News & Blogs

Ensuring the security of all our customers' applications is a foundational element of the Thinkwise Platform. To maintain the integrity and security of our platform components, we have regular penetration tests conducted by a third party, designed to identify potential vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. We are proud that no exploitable vulnerabilities have ever been found during these tests, reflecting our commitment to security. However, ensuring security does not end with the platform components. The infrastructure on which these components are deployed plays a crucial role in maintaining a secure environment. One key aspect of this infrastructure is the web server configuration. Even the most secure platform can be compromised if the underlying web server is not configured correctly.  The Importance of Web Server Security HeadersAmong the critical elements of web server configuration are security headers. These headers provide an additiona

In order to easily package, ship, and run applications as lightweight, portable, and self-sufficient as possible, there is Docker. Docker allows us to run applications virtually everywhere. Therefore this blog post gives some guidance on how Thinkwise applications can be containerized.There are numerous approaches in how you might want to set up your Docker environment, so we will mainly focus on:Running Universal independently; Running Indicium independently; Running Indicium and Universal together.At the end of this post, we will uncover our future plans and what we're currently researching/developing. PrerequisitesTo follow along, you'll need to have:Docker installed on your desktop or server (for Linux containers); Universal downloaded from TCP; Indicium downloaded from TCP.

Hi everyone,The latest Windows security update (KB5035853) has been linked to instances of Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors for Windows 11 users. These errors can also occur when using the Thinkwise Windows GUI.More information here: Windows 11 Update Causing Serious Problems For Millions Of PC Users (forbes.com)For users who have not yet installed the update (KB5035853), it is recommended to postpone the installation until Microsoft releases a possible fix. For users currently experiencing BSOD errors or Thinkwise application issues after installing the update, we recommend uninstalling the update using standard Windows update uninstall procedures.Microsoft has acknowledged that it is investigating these issues and is expected to provide a fix in the near future. 

The Thinkwise Platform offers a wide range of integration options, allowing you to connect your application to virtually any third-party application, tool or service.In many cases this can be done using out-of-the-box integrations: ready-made components, controls, and connectors to integrating with, for example, Microsoft Exchange, Maps, OpenID, AI and barcode scanning. For all other integration needs, the platform provides generic connectors that allow you to connect to web services or APIs, databases, cloud services, and more.We are often asked which integrations have already been realized by us or our customers, and whether there are any solutions that we recommend for specific use-cases. In this blog post we list a number of implemented integrations that are known to work well in combination with the platform.This article focuses on functional integrations with Thinkwise applications. In addition, the platform also offers many DevOps-related integra

We're excited to invite you to the Thinkwise Developer Event 2024 on April 18th at Van der Valk Amersfoort-A1 in Amersfoort. Expect a day filled with the newest features, opportunities to connect with fellow users, and practical sessions aimed at boosting your skills.Please click here for more details and to confirm your attendance.Schedule: 09:30 - 10:00 Walk-in 10:00 - 10:15 Welcome 10:15 - 11:00 Navigating the Next Wave of AI Innovation with Vincent Everts

UPDATEApple has reverted its decision and will continue to support Progressive Web Apps 🎉.Update on apps distributed in the European Union - Support - Apple DeveloperOriginal messageWith the latest beta release of iOS 17.4, Apple has restricted the functionality of Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) for users in the European Union. Apple claims that this change is necessary to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the European law that regulates the behavior of large tech companies and prohibits companies from giving their own products or services an unfair advantage over those of their competitors.To comply with the DMA, Apple now permits the use of alternative browser engines - other tha

When I leave my house every morning, I pick up my car keys from the counter and put them in my pocket. To me, this is a very common way of interacting with an object. I grab the keys, move them into my pocket and let go of the keys. But when it comes to our software, this would happen very differently. I would select the Car keys record, put it in edit mode and change a field indicating the location from Counter to My pocket. I would then save the record and.. *Poof!* – The keys are now in my pocket. Very unnatural if you ask me. Editing the car keys? I sound like a locksmith! This new feature, however, will bring our applications one step closer to the real world: Drag-drop of records! Model-driven drag-dropAs with every feature, the definition of drag-drop is a part of the model. To keep things as easy and accessible as possible, no new logic concepts were introduced. The existing

The Web GUI has entered the End of Life phase.As per runtime component lifecycle policy, the release of Thinkwise Platform version 2023.3 is the last version to support the Web GUI. In this blog, you can read about the impact of this change in runtime component support. ImpactAny Web GUI that is still in use today will continue to work. However, upgrading to any upcoming Thinkwise Platform version will not be possible. The Web GUI will not support version 2024.1 and up.Thinkwise will only provide critical security updates for about 1.5 years. When Thinkwise Platform version 2023.3 is no longer supported, the Web GUI will enter the End of Service Life phase. Note that the underlying technologies for the Web GUI are aging, security patches may not always be possible.Furthermore, there will be no further updates to support new operating systems, browser versions and such. The Web GUI may cease to function when the operating

Hi everyone!Applications built with the Thinkwise platform are usually quite large. Whether that means the application has a lot of screens, tables, users, or anything else, there typically are processes in the application that take a while. To inform users of the progress, you can use the procedure tsf_send_progress. ChallengeThe tricky part when having 10, 20, or even more statements inside the process, is to determine how far the process is in its execution. You would rather not manually place the send progress function before or after every statement and assign a progress value. When new statements are added, or removed, all the progress should be recalculated. However, you do want to inform the user and keep the user up-to-date. How to solve this?This exact scenario occurred in the Software Factory application d

Thinkwise Platform version 2019.1 migrated the maintenance of roles from the Intelligent Application Manager to the Software Factory. This migration is in a way symbolic – The developers are fully responsible for creating and maintaining the roles within the application. Before role-based access control was introduced, rights would be granted directly to user groups. When upgrading an older version of the Thinkwise Platform (G9 or earlier), temporary roles would be automatically created based on the user groups to ensure nothing changed for end users. Not everyone replaced these temporary roles with proper roles. An earlier blog was written around the time of the 2017.1 release, which introduced roles and presented global guidelines. Today, I’ll be providing more detailed guidelines for role administration

All the standard indicium API's are expecting JSON and have JSON as output, also most of the 3rd party API's use JSON, therefore I think it would be useful to have some different JSON approaches and examples at one place, please feel free to add your own in the comments.Creating JSONWhen creating a simple JSON statement it would look something like this, this is without data from a table, but for example data you get in a process flow for 1 record and need to pass it to a JSON API.--Having an example variabledeclare @json nvarchar(max)set @json = ( select 0 as Value_1 ,1 as Value_2 ,1 as Value_3 ,1 as Value_4 ,0 as Value_5 ,0 as Value_6 ,0 as Value_7 for json path, without_array_wrapper)The output would look like this:{ "Value_1": 0, "Value_2": 1,

Hello everyone, In today's fast-paced world, effective time management is crucial for staying organized and maximizing productivity. One of the key tools we rely on for managing our schedules is the calendar. With the advent of cloud-based services like Microsoft Graph, synchronizing calendar events across different platforms has become more accessible than ever. In this blog post we introduce new Thinkstore solutions that enables seamless synchronization between your Thinkwise application and Microsoft Graph, allowing you to add, update, delete, and receive resources effortlessly. Microsoft Graph is a powerful API that provides access to a wide range of Microsoft 365 services and data. It allows developers to integrate their applications with Microsoft's suite of products, including Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, etc. Old situationOf course we already have the Thinkwise Exchange Connector which can synchronize the four resources ma

Hi all,Recently, we’ve released Thinkwise Platform version 2023.2. This release includes the ability to apply timeseries forecasting to your data.In our recent release session, we showed a demo application that uses forecasting. This application is now available in the Thinkstore.Simply download the solution, generate, execute and start the application via the Universal GUI.The solution is available under the name ‘Forecasting’The example applicationSince the model in the Thinkstore is shipped with some example data, so you can try it out right away.You will be prompted with a single menu item that shows a small list of articles with article sales for the last year.

