Quickly set up a Linx Dev Environment

To start building with Linx, you require an environment with some packages installed and configured. There are a couple of key programs that should be installed, and some that also makes your life a lot easier. The programs are:

Windows

Linx is build upon the .Net Framework and requires Windows to run it. I’d recommend Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and Windows Server 2012.

As I prefer to ring-fence my development, I normally create Virtual Machines to work on. Linx works perfectly in this setup. Set your network adapter as a Bridged adapter, and your VM will look like any other PC on your network.

Another option I use is to create an instance on a Cloud Network (i.e. Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure). Linx works perfectly on these as well.

Linx

You need to download and install Linx on your Windows. Keep note of the Port number and Password you select during the installation, as you’ll need it when you want to access your Linx Server.

SQL Server

7 times out of 10 you will be using Linx to access an SQL server. Linx will work with most common Database servers (MS SQL, MySQL, Mongo, etc).

My setup normally includes a copy of MS SQL Express, as it’s free to use, quite powerful and also easily available from Amazon Web Services or Azure.

Stadium

Stadium is a related building app to Linx, and also provides the user with an easy way to build a web-based user interface, without any programming (other than SQL scripting). I mostly use Stadium as a frontend to test or trigger my Linx processes from. To call a Linx process from Stadium you can use the “Call Web Service” function while doing a Script for a button or link. Just remember to expose your Linx Process as a Web Service.

Notepad++

A lot of time, working with Linx, you’ll be amending or creating text files (csv, xml, etc) and you’ll need to be able to read these files in their purest format, without changing them. Thus, I’d recommend a tool like Notepad++.

Office

Linx provides some Excel controls which is perfect if you need to read or write to an Excel spreadsheet, but in order to check your results, you’ll need Office installed.

Normally whenever I need to start a large new Linx project, I set up a new environment. This helps me focus the work I’m busy with, and ensures that other projects don’t interfere or affect the files I work with. Just remember to make backups of your work every now and again.