The first BETA release of FireStorm/DAO 3.2 is now available to download here:
http://www.codefutures.com/firestormdao/download/
This release supports Windows Vista and JDK 1.5 and contains some bug fixes. Please refer to the README and Change Log for more information.
The FireStorm/DAO release on the web site has been updated. The new release fixes several issues with stored procedure support with SQL Server 2005.
If you are hitting OutOfMemory problems using FireStorm/DAO then it is because the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) does not have enough memory allocated.
If you are using Windows platform then you can use the following command line parameters to control how much memory to give the JVM. This example specifies an initial size of 256MB and a maximum size of 512MB but you may want to use larger numbers.
firestorm.exe -J-Xms256M -J-Xmx512M
If you want to launch using the jar files directly and bypass the .exe (or if you are on Linux/Mac) you will need to ensure that you have log4j and jdom jars (that ship with FireStorm/DAO) in your classpath and use the command line:
java -Xms256M -Xmx512M -jar firestorm.jar
FireStorm/DAO 3.0 GA is now available to download.
Build 148 is now available to download. This build contains a significant change to the way that primary key (findByPrimaryKey) finders are handled. In previous releases, the findByPrimaryKey definition was automatically created when a database schema was reverse-engineered and then required maintaining by hand in the event that the primary key changed. This has been a regular source of confusion for our customers and also was not useful to those customers that are using FireStorm/DAO as a database design tool as they always had to manually define their primary key finders.
As of build 148, the findByPrimaryKey finder is a special type of finder that is automatically updated whenever the primary key is updated. It can no longer be edited manually but still appears in the project file in full for backward compatibility.
This build also contains an improved UI for defining Table and View DAOs as shown in this screenshot. Click on the image for a larger version.
Download FireStormDAO 3.0 RC2 now.
FireStorm/DAO 3.0 Release Candidate 2 is now available to download.
Hibernate support has been greatly improved based on user feedback from RC1. One-to-one and many-to-one relationships are now correctly modelled in the persistent classes and the hibernate mapping files. For more information please refer to the hibernate documentation section of the user manual.
We have put together a new user manual for FireStorm/DAO 3.0 with improved technical information and more code samples. The manual is included with the product in PDF format and is also now available online in HTML format.
You can view or download the HTML version of the documentation here:
http://www.codefutures.com/products/firestorm/documentation/
FireStorm/DAO 3.0 build 59 is now available for direct download from:
http://www.codefutures.com/products/firestorm/download/
This build fixes a number of bugs related to the code generation option "prefix table with schema name". This option was working correctly for J2SE code generation but not for J2EE code generation. Also there were inconsistencies in how this option was saved to the project file.
The first time that you generate code from your project using this new build, it is recommended that you double check the setting of this option to make sure it is set to the value you desire (on or off) and that you save your project file afterwards.
The name of the option in the "provider options" section of the project file has been standardised to "prefix-schema-name" whereas previously both "prefix-schema-name" and "use-schema-name" were in use.
The development team is finally feature-complete and ready to launch Release 3.0.
The Release Candidate 1 is now available for download.
The new feature list is:
• Hibernate code generation
FireStorm/DAO produces Hibernate Java persistent classes and a Hibernate mapping file (*.hbm.xml) for each database table.
• REF CURSOR support for Oracle Stored Procedures
FireStorm/DAO reverse-engineers stored procedures for Oracle, SQL Server, and Sybase. Oracle support has been enhanced and FireStorm/DAO now reverse-engineers REF CURSOR parameter information, including REF CURSOR columns, when importing Oracle Stored Procedures.
• Using Dynamic SQL with Custom SQL DAOs
It is now possible to execute Custom Data Access Objects with dynamic SQL. Effectively this means that the same DTO and DAO mapping can now be used with multiple SQL statements. A typical use-case for using Dynamic SQL statements with a Custom DAO is where a multi-table SELECT is implemented as a Custom DAO but there is a need for multiple "finder" methods.
• setMaxRows Support
JDBC DAOs for Tables and Views now have a setMaxRows() method. This method should be called prior to calling any finder methods to limit the number of rows returned (the DAO finder implementations simply makes a call to JDBC setMaxRows method before executing their SQL query).
• Setting Default Values for DTO Fields
Users can set default values for DTO fields when defining Table and View DAOs through the FireStorm/DAO user interface. Typical uses of this feature would include allocating UUID values to primary key fields and defaulting date fields to today's date.