The Thinkwise Summit is only three months away, and we're busy putting together an exciting program for you. This year's event will feature engaging keynote speakers, interactive workshops focusing on technology, business transformation, talent, and culture, as well as insights on building a collaborative ecosystem with both partners and clients.One of the (most 😎) exciting tracks at the Thinkwise Summit is the Tech Track, which delves deep into the realms of the Thinkwise Platform and its countless possibilities. This track focuses on technical subjects and cutting-edge advancements.Let us know what you would like to see!We want to ensure that the Tech Track delivers exactly what you are seeking. Therefore we invite you to share your thoughts, interests, and the subjects you would like to see covered during the Tech Track sessions. Your input will help shape the content of the sessions, making them even more relevant and impactful.For example, are you

To make the quality of models in the software factory as high as possible, we use guidelines within Thinkwise for the data model, the user interface and functionality. You can find these guidelines here:https://docs.thinkwisesoftware.com/docs/sf/guidelines_data_modeling https://docs.thinkwisesoftware.com/docs/sf/guidelines_ui_design https://docs.thinkwisesoftware.com/docs/sf/guidelines_control_procs https://docs.thinkwisesoftware.com/docs/sf/guidelines_sql_coding https://docs.thinkwisesoftware.com/docs/sf/gu

Thinkwise Summit 2023 focuses on building sustainable enterprisesOn October 4, 2023, Thinkwise is hosting its third annual Summit around the key driver of transformation: the realization that ‘it takes more than tech to transform’. The event aims to inspire industry professionals on how to build a sustainable enterprise around the core premise that having the right technology in place is key, but also merely the starting point.Previous editions of the Thinkwise Summit attracted an audience from various countries including Japan, Vietnam, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom and more. This year, attendees can look forward to engaging keynote speakers, interactive workshops focusing on technology, business transformation, talent, and culture, as well as insights on building a coll

(Personal story)One aspect that I had difficulty with when creating control procedures, was making them work in a variety of scenarios. The way was to copy already created control procedures and templates and alter them slightly to match what needed to be done. Whilst there is nothing wrong with reusing great solutions, it becomes a problem when the model changes in such a way that each one of these control procedures had to be changed. Only at that point, it becomes obvious that this is not be the way to continue development.  Understanding control proceduresAs I became more and more familiar with the Software Factory, I began to understand that the Software Factory offers a solution I was desperately in need of. When switching the type of the Control procedure to SQL, it will allow you to take full control of template assignments and parameters. But to fully understand it, we need to break it down, let's dive into the definitions of St

As you know at Thinkwise we have guidelines for formatting our SQL-code. Because the guidelines were found to be a bit too extensive, we decided to reduce the examples. In addition, we have made some minor adjustments, so that they are more in line with the best practices of Thinkwise.The guidelines can be found here: https://docs.thinkwisesoftware.com/docs/sf/guidelines_sql_formattingGood luck using these guidelines!

When a developer creates a code template and assigns it to a program object, the order in which the code is executed is often neglected. This can lead to some serious issues, one of which we are discussing today. Deadlocks. A deadlock usually does not occur until a product is used in a production environment. Even though transactions are rolled back and no real harm is done, the developer will often have to solve the deadlock issues with great haste. This blog post will provide some guidelines on how to find and solve a deadlock. In this blog post, I’m assuming that the isolation level is the current default isolation level for products – Read Committed. How deadlocks occur A deadlock will occur when a transaction (A) is trying to access one or more rows which are in use by another transaction (B). Normally this is not a problem, the transaction (A) will wait until the rows are released. But the transaction (A) will wa

Free the world of legacy software; that is the promise that we make. This not only means that we empower businesses to modernize their existing legacy software, but also that we guarantee that newly created software never becomes legacy, ever.  We do this by making sure that all applications developed with the Thinkwise Platform continuously stay up to date, both in terms of architecture and technology. When new technologies emerge that qualify for use in the Thinkwise Platform, we completely redevelop the existing runtime components using these technologies, by first rebuilding all available functionality to guarantee backward compatibility and subsequently expanding on it with new features and possibilities that these modern technologies provide. The current cycle of innovation with the Universal GUI has quite some impact, as we are not only addressing the user interfaces this time, but the entire architecture of the Thinkwise Platform with the enhanced Indicium Appl