Editing Lasso (programming language) (section)

==History==
Lasso began in the mid-1990s when early web developers were attempting to build database-backed websites using Apple's FileMaker Pro. On the Mac platform, there were two solutions: Eric Bickford's [http://webfm.com/webfm.html WEB-FM], and Russell Owens' [http://www.astro.washington.edu/owen/ROFM_CGI.html FileMaker CGI (ROFM)] - both built in [[AppleScript]] and requiring the use of FileMaker Pro calculation fields for formatting. (WEB-FM was subsequently rewritten in C).

In the fall of 1995, independent developer Vince Bonfanti wrote a new [[Computer-generated imagery|CGI]] based on ROFM, using [[C (programming language)|C]]/[[C++]] for improved performance, and using the notion of [[HTML]]-based "templates" instead of relying on calculation fields. This proved very popular in the FileMaker community, and was brought to the attention of Bill Doerrfeld, owner of [https://web.archive.org/web/20030605131907/http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/ Blue World Communications Inc.], a print and website development firm based out of [[Issaquah, Washington]], who bought the [[source code]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/lassotalk/msg/197947/Re+The+Top+ELEVEN+That+Made+Lasso+What+It+Is+Today|title=Vince Bonafonti LassoTalk Post}}</ref>

At this time, Blue World experimented with improvements for the [[Computer-generated imagery|CGI]] in the Frontier scripting environment, which inspired the name "Lasso". Further need for improvement drove the creation of a C-based [[Computer-generated imagery|CGI]] which was later released as "Lasso 1.0". At this point Lasso only worked with [[FileMaker]] Pro 3.x and [[WebSTAR]], and only ran on [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] [[Mac OS 8]] and above.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueworld.com/lasso/documentation/Docs/intro.html |title=Lasso 1.0 Requirements |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19961227172044/http://www.blueworld.com/lasso/documentation/Docs/intro.html |archivedate=December 27, 1996 }}</ref>

Lasso's usage grew notably from reviews in print publications<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/products/LassoPress.html |title=Lasso in the Press (archived) |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030608120807/http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/products/LassoPress.html |archivedate=June 8, 2003 }}</ref>{{discuss|Notability}} and Blue World's hosting of and participation in many email discussion lists, many of which specifically pertained to FileMaker Pro. Blue World also made frequent appearances and was known as a leading company at [[Macworld/iWorld|MacWorld conferences]].<ref>{{citation
 | last = Jim 
 | first = Dalrymple
 | title = Apple offers Connect: Pro2Pro event at Macworld
 | newspaper = PCWorld
 | date = January 4, 2002
 }}</ref>

Following the release of the Lasso 1.2 lineup in January 1997, Blue World and the Bonfantis entered private talks with [[Claris]], the software division of [[Apple Computer]], and owner of FileMaker Pro. Claris eventually licensed the post-version-1.2 Lasso source code, and with the help of Vince and Paul Bonfanti released the FileMaker Web Companion as a component of FileMaker Pro 4.0. FileMaker Web Companion's language, [[CDML]] (Claris Dynamic Markup Language),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://etutorials.org/XML/filemaker+pro+6+developers+guide+to+xml_xsl/Chapter+6+Using+HTML+and+XHTML+to+Format+Web+Pages/6.6+Claris+Dynamic+Markup+Language/|title=Claris Dynamic Markup Language}}</ref> differed from Lasso 1.2's LDML (Lasso Dynamic Markup Language), but was close enough as to offer an easy transition for developers looking to serve from FileMaker Pro through third-party servers<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/news/9.8.97-clarisacq.html |title=Blue World Technology Acquired by Claris |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010430142254/http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/news/9.8.97-clarisacq.html |archivedate=April 30, 2001 }}</ref> and offered more compelling features.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.creative-wisdom.com/computer/FMP/intro_FMP.shtml
 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20041226204149/http://www.creative-wisdom.com/computer/FMP/intro_FMP.shtml
 | archivedate = December 26, 2004
 | title = Lasso provides more features than Web Companion
 | first = Chong-ho
 | last = Yu
 }}</ref>

Including the Lasso-like Web Companion in [[FileMaker]] 4.0 also stimulated growth of Lasso within the Macintosh [[web development]] community. Blue World continued developing Lasso with Kyle Jessup becoming Lasso's lead programmer. Lasso 2.0 was released in July 1997, introducing some fundamental shifts in how Lasso could be used.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/news/lasso2.0.pr.html |title=Changes in Lasso 2.0 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010501134629/http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/news/lasso2.0.pr.html |archivedate=May 1, 2001 }}</ref>