• User Interface and Usability Improvements
There are many usability improvements, for example, when re-installing or upgrading FireStorm/DAO, existing firestorm- conf.xml files are no longer overwritten.
Between RC1 and GA, we're going to test, test, document, and test. We've improved the user interface so much that we're going to have to re-shoot all the video demos as well.
An updated 3.0 RC1 is now available to download from:
http://www.codefutures.com/products/firestorm/download
Build 48 features significant improvements in Hibernate ORM support as well as further improvements to the Studio user interface (FireStorm/DAO now remembers the 10 most recent projects in the File menu and the JDBC Driver and JDBC Data Source configuration dialogs have been overhauled).
You can view the release notes here.
A new FireStorm/DAO build has been released. As always, the release notes are available here:
http://www.codefutures.com/products/firestorm/download/README.html
One of the new features in 3.0 EA is the ability to set default values for DTO fields when defining Table and View DAOs through the FireStorm/DAO user interface.
You can enter a literal value or an expression. When entering literal values for String columns please remember to include quotes.
Some examples of default values:
FireStorm/DAO 3.0 Early Access (build 24) now correctly reverse-engineers REF CURSOR parameter information, including REF CURSOR columns, when importing Oracle Stored Procedures.
It is no longer necessary to manually edit stored procedure parameters through the FireStorm/DAO user interface before generating code.
FireStorm/DAO 3.0 build 18 is now available for existing customers to preview.
New features in 3.0 include:
* Full support for Oracle REF CURSOR parameters to stored procedures
* Hibernate support
* JDBC DAOs now support setMaxRows
* Improved user interface & usability
If you do not already have the download location for version 3.0 please email sales@codefutures.com for access.
REF CURSOR support
When defining parameters for a stored procedure, chooseing the JDBC type of 'REFCURSOR' enables a chooser button next to the JDBC type dropdown. Clicking this button opens a new editor where the REF CURSOR columns can be defined.
setMaxRows support
JDBC DAOs for Tables and Views now have a setMaxRows() method. This method should be called prior to calling any finder methods to limit the number of rows returned (the DAO finder implementations simply makes a call to JDBC setMaxRows method before executing their SQL query).
User Interface & Usability
Improvements include:
Hibernate support
Hibernate support is partially implemented. FireStorm generates hbm mapping files for each table/view and generates Hibernate persistent classes for each table/view.
As of version 2.4 build 149 (now available for download) it is now possible to execute Custom Data Access Objects with dynamic SQL. Effectively this means that the same DTO and DAO mapping can now be used with multiple SQL statements.
A typical use-case for using Dynamic SQL statements with a Custom DAO is where a multi-table SELECT is implemented as a Custom DAO but there is a need for multiple "finder" methods.
For example, in an accounting database there would be separate tables for "Department", "Customer", and "Invoice" but a Custom DAO called "InvoiceSummary" is implemented to perform a join across these tables to bring back a list of invoices complete with department and customer details.
In the past, FireStorm/DAO would generate a single execute method with the following signature:
InvoiceSummary[] execute() throws InvoiceSummaryDaoException;
FireStorm/DAO now generates an additional method:
InvoiceSummary[] executeDynamicSQL(String sql) throws InvoiceSummaryDaoException;
Also, the SQL statement contained in the generated DAO implementation is now a protected member variable, making it easy to sublass the DAO implementation to provide additional execute methods.
An example of extending the Custom DAO:
public class InvoiceSummaryDaoExtended extends InvoiceSummaryDaoImpl {
public InvoiceSummary[] findLargeInvoices() throws InvoiceSummaryDaoException {
return executeDynamicSQL( SQL + " AND amount > 5000 ORDER BY amount DESC" );
}
}
This assumes that the SQL in the generated DAO has a WHERE clause for performing the join but does not have any other SQL directives (such as ORDER BY) so it is simply a case of appending additional criteria on the end of the SQL statement.
For further information on using this new feature please feel free to email our support team.
FireStorm/DAO 2.4 build 146 is now available to download from:
http://www.codefutures.com/products/firestorm/download
Changes since 2.4 GA (build 99)
| Reference | Description |
| 20050504-1 | Number of lines of generated code now displayed for both J2SE and J2EE code generation modules |
| 20050429-4 | Bundled JDK updated to 1.4.2_07 |
| 20050429-3 | Fixed bug in J2EE code generator that caused code generation to stop prematurely when generating EJB code |
| 20050429-2 | Changed jndi format generated to jboss-cmp.xml to be jndi:/dsname rather than jndi:/comp/env/dsname |
| 20050429-1 | Option to prefix table name with schema name is now honoured when generating jbosscmp-jdbc.xml. |
| 20050428-3 | Scope of userConn member variable in custom DAO classes is not protected rather than private. |
| 20050428-5 | Fixed bug that stopped FireStorm from automatically recognizing SQL Server IDENTITY columns and also caused the Auto-Increment checkbox to be disabled in the user interface. |
| 20050428-4 | Project file format and user interface updated to support setting name and cardinality on foreign keys. |
| 20050428-2 | Logging preferences are now always complied with (previously there were a few instances of generated code containing printStackTrace() calls despite log4j being chosen as the preference). |
| 20050428-1 | Removed "Apply" button from all editors and changes are now saved automatically. |
| 20050412-1 | Catalog name and schema name have now been broken out into two separate fields throughout the product, allowing better control of which tables to import, particulary with SQL Server and Sybase databases. |
| 20050409-1 | Added support for seeMore databases. |
| 20050405-1 | Minor changes to packaging and documentation, upgrade of Install4j to version 3.1.4. |
| 20050404-1 | The Custom SQL DAO and Stored Procedure DAO editors now record changes correctly on losing focus. |
| 20050301-1 | It is now possible to create a default finder for a column by right-clicking on the column node in the tree view and choosing the 'Create Default Finder' menu option. |
| 20050329-1 | Fixed ArrayIndexOutOfBounds exception that occurred during validation if the project contained more stored procedures than views (problem was introduced as a result of 20050316-8). |
| 20050324-1 | When generating for J2EE, choosing the Plain JSP web application, the generated code did not compile in build 118. This was due to the generated servlet being renamed from FireStormServlet to WebController. Unfortunately the change was not implemented fully. This is now resolved . |
| 20050318-5 | When generating for J2EE, using JDBC persistence, and generating a session bean facade, the correct session bean descriptors are now generated in ejb-jar.xml (they were missing before unless Entity Bean persistence was selected). |
| 20050318-4 | SQL scripts created by Oracle Designer can now be imported. Previously, the unterminated PROMPT commands were causing all CREATE TABLE statements to be ignored. |
| 20050318-3 | Changed spelling of non-existant to non-existent in several places. |
| 20050318-2 | Fixed error in Plain JSP code generation where finders that had arguments with complex types (e.g. byte[]) were generated but failed at runtime. |
| 20050318-1 | Foreign keys that are incomplete once evaluation license restrictions are applied are now removed from the in-memory cloned project so that validation does not fail. |
| 20050316-7 | Validation rules now check for tables with no columns |
| 20050316-8 | Validation rules now check for table/view/procedure DAOs with duplicate SQL names |
| 20050315-1 | During code generation, Subversion control directories (.svn) are no longer deleted if the user chooses the option to delete files in the output directory. |
| 20050315-2 | Two wizard pages in the J2EE code generation wizard were missing meaningful descriptions. Descriptions now added. |
| 20050310-1 | When creating new Stored Procedure DAOs and new Custom SQL DAOs via the tree view, duplicate names were being used (PROCEDURE_1 and CUSTOM_1). Defect resolved. |
| 20050310-2 | Views and Procedures were not correctly being deleted from the project file when deleting via the tree view. Defect resolved. |
FireStorm/DAO v2.4 (build 137) has now been uploaded to the CodeFutures web site.
It is no longer necessary to modify the firestorm-conf.xml file to include a list of user code generation modules. FireStorm/DAO will now scan the fscodegen.jar file and automatically detect any classes that implement the Provider interface.
Architect Edition customers should contact sales@codefutures.com for the location of the Architect Edition download page.
