Lasso (programming language)
Lasso is an application server and server management interface used to develop internet applications and is a general-purpose, high-level programming language. Originally a web datasource connection tool, for Filemaker and later included in Apple Computer's FileMaker 4.0 and Claris Homepage as CDML, it has since evolved into a complex language used to develop and serve large-scale internet applications and web pages.
Lasso includes a simple template system allowing code to control generation of HTML and other content types. Lasso is object-oriented and every value is an object. It also supports procedural programming through unbound methods. The language uses traits and multiple dispatch extensively.
Lasso has a dynamic type system, where objects can be loaded and augmented at runtime, automatