Welcome

Welcome to the Curl® Rich Internet Application Platform, Version 8.0.

The Curl platform consists of the Run Time Environment (RTE), the Curl object-oriented language, the Curl Integrated Development Environmen (IDE), and the Curl Development Tools for Eclipse (CDE) which supports the popular Eclipse IDE.

The Run Time Environment (RTE) is free to end users, who can download it from the Curl website. It includes a browser plugin so that any user who installs the RTE can run applications on your web site simply by visiting the url where you have deployed the applet.

The Curl language is available as part of the both Curl IDE and the the CDE, which can also both be downloaded from the Curl website. You can find documentation for the Curl IDE at Introducing the Curl IDE. The CDE download includes documentation integrated into the Eclipse help system. Eclipse can be downloaded from the Eclipse website.

The Curl language combines the presentation features you get from a markup language like HTML with an object oriented programming language and library similar in power and scope to what you get from Java™. The combination makes it easier to write more powerful applications that take full advantage of client-side computing power.

If you are new to Curl, you might want to visit the Curl Developer Center to look at the tutorials, examples, and sample applets. If you are ready to learn how to program in Curl, the Curl language documentation is a good place to start. To learn how to build a richer user interface, read about the Curl GUI Toolkit.

This online documentation is divided into four main sections.

Curl Developer's Guide
Documentation for Curl language and the libraries provided by the Curl Run Time Environment (RTE). Start here to learn all about Curl.
Curl IDE User's Guide
Documentation for the Curl Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Start here to learn how to use the IDE to develop and deploy your Curl application.
Curl VLE User's Guide
Documentation for the Curl Visual Layout Editor (VLE). Start here to learn how to use the VLE to develop the user interface for your Curl application.
API Reference
Documentation for the objects that make up the Curl language API.

If you have upgraded to Curl IDE version 8.0 from version 7.0, see the section What's New in Version 8.0 for a description of the new features. If you have upgraded from an earlier version, see Upgrading from Previous Versions for a description of other changes you may need to make to existing applications and packages to bring them up to date with version 7.0.

Please refer to the release notes for the latest information about issues involving this release.

If you would like to know more about how to use this documentation viewer, see the section Viewing the Documentation.

What's New in Version 8.0

The 8.0 release contains numerous new features. These are described briefly here, with links to the complete documentation.

Decimal Class
Version 8.0 includes the new Decimal class. A Decimal instance is an immutable object that represents a floating-point decimal number using a 96-bit mantissa along with a sign and a scale property. Decimal can represent base-ten numbers between -79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335 and 79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335, as well as a large set of decimal fractions within that range.
PDF Export
Using the new print-graphic-pdf API, it is possible to export Graphics to Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
Touch and Gesture APIs
Support was added for touch and gesture events. See Gesture Events for more details.
IPv6
Support for the IPv6 transmission protocol was added. See, IPv6Address, etc.
Encryption / Message Digest Algorithm Enhancements
Added support for additional cryptographic algorithms: AES and SHA-2 (SHA-224/SHA-256/SHA-384/SHA-512). See, for example: Algorithm.aes-128-cbc, Algorithm.aes-192-cbc, Algorithm.aes-256-cbc, Algorithm.sha224, Algorithm.sha256, Algorithm.sha384, Algorithm.sha512.
Printing Enhancements
Additional printer settings are now supported in the printing APIs, such as in print-graphic: media-source/tray (Printer.get-media-source), color/black-and-white (Printer.get-color?), collation (Printer.get-color?), and duplexing (Printer.get-duplex?).
Asynchronous Host Process API
Host platform interoperability has been enhanced with an API (for privileged applets) to execute native host or shell commands as child processes, and to receive an event when said commands complete. See async-spawn-host-process and async-spawn-host-shell, and the events HostProcessCreatedEvent and HostProcessExitedEvent.
Active Document Container
As of 8.0, it is now possible to embed Microsoft Excel® and similar active documents (.xls files, etc.) provided through an Active Document server into a curl applet. See ActiveXObject.
Code Signing API
Support for code signing is now included, through additions to Signature, Certificate, and SigningCertificate.
Improved Unsigned Integer Support
It is now possible to use unsigned integers (uint32 and uint64) with truncate and floor.
AppletData Enhancements
The debugging APIs have been extended to support AppletData. See the new keyword arguments to AppletData.default: start-in-debugger? and debuggable?. See also: AppletData.debuggable? and AppletData.request-debug.
Curl RTE Startup at System Startup
The Curl RTE now starts at system startup. This behavior can be changed through the Curl control panel.
HTTPOnly Cookie Support
HttpOnly Cookies are now supported, though support is currently limited to Microsoft Windows® platforms. Privileged applets can access HttpOnly Cookies. See get-http-cookies. This functionality can also be used with browser-resident HTTP.
Curl Development Tools for Eclipse
Version 8.0 includes various improvements to the CDE (Curl Development Tools for Eclipse). See the documentation installed alongside the Eclipse plugin for addition details.
Internationalized Domain Names
As of version 8.0, support for Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) was added. See the idn-hostname-to-ascii and idn-hostname-to-unicode procedures.