Changes since 2.4 GA (build 99)
| Reference | Description |
| 20050318-5 | When generating for J2EE, using JDBC persistence, and generating a session bean facade, the correct session bean descriptors are now generated in ejb-jar.xml (they were missing before unless Entity Bean persistence was selected). |
| 20050318-4 | SQL scripts created by Oracle Designer can now be imported. Previously, the unterminated PROMPT commands were causing all CREATE TABLE statements to be ignored. |
| 20050318-3 | Changed spelling of non-existant to non-existent in several places. |
| 20050318-2 | Fixed error in Plain JSP code generation where finders that had arguments with complex types (e.g. byte[]) were generated but failed at runtime. |
| 20050318-1 | Foreign keys that are incomplete once evaluation license restrictions are applied are now removed from the in-memory cloned project so that validation does not fail. |
| 20050316-7 | Validation rules now check for tables with no columns |
| 20050316-8 | Validation rules now check for table/view/procedure DAOs with duplicate SQL names |
| 20050315-1 | During code generation, Subversion control directories (.svn) are no longer deleted if the user chooses the option to delete files in the output directory. |
| 20050315-2 | Two wizard pages in the J2EE code generation wizard were missing meaningful descriptions. Descriptions now added. |
| 20050310-1 | When creating new Stored Procedure DAOs and new Custom SQL DAOs via the tree view, duplicate names were being used (PROCEDURE_1 and CUSTOM_1). Defect resolved. |
| 20050310-2 | Views and Procedures were not correctly being deleted from the project file when deleting via the tree view. Defect resolved. |
The full GA release of FireStorm/DAO 2.4 is now available to download from:
The latest release candidate of FireStorm/DAO 2.4 is now available to download:
http://www.codefutures.com/products/firestorm/download/
FireStorm/DAO 2.4 GA will be available for download early next week once documentation has been updated to reflect the new functionality.
Major new features include:
In addition, there are numerous extra enhancements, particularly around usability. For example, when defining new columns (or amending existing columns), the usability enhancements include:
FireStorm/DAO 2.4 Release Candidate 1 has been updated. The new build (build 43) has the following improvements over the previous RC1 build:
- Recognizes SQL Server IDENTITY columns when reverse-engineering
- Interactive SQL feature allows queries to be run directly against databases (useful for previewing Custom DAO code)
- Fixes JDBC issue when connecting to Sybase databases
Apache Derby is a pure Java embedded database. It is based on the IBM Cloudscape database engine, which was donated to the Apache Software Foundation in August 2004. Apache Derby can be downloaded here:
http://incubator.apache.org/derby/index.html
FireStorm/DAO 2.4 RC1 supports Apache Derby. To configure FireStorm/DAO for Apache Derby, set up the JDBC driver as follows:
JDBC Driver Class: org.apache.derby.jdbc.EmbeddedDriver
Classpath: derby.jar
The JDBC connection should be configured as follows:
JDBC URL: jdbc:derby:/path/database
Username and password should be left blank.
FireStorm/DAO generates a ResourceManager.java source file which is responsible for connecting the database at runtime.
There are two different ResourceManager templates that ship with FireStorm/DAO - once based on JDBC (located in templates/jdbc) and one based on JNDI (located in templates/j2ee).
Both of these templates can be fully customizable. For example, you can modify the JDBC template to use a connection pooling library.
In the 2.4 GA release we will provide a choice of ResourceManager templates, including examples of connection pooling.
Please note that it is often simpler to use a version of your JDBC driver that already supports connection pooling.
FireStorm/DAO 2.4 Release Candidate 1 is now available to download from:
http://www.codefutures.com/products/firestorm/download/
FireStorm/DAO 2.4 contains numerous usability enhancements, such as new intuitive wizards for importing database schemas and for generating code.
FireStorm/DAO 2.4 RC1 also includes basic support for Stored Procedures for Oracle, SQL Server, and Sybase. FireStorm/DAO will now generate a Stored Procedure DAO class for each Stored Procedure in the database and will allow the stored procedure to be invoked at runtime by calling an 'execute' method on that DAO and passing in the appropriate parameters. This release candidate does not yet allow the result sets returned by the stored procedure to be mapped to a DTO. This additional functionality will be available in the GA release which will be available later this month.
FireStorm/DAO 2.3 build 218 is now available to download from:
http://www.codefutures.com/products/firestorm/download/
Changes between 2.3 GA and 2.3 build 218:
FireStorm/DAO 2.3 Release Candidate 1 is now available to download.
Changes between 2.2 and 2.3:
The latest early access release of FireStorm/DAO 2.1 is now available to download from the following URL:
http://www.codefutures.com/products/firestorm/download/
The JSP/webapp code generation has been overhauled and now generates JSP/servlet code that uses model 2 MVC. Many bugs have been fixed and support for Tomcat 4 has been added.