On February 26, 2002, Blue World released Lasso 5, a radical departure from the FileMaker-centric language to date. (There was never a Lasso 4 release; the version number skipped from 3 to 5.) Lasso 5 included, among many updates, a completely rewritten architecture (for OS X, Windows, Linux), and an embedded [[MySQL]] database.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macworld.com/article/1001543/lasso.html|title=Lasso 5 released}}</ref> Though Lasso 5 still spoke to a FileMaker database (but not to a FileMaker Server), FileMaker as a data source remained relatively slow compared to an SQL engine, and was prohibitively more expensive. Since v2.0, Lasso was fully multithreaded, allowing many connections at once, but succumbed to FileMaker's latency or lag in certain operations, and there was no way to get around it reliably other than to make major changes to the data source.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ask.slashdot.org/story/04/08/31/0121250/replacing-filemaker-with-free-software
|title=Slashdot discussion about abandoning FileMaker|date=31 August 2004 }}</ref>

Lasso 5 also added support for [[Apache HTTP Server]] natively under OS X, [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], and [[Linux]], joining Webstar 5, [[AppleShare IP]] (which was replaced by OS X Server), and iTools (from Tenon<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tenon.com/ |title=Tenon |access-date=2005-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828203227/http://www.tenon.com/ |archive-date=2018-08-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref>). (Mac OS 9, on which Lasso had been used for many years, was unsupported). This drove closer ties to a classic [[LAMP (software bundle)|LAMP]] server architecture.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

Blue World Communications released a series of plug-ins for popular Web development packages from Macromedia and Adobe.  Lasso Studio 1.5 for Dreamweaver was a runner-up in MacWorld magazine's Editors' Choice Awards for Internet and Development<ref>{{cite web|title=Editors' Choice Awards: Internet and Development|url=http://www.macworld.com/article/1001745/09internet.html|work=MacWorld|publisher=IDG|accessdate=28 October 2013}}</ref> in 2001, losing out to [[Adobe Dreamweaver]] 3. Lasso Studio for Dreamweaver 1.5<ref>{{cite web|last=Seiter|first=Charles|title=Lasso Studio for Dreamweaver 1.5|url=http://www.macworld.com/article/1015763/lasso.html|work=MacWorld|publisher=IDG|accessdate=28 October 2013}}</ref> was also reviewed favorably by MacWorld magazine, earning {{frac|4|1|2}} mice.  Later version of Lasso Studio supported both [[Adobe Dreamweaver|Macromedia Dreamweaver]] and [[Adobe GoLive]] including Lasso Studio 7 for Dreamweaver and GoLive<ref>{{cite web|last=Cohen|first=Peter|title=Lasso Studio 7 for Dreamweaver, GoLive released|url=http://www.macworld.com/article/1030112/lasso.html|work=MacWorld|publisher=IDG|accessdate=28 October 2013}}</ref> on March 26, 2004.

With the release of FileMaker Server and FileMaker Server Advanced version 7 in 2004 FileMaker signaled a major change in their strategy for serving data to Web sites.  They emphasized XML-XSLT, ODBC, and JDBC connectivity, but only through the more expensive FileMaker Server Advanced product.<ref>{{cite web|title=FileMaker Server 7 Advanced Now Available|url=http://www.cmo.com.au/mediareleases/6711/filemaker-server-7-advanced-now-available/|work=CMO|accessdate=28 October 2013}}</ref>  Blue World began to distance the Lasso language from FileMaker and Apple.  In 2005, Lasso Pro received MySQL Network certification<ref>{{cite web|last=Cook|first=Brad|title=Lasso Pro receives MySQL Network certification|url=http://www.macworld.com/article/1042860/lasso.html|work=MacWorld|publisher=IDG|accessdate=28 October 2013}}</ref> demonstrating the importance of the popular open source database to the future of Lasso.

On August 1 of 2004, Bill Doerrfeld officially sold the Lasso product line to OmniPilot Software, Inc. in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Lasso 7.0.3 was the last version of Lasso released by Blue World.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/Omnipilot-Acquires-Lasso-Product-Line-From-Blue-World-Communications-Inc|title=OmniPilot Software acquisition article}}</ref>

