Software tool developer mrc has announced new "user defined function" (UDF) capabilities for m-Power, a software development tool designed for use by developers and non-developers alike. m-Power modernizes legacy applications and rapidly creates web applications such as report-writing, business intelligence, executive dashboards, e-commerce, customer portals, and wireless applications to name a few.

With this new feature, m-Power users can take advantage of UDFs when building applications. A UDF is a programmed routine that, when passed one or more parameters, returns one resulting parameter.  These functions are reusable objects assigned to perform specific tasks. The languages you would use to write a UDF vary depending on the database over which you are running.

Once a UDF is created, it can be reused in any m-Power application because it is defined at the database level. Since m-Power treats a UDF as a database field, a user can select, order, group, or sub-set information by the result of a UDF. m-Power is the first application development tool of its kind to employ UDFs in this way.

"This is a very exciting and powerful enhancement," says Brian Crowley, mrc's director of development.  "Basically, this enhancement puts the power of the database into the hands of the m-Power user.  Anything you can do with a database language, you can now do with a UDF in m-Power."

Below are several examples of how you might use UDFs:

•     On-hand quantity: Calculate a product's current on-hand quantity by combining several fields in the database and returning the value as a selectable field in the application.

•     Dates are often formatted in one way in the database and a different way in an application.  A UDF will reformat the date in the database and display the reformatted date in the application.

•     Order totals: Give an order number to a UDF and use it to calculate the total value of the order from multiple database tables. m-Power will display the result as a selectable field in the application. In other words, the application will treat the UDF as a selectable field, with the ability to sort or group by the result, even though that field does not even exist in the database.

"m-Power is already a powerful tool in and of itself", says Crowley, "but with this additional UDF ability, the possibilities for m-Power users are truly endless."

Additional information may be found at: http://mrc-productivity.com/members/ in the documentation section.  Or, call mrc at 630-916-0662, fax at 630-916-0663, or write This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

About mrc

mrc's development tool suite, m-Power, is used to create business applications and can run on any platform that supports Java (e.g. OS/400, Linux, Unix, and Windows).  Applications access DB2/400, Oracle, MySQL and MSSQL, or any combination thereof. Using these development tools, users create an endless variety of Java-based business applications from simple queries, to reports, to complex custom enterprise systems and dashboards. mrc was a recipient of the 2004 Apex Award for application development, is a long-time IBM Business Partner, and has been producing award-winning development software since 1981.