Curl and Curl Pro Products

IDE License

As of version 5.0, the Curl IDE is available in Curl IDE and Curl Pro/IDE versions.

As of version 6.0, Curl enforces IDE Pro licensing and certain limited-use RTE Pro licensing agreements with SafeNet Sentinel LM™ licensing software. See IDE Licensing for more information on IDE licensing, and Configuring Your Web Server for more information on configuring a server for limited-use RTE Pro licensing.

The Curl IDE can be used to develop, debug, and deploy Curl applets. It includes full documentation, but lacks features necessary for the development and deployment of large-scale, commercial applications. Visit Curl Inc. to learn how to upgrade to the Curl Pro/IDE.

The Curl Pro/IDE includes the following additional features:

Development tools:
- Code Coverage, see Measuring Applet Code Coverage.
- Performance Analysis, see Profiling Your Applets.
- Class Browser, see The IDE Class Browser.
Project deployment tools:
- The ability to generate .pcurl files, including automatic generation of .pcurl files for packages during deployment. See Pre-processed Curl Language Source Files and Packages.
- HTTP Monitoring, see Http Monitoring.
- Deployment with code signing, see Code Signing.
Visual Layout Editor tools:
- Creation of VLE Compound Objects, see Building a Compound Object.
- Creation of VLE palette extensions with the VLE Extension editor, and the loading of existing palette extensions, see VLE Extension Editor.

Server License

The Curl server license is also available in both Curl server license and Curl Pro server license versions. Upgrading your server license to the Curl Pro Server License enables your applets to take advantage of the following features:

The ability to run applets with privilege, see Privileged Applets.
The encryption APIs, see EncryptStream and encryption in the SQLite APIs.
Browser-resident http, see request-browser-resident-http.
Secure http access using the https: scheme, see Reading Files on Web Sites.
Use of subapplets, see AppletData and AppletGraphic.
Automated testing with Mercury QuickTest Professional® (QTP), see Testing Your Applets.

Applets run from the local file system do not need a license and can use all of the Curl Pro features. During development, it is common practice to deploy to a local web server. Server licenses for localhost can be found in d:\automated-build-temp\build\win32-atom\ide\etc\localhost\curl-license-5.dat for a Curl license and d:\automated-build-temp\build\win32-atom\ide\etc\localhost-pro\curl-license-5.dat for a Curl Pro license. For deployment on any web (http) location other than localhost, visit Curl Inc. to obtain either a free Curl license or a paid Curl Pro server license.

Copyright © 1998-2019 SCSK Corporation. All rights reserved.
Curl, the Curl logo, Surge, and the Surge logo are trademarks of SCSK Corporation. that are registered in the United States. Surge Lab, the Surge Lab logo, and the Surge Lab Visual Layout Editor (VLE) logo are trademarks of SCSK Corporation.