These Preview Releases are incomplete versions of our full products. They may do everything you need Helix to do, in which case they should work fine for you. If they do not, check the ‘Non-Functional’ list to see if the function you need is listed there. If something does not work for you and the problem is not found in Release Notes (see the secondary links just above this section), file a bug report using these instructions. (Telephone and email bug reports for Preview Release products are not accepted.)
As we draw nearer to an official release of OS X Helix Engine/Client, we are starting to compile a list of technotes that cover some of the issues related to switching from Classic Mac OS. A page providing links to these technotes is found in the Preview Instructions section, or by clicking here.
Helix 6.1 represents the second stage of our work in updating our code for OS X. Helix 6.1 features OS X native versions of Helix Server, Helix Engine, Helix Client, Helix Utility and Update Collection. Preview Release versions of Helix Engine, and Helix Client are available for both PowerPC and Intel.
If you are not familiar with the concept of a Preview Release, here is some of what that means:
- This release has bugs that result in crashes or other odd behavior. However…
- This release will not corrupt or lose your data. (Otherwise we wouldn’t release it to the public.)
- This release should work reasonably well for most collections. But for some it will not work at all.
- This release is fully compatible with Helix 6.0.x, so you can switch back if it doesn’t work for you.
- This release is not a finished product! It will be followed, during the coming weeks and months, by subsequent Preview Editions as bugs are fixed and dormant features are revived and reactivated.
- If you encounter problems, we need to know about them. We’ve set up a new reporting section of our techdb for this purpose.
The current Preview Release also has a number of regular features that are partially or completely disabled since they are not ready yet. Among them:
- Power Query: The queries function correctly, but you can’t alter them using the Preview Release.
- Document Management: Existing documents can be previewed with the Picture tile and stats can be extracted with the document stat tiles, but you can’t add, delete, or modify the documents themselves.
- Printing: Although printing does work, the output is very low resolution and quite buggy.
With all those problems and caveats, what is the point in releasing it? Consider:
- This release allows you to run your Helix collections in OS X on both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs under Tiger or Leopard. (But only the PowerPC version is being released now, so Intel-based Macs use Apple’s Rosetta translator code.)
- If you own a Helix RADE 6.x product, you have been promised access to the OS X native Engine.
Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
Under the Preview Instructions link above is a page titled About Performance. If you are asking any questions about performance, you really need to read that.
For those working to make sure your collections look attractive in Mac OS X, these Preview Releases give you an way to test your designs. This technote gives a quick overview of the process.
However: the interface for Preview Release products is not complete! We are sometimes temporarily forced to give up Helix interface innovations because wxWidgets or Mac OS X does not support them at this time. However, we are always looking for ways to improve this situation. Do not make final design decisions based on the exact state of the current interface.
You do not have to run Update Collection to use your collections in Helix Engine 6.1. You may easily move your collections back and forth between Helix 6.0.x and 6.1.
Beginning with the June 30, 2008 Preview Release, the Helix Engine is no longer be pre-enabled. If you own Helix RADE 6.x, you can use your free Helix Engine 6.0 license — you’ll find it listed on your account’s Current Keys page — to enable the Helix Engine for PowerPC Preview Release. In order to use the Helix Engine for Intel Preview Release, you must upgrade your Helix Engine 6.0 license(s) to Helix Engine 6.1.
Please take some time to read the various web pages that make up the release notes. The links are found at the top of this page. You might find that a particular feature of Helix you rely on is not currently supported, or is modified in a significant way. Educate yourself before you wade in.
We know there is too much information here for it to sink in all at once. So after you have used a Preview Release for a while, please come back and re-read these web pages; you might save yourself a lot of agony. These pages are updated as we add new information. New information is highlighted this way and obsolete information this way.
And be sure to check out the Help menu — you will find application-specific help built on the standard OS X Help Viewer format. This is much better than the old Classic Helix help!
And then log in to our technical support database (techdb) and report any bugs you find. We can’t fix what we don’t know about! (Instructions are found in the Download (& More) section of this site.)
These releases are still considered Preview Release software even though the version number does not include ‘pr’ in it.
As always: there are no guarantees as to the usability or stability of this release, and you should keep your Helix 6.x Classic applications around, should it be necessary to return to them.
Helix Engine for Intel 6.1.2 & Helix Engine for PowerPC 6.1.2 (070) are now available.
Changes since 6.1.1: Fixed two bugs: Queries on dates fail (Intel-native only) & Find and Print All in a sequence fail.
Helix Client for Intel 6.1.2 & Helix Client for PowerPC 6.1.2 (070) are now available.
Changes since 6.1.1: Fixed two bugs: Queries on dates fail (Intel-native only) & Find and Print All in a sequence fail.