual design environment with the simplicity and power of a C-like language and an object-based API.
OrbForms Designer is composed of three main components: the development environment that you interact with to create your application, the language that you use to write application logic, and the runtime environment that provides access to the Palm OS and hardware.
Language
The OrbForms language is similar in style to C - using the same control constructs, expressions, and function style. The language supports four basic types (int, char, float, string), arrays, pointers, structs, and simple objects. Although based on C, there are many differences that make the OrbForms language easier to learn and use, and more efficient to work with.
Rather than creating a "main" function as with traditional C (and PocketC), using the OrbForms language you define event handlers. For example, if you wanted to create an application to calculate tips for a meal, you might create a field, a button, and a label (using the development environment), and write a handler for the button like this:
handler calcButton.onselect() {
float price;
// get the meal's price
price = fieldPrice.text;
// do the math and set the label's text
labelTip.text = price * 0.15;
}
If you are familiar with PocketC, the OrbForms language will be refreshingly similar but much more powerful - with the addition of structs, objects, and new features such as compound assignment.
Runtime Environment
OrbForms Designer creates Palm applications either as standalone applications, or as smaller applications that require the OrbForms runtime. Which way you distribute your application is up to you.
The OrbForms runtime environment provides access to the Palm OS and the hardware through functions and objects. Currently, there is full support for databases, memo pad entries, string manipulation, user interface objects (forms, menu, controls, images), data structures (string lists, and string dictionaries), saved preferences, math functions, sound, dates, and color drawing with offscreen buffering.
Features:
| |  | visual user interface design
| | | project wizard to allow quick application creation
| | | build standalone PRC file
| | | integrate with PalmOS Emulator
| | | object oriented and event driven application framework
| | | C-like language with the addition of objects, and new features such as compound assignment
| | | runtime environment provides access to the Palm OS and the hardware through functions and objects. Currently, there is full support for databases, memo pad entries, string manipulation, user interface objects (forms, menu, controls, images), data structures (string lists, and string dictionaries), saved preferences, math functions, sound, dates, and color drawing with offscreen buffering
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— What's New! —————
Added support for native add-ins, undo/redo of project changes, and lots of new runtime functions and environment usability.
| | Support for native add-ins
| | | Undo/redo of project changes
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| Supports:
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 | | Palm IIIc
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| | Palm VII
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| | Palm IIIx and Palm V
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| | Palm III
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| Requires:
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| | 1300 kb of free Palm memory
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OrbForms Designer
