Finally, is an understatement. In December 2014, I decided it was time for version 2 of MQ Visual Edit. I had already done sketches of what MQ Visual Edit V2 should look like a couple of years earlier, so it was time to get rolling on the coding of it.

I decided that version 2 was going to fix everything, inside and out, that was wrong or just implemented poorly and at the same time give MQ Visual Edit a face-lift. I figured it would take roughly 6-8 months and I wanted a working beta for MQ Technical Conference v2.0.1.5 (MQTC). Well, MQTC v2.0.1.5 was held at the end of September 2015 and clearly I missed that deadline!!!

Without a doubt, I totally underestimated the amount of work involved in rewriting the internals and creating a new face (GUI) for MQ Visual Edit. Most of the work involved redoing the GUI frames, windows and panels. MQ Visual Edit V2 uses Docking Frames for the framework and MiGLayout for the component layout of the windows and panels. My goal was to really push the visual bounds and to provide lots of information without overloading the user. Have a look at the screen-shots below (click on the image to see a larger image) and see what I’m talking about. Note: MQ Visual Edit V2 is NOT an Eclipse based product. The frame presentation is done with the open source product ‘Docking Frames’. Very cool. 🙂

My aim with MQ Visual Edit V2 was to use the built-in MQ classes of IBM MQ V8 and stop using my own homegrown MQ classes (where possible). If you read some of my previous blog postings, you will note that I have had difficulty with a couple of MQ classes (i.e. MQMD) and decided to continue to use my own. I have even had issues with creating custom MQ classes which the MQ Knowledge Center says works.

So, if you are an active MQ Visual Edit user (i.e. daily user) and would like to try out a beta of MQ Visual Edit V2 then send an email to support@capitalware.com . Note: It is a beta, so be warned things will not be perfect. Also, MQ Visual Edit V2 will install in a different directory with different icons, so you can actually have the beta and the older version of MQ Visual Edit installed on your PC.

Here’s a screen-shot of the main window (click on the image to see a larger picture):

Here’s screen-shots of the insert and message edit windows (click on the image to see a larger picture):

Insert	Message Edit
Message Descriptor	Named Properties

Starting with MQ Visual Edit V2, the licensing model will change to be subscription based model meaning there will be no upfront software cost, only a yearly subscription fee.

Why am I changing the licensing model? In 2003, when MQ Visual Edit V1 was launched, I created a reverse pyramid scheme without realizing it. By reverse pyramid scheme, I mean, the users who purchase licenses today, are actually paying for the support of the users who purchased MQ Visual Edit years and years ago. i.e. The users at the bottom of the pyramid are reaping the benefits and are not paying for new releases, bug fixes, patches, etc. Hence, I need to bring the licensing model in line for the next 13 years.

I’ll write more about the subscription licensing model in the future.

Regards,
Roger Lacroix
Capitalware Inc.