Editing Clarion (programming language)

{{More citations needed|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox programming language
|name=Clarion
|logo=
|screenshot=
|caption=
|paradigms=[[Imperative programming|Imperative]], [[Structured programming|structured]], [[Object-oriented programming|object-oriented]]
|family=[[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]]
|author=Bruce Barrington
|developer=Jensen & Partners International (JPI), Clarion International, SoftVelocity
|released={{Start date and age|1986|04}}
|latest release version=11
|latest release date={{Start date and age|2018|10}}
|latest preview version=
|latest preview date=
|operating system=[[DOS]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]
|platform=[[IA-32]]
|language=English
|license=[[Proprietary software|Proprietary]]
|website={{URL|www.softvelocity.com}}
}}

'''Clarion''' is a commercial, proprietary, [[fourth-generation programming language]] ('''4GL'''), [[Multi-paradigm programming language|multi-paradigm]], [[programming language]] and [[integrated development environment]] ('''IDE''') from SoftVelocity used to program database applications. It is compatible with ''indexed sequential access method'' ([[ISAM]]), ''Structured Query Language'' ([[SQL]]), and ''[[ActiveX Data Objects]]'' ('''ADO''') data access methods, reads and writes several flat file desktop database formats including [[ASCII]], [[comma-separated values]] ('''CSV'''), [[DOS]] (binary), [[FoxPro]], [[Clipper (programming language)|Clipper]], [[dBase]], and some relational databases via [[ODBC]], [[Microsoft SQL Server]], Sybase [[SQL Anywhere]], and [[Oracle Database]] through the use of accelerated native database drivers, and [[XML]], Clarion can be used to output to [[HTML]], [[XML]], [[plain text]], and Portable Document Format ([[PDF]]), among others.

The Clarion development environment ('''IDE''') runs on the Clarion language. The IDE provides code generation facilities via a system of templates which allow programmers to describe the program from an abstract level higher than code statements. The generator then turns this higher level into code, which in turn is then compiled and linked using a normal [[compiler]] and linker. This generation layer is sometimes referred to as 4GL programming. Using the generation layer is optional. It is possible to create programs fully at the code level ('''the so-called 3 Lager),''' bypassing all code generation facilities.

If the templates are used to generate code, then programmers are able to inject their own code into the generated code to alter, or extend, the functions offered by the template layer. This process of embedding code can be done while viewing the surrounding generated code. This mixing of template code and generated code allows the template settings to be updated, and the code regenerated, without loss of the embedded code.

The templates (from which the code is generated) are provided in source form and developers are free to create their own templates. Many templates have been written by various developers: some are offered as commercial add-ons, and some are free.

Two main Clarion products exist: Professional and Enterprise Edition.

==History==
The first release of the Clarion language was a DOS product named Clarion 1.0 and was first released in April 1986. Clarion was created by Bruce Barrington, one of the founders of healthcare firm "HBO & Company" (later acquired by [[McKesson Corporation]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mckesson.com/en_us/McKesson.com/About%2BUs/Our%2BCompany/Our%2BHistory.html |title=Health Care Services Leader McKesson's History: Our History |publisher=McKesson |access-date=2012-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313161739/http://www.mckesson.com/en_us/McKesson.com/About+Us/Our+Company/Our+History.html |archive-date=2012-03-13 |url-status=dead}}</ref>) and a small team of developers. Barrington's goal was to create a language that would be compact and expressive, and would maximize the use of the memory-mapped screen of the IBM PC by creating a screen designer. Version 1 produced [[p-code]]; the initial release included a screen designer, an interpreter, an editor, and a debugger. Initially it supported databases composed of DAT files which was Clarion’s proprietary ISAM file format. Bruce Barrington formed Barrington Systems and released version 1.0. 

In 1991 Barrington licensed compiler technology from a company named Jensen & Partners International (JPI). JPI was founded in 1987 by Niels Jensen, who had earlier (1979 or 1981) been one of the founders of [[Borland]]. [[Philippe Kahn]] was the marketing person who built Borland around the $49 [[Turbo Pascal]] compiler. Niels and his team were working on a new compiler technology at Borland when Kahn decided to buy Wizard C, and name it Turbo C. Niels and several other developers left Borland and started JPI, where they continued to work on their compiler technology, named TopSpeed, which they bought from Borland for $1.7 million.

During this time the relationship between Clarion Software and JPI grew closer, and on April 30, 1992, Clarion merged with JPI to form an entity which would eventually be named TopSpeed Corporation. Employees at the TopSpeed Development Centre in London went to work on CDD and resolved many of the bugs.

Clarion 12 is the latest version, released on May 15, 2025<ref>{{Cite web |last=rzaunere |date=2025-05-15 |title=Clarion 12 is released |url=https://clarionsharp.com/blog/clarion-12-is-released/ |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=Clarion |language=en-US}}</ref>. 

==Notability==
Clarion is historically known as being one of the first 4GL computer programming tools, first developed in the 1980s.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

==Reception==
''[[InfoWorld]]'' in 1986 criticized Clarion's requirement of a hardware [[dongle]] and inability to produce standalone compiled code, reporting its p-code as slower than compiled [[Turbo Pascal]] but faster than interpreted dBASE III Plus. The magazine found the language's features comparable to dBASE's, easy to learn, fast to develop with, and with excellent technical support, but needing more and better documentation.<ref name="petreley19860811">{{Cite magazine |last=Petreley |first=Nicholas |date=1986-08-11 |title=Clarion Is Promising For Database Applications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zi8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q&f=true |access-date=2025-05-01 |magazine=InfoWorld |pages=37-39 |volume=8 |issue=32}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|www.softvelocity.com}}, SoftVelocity

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Fourth-generation programming languages]]
[[Category:Table-oriented programming]]