On October 25, 2004, OmniPilot officially announced the release of Lasso 8, a version including sandboxing for multiple sites on the same server and connectivity to many new datasources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macworld.com/article/1040256/lasso.html|title=Lasso 8 release announcement}}</ref> This also included the first "free" version of Lasso limited to IP addresses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/Omnipilot-Offers-Lasso-Developer-85-For-Free
 | title = 8.5 for free
 | newspaper = MacNN
 }}</ref> OmniPilot followed this release with a number of complementary products, including Lasso Studio 8 for Dreamweaver and GoLive<ref>{{cite web|last=Cohen|first=Peter|title=Lasso Studio 8 for Dreamweaver & GoLive released|url=http://www.macworld.com/article/1043914/lassostudio8.html|work=MacWorld|publisher=IDG|accessdate=28 October 2013}}</ref> on March 28, 2005, Lasso Studio for [[Eclipse (software)|Eclipse]], ChartFX integration and a number of free Lasso-based solutions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macnn.com/search/omnipilot/
 | title = List of releases by OmniPilot on MacNN
 | newspaper = MacNN
 }}</ref>

In 2007, three OmniPilot employees, Kyle Jessup (the original developer of Lasso 1.0), Fletcher Sandbeck (an early employee of Blue World known for regular Tips and Tricks) and Kerry Adams (an employee of OmniPilot) created a new company, LassoSoft LLC, to purchase the intellectual property of Lasso from OmniPilot and continue development.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/03/05/omnipilot.sells.lasso/
 | title = LassoSoft acquires OmniPilot's Lasso
 | newspaper = MacNN
 | date = March 5, 2007
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/Lassosoft-Acquires-OmniPilot-And-The-Lasso-Product-Line|title=LassoSoft LLC acquisition article}}</ref> Recognizing the need to be competitive against much more popular languages such as PHP and [[Active Server Pages|ASP]], radical changes in architecture, syntax and structure were made and released as Lasso 9.0. Technical challenges caused by these changes, coupled with limited marketing resources, led to significant community decline as the company struggled to release documentation and support for the new language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/lassotalk/msg/258902/What+I+hope+Lassosoft+is+doing+right+now
 | title = What I hope Lassosoft is doing right now
 | first = Lars
 | last = Gunderson
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bildr.no/view/730908
 | title = Graph of LassoTalk community decline
 | first = Lars
 | last = Gunderson
 }}</ref>

In December 2010 a new Canadian company LassoSoft Inc. was formed, which bought and invested heavily in the Lasso 9.0 language, marketing and documentation. Kyle Jessup agreed to stay on as both Lasso's Lead Developer and [[Benevolent Dictator for Life]]. Several releases (9.1 and 9.2) have released further developments in recent years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/7277/lasso-server|title=9.2 Release}}</ref>

