We have just published a new White paper on the subject of the client-side technologies available in Omnis. An increasing number of Omnis developers are using the web capabilities in Omnis to create applications for a wide number of market areas including trade/retail, travel, service industries and for NGOs. The white paper itself provides a general introduction to the Omnis Web Client plug-in and the HTML-only or so-called 'Ultra-thin' Client technology in Omnis and shows the pros and cons of using each technique for different situations.

The new white paper contains a number of interesting case studies showing how developers have used the Web Client technologies in Omnis to build some market leading applications. These include:

comTeam  ElectronicPartner is Europe's leading alliance of consumer electronics and electrical retailers, representing over 6000 dealers and retailers in 12 countries across Europe; the comTeam built a solution to allow EP members to get timely product info and price comparison from multiple suppliers.

IETC  used the Ultra-thin Client to create their FieldLink application which collects and analyses data for an African girls' educational scholarship program; this allowed them to provide efficient access in the field to stakeholders, even with low bandwidth dial-up connections and old computers, typically found across Africa.

PWS Distributors are a leading UK trade distributor of kitchen components to manufacturers, retailers and installers of fitted kitchens, with over 6000 stock items; Omnis Web Client enabled them to focus on business requirements rather than technology, with true rapid development and problem free deployment.

So if you're thinking of using Omnis to build a web application or if you've ever wondered what web features are available in Omnis, we invite you to take a look at the new white paper entitled 'Omnis Web Client Technologies'. And btw, the latest issue of StudioTips (by Doug Kuyvenhoven of Vencor Software) contains a tutorial that shows you how to extend an existing Omnis Studio app to the web using the Ultra-thin Client, JavaScript, and CSS (note you have to be a subscriber to get the tutorial).

The first of these conferences, EurOmnis, is to be held in mid-October in The Netherlands and is organised by long-term Omnis developer and past organiser of Omnis conferences, Fred Brinkman who this year has put together a slightly different format for the conference.

Together with the usual Studio 101 training sessions, taught by respected Omnis trainer and writer David Swain, this year's EurOmnis conference will feature a number of technical 'clinics', whereby each clinic will explore one topic in great depth, and developers are free to attend whichever clinics they like, whenever they can during the conference. The organisers of this 'Next generation' of conference hope that this format will provide developers with a better and more useful experience, and the chance to learn more about Omnis.

The EurOmnis team has announced several interesting speakers including: Omnis, AJAX and RIAs by Raymond Tress; Using Studio fat clients, web-client and web-services by Sten-Erik Björling; Crystal Reports with Omnis by Wendy Osbaldestin; Scalable Thin Client applications, etc by Doug Easterbrook; External components by Michael Monschau & Kelly Burgess; Oracle and Omnis by Joe Maus; Thin and Fat client web-apps by Dr Caroline Wilkins; Extended Triple-O by Geir Fjaerli; Pixels, colours, icons etc by Mischa Klement; and Error Handling and writing Non-Visual code by StudioTips creator Doug Kuyvenhoven.

Our own senior consultant Andreas Pfeiffer will talk about building a Framework with Superclasses, while Bob Mitchell from our UK office will be there to tell developers about the latest developments in the product.

The EurOmnis conference will be held 14-19 October 2007 at the Parkhotel Valkenburg, in The Netherlands - full details about the EurOmnis conference, including full program schedule, conference fees, and travel info are here: www.euromnis.org, and 'Early Bird' discounts on the registration are available for various dates leading up to the conference, so get your reservation in fast!

Meanwhile the other conference happening in Europe, OmnisCentral Europe 2007, will be held at the end of October in Fulda, Germany. This conference is organised by long-term Omnis developers David Ferri and Clifford Ilkay and follows the successful format of the conference they organised in Palm Springs back in 2006.

The organisers have amassed an interesting array of speakers and topics, and several of the sessions will be conducted in German or French as well as English. The sessions include: Multi-language support & Human interface in Omnis by Jean Marc Azerad; Migration strategies - moving other tools to Omnis by Rainer Greim (a recent convert to Omnis himself); Rapid requirements gathering, Building frameworks, and an Intro to RFID by Dan Ridinger; Omnis Web Services & Data bridge tips by Vik Shah of the The DLA Group; Omnis 7 to Studio conversion by Teije Bakker of VDA; Various web related topics by Clifford Ilkay; Omnis VCS and Business advice with David Ferri; Tasks, Objects & Inheritance plus Studio Tips & Tricks by Brian O'Sullivan; Integrating Python with Omnis by Stefan Csomor; plus Christopher Cozad will be attending but his topic is to be confirmed.

Dr Michael Hufschmidt from RD Germany will attend the whole conference providing Omnis Studio training sessions in English and in German. Bob Mitchell from the Raining Data UK office will also attend the conference in order to bring developers up-to-date with the latest developments in the product.

OmnisCentral Europe 2007 will take place 28 Oct-1 Nov 2007 at the Esperanto Hotel and Conference Center, located in Fulda, Germany, which is less than an hour from Frankfurt. The full conference schedule can be viewed at www.OmnisCentral.com along with prices, travel details, and registration. 'Early Bird' discounts on registration are available at various times leading up to the conference so sign up soon if you intend to go.

Our series of Omnis Webinars covering a whole range of Omnis related topics continues with further dates being added to the schedule. The webinars have proved to be very popular with people who are new to Omnis, as well as existing or long-term Omnis developers: we cater for them all! There is a webinar that introduces Omnis Studio to new users, as well as ones for showing specific features such as the Web Services component, and the Omnis for SAP Solutions product - and many of the webinars include live demos of Omnis, with live commentary and interactive chat for a Question & Answer session at the end.

The Omnis Webinars are free-of-charge, but we require you to signup beforehand. Click here to view the latest webinars.