===Release history===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Key
! Color
! Meaning
! Development
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| Red
| Old release
| No development
|-
| style="background:#FCED77;"| Yellow
| Stable release
| Security fixes
|-
| style="background:#a0e75a;"| Green
| Stable release
| Bug and security fixes
|-
| style="background:skyBlue;"| Blue
| Future release
| New features
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:70px;"| Version
! style="width:100px;"| Release date
! Notes
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| ROFM||>1994-03-14||Russell Owens' FileMaker CGI, early AppleScript-based connector for FileMaker Pro databases
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 0.1||Sep-1995||CGI connector written by Vince Bonafonti in C/C++ to connect FileMaker Pro to the web
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 1.0||27-Sep-1996||Connector for FileMaker Pro 3.x and WebSTAR<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueworld.com/ |title=First Version of Lasso Released |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19961019190348/http://www.blueworld.com/ |archivedate=October 19, 1996 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueworld.com/lasso/Lasso%20Manual.pdf |title=Lasso 1.0.4 Manual |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19961227171843/http://www.blueworld.com/lasso/Lasso%20Manual.pdf |archivedate=December 27, 1996 }}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 1.1||Dec-1996||WebSTAR plug-in, client browser information, complete GUI security layer<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueworld.com/lasso/ |title=Lasso 1.1 Released |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19961227162936/http://www.blueworld.com/lasso/ |archivedate=December 27, 1996 }}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 1.2||Jan-1997||Source code licensed to Claris (Apple Computer Inc), named CDML, installed in Claris Homepage
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 2||17-Jul-1997||Included mathematical calculations, variables, complex data types, server side includes, client header information, advanced conditional statements, a Java-client interface, Apple Events control for other applications on the web server, multiple database actions, and Instant Web Publishing<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blueworld.com/blueworld/news/lasso2.0.pr.html |title=Lasso 2.0 Release |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030612124837/http://blueworld.com/blueworld/news/lasso2.0.pr.html |archivedate=June 12, 2003 }}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 2.5||1-Dec-1997||Added tag standardization and interoperability, ability to communicate with the [[WebTen]] web server (a port of [[Apache HTTP Server]] to the Mac OS by Tenon Intersystems)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueworld.com/ |title=Broken Link to MacWeek Review |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19980422040818/http://www.blueworld.com/ |archivedate=April 22, 1998 }}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 3.0||07-Oct-1998||Added data validation filters, macros, file/directory management, date/time controls, list variables, multiple named tokens, robust error handling, MIME email, email attachments, extended math routines, enhanced string functions, enhanced encoding controls<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blueworld.com/blueworld/news/10.7.98-L3Release.html |title=Lasso 3.0 Released |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030612040411/http://blueworld.com/blueworld/news/10.7.98-L3Release.html |archivedate=June 12, 2003 }}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 3.5||14-Apr-1999||Added [[WYSIWYG]] authoring using Macromedia Dreamweaver 2 and Adobe GoLive 4, multithreading, LJAPI, optional HTTP server, support for Netscape server, JavaScript, XML and advanced tag parser with built-in debug controls<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/news/4.14.99-Lasso3.5Ship.html |title=Lasso 3.5 Released |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030608113803/http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/news/4.14.99-Lasso3.5Ship.html |archivedate=June 8, 2003 }}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 3.6||5-Jan-2000||Support for FileMaker 5 Data Sources, SQL wizard for interactive SQL queries, customizable global error pages and Studio for MacroMedia DreamWeaver<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blueworld.com/blueworld/news/01.05.00-LassoWDE3.6Ship.html |title=Lasso 3.6 Release |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030611094829/http://blueworld.com/blueworld/news/01.05.00-LassoWDE3.6Ship.html |archivedate=June 11, 2003 }}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 3.6.5||1-Oct-2000||Added connector for MySQL, Red Hat and OS X support<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blueworld.com/blueworld/news/10.02.00LassoLite365.html |title=Lasso 3.6.5 Released |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030611230547/http://blueworld.com/blueworld/news/10.02.00LassoLite365.html |archivedate=June 11, 2003 }}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 5||26-Feb-2002||Rewritten architecture for OS X, Windows, Linux, with embedded MySQL; added sessions, file manipulation, native connector for Apache, and LassoScript (adding "scripting" methodology to the language)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/news/02.26.02-LP5Release.html |title=Lasso 5.0 Release |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030802080855/http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/news/02.26.02-LP5Release.html |archivedate=August 2, 2003 }}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 6||17-Sep-2002||Added imaging, PDF manipulation, native XML, FTP integration, date math, durations<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/news/09.04.02-L6ProdLine.html |title=Lasso 6.0 Released |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030622143136/http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/news/09.04.02-L6ProdLine.html |archivedate=June 22, 2003 }}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 7||30-Aug-2004||MySQL externalized (due to licensing), FileMaker closed connector
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 7.1||13-Sept-2004||Added compatibility with Filemaker Pro 7<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/Omnipilot-Announces-Lasso-Professional-71-Compatible-With-Filemaker-Pro-7|title=Lasso 7.1 Release (copy)}}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 8||25-Oct-2004||Lasso Server broken down into separate "sites" for hosting providers
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 8.1||19-Sep-2005||Added document caching, stability fixes<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/Omnipilot-Announces-Lasso-Professional-81|title=Lasso 8.1 Released}}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 8.5||9-Jun-2006||Added full AJAX integration, multiple data source connectors pre-installed for FileMaker, FileMaker Server Advanced, MySQL, SQLite, MS SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle, PostgreSQL, OpenBase, ODBC, and Apple's Spotlight engine<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/Lasso-Professional-Server-85-Officially-Released|title=Lasso 8.5 Released}}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 9||29-Jan-2010||Major architectural change: more syntax, strong-typing vs. weak-typing, JIT compiling, native serializing, 64-bit support<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/News-Update-Jan-29-2010|title=Lasso 9 Release}}</ref>
|-
| style="background:#a0e75a;"| 8.6||20-Apr-2011||Speed, stability increased<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/lasso-8_6-release|title=Lasso 8.6 Release}}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 9.1||11-Jul-2011||New administration interface, 64-bit connector, new SAS licensing<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/Lasso-9-1-Product-Release|title=Lasso 9.1 Release}}</ref>
|-
| style="background:salmon;"| 9.2||1-Jun-2012||Windows support added, integrated debugging, integrated code profiling<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/News-Lasso-Server-92-Released|title=Lasso 9.2 Release}}</ref>
|-
| style="background:#a0e75a;"| 9.3||23-Jan-2015||New admin interface, new compilation methodology, centralized server deployment<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lassosoft.com/lasso-9-3-release-notes|title=Lasso 9.3 Release}}</ref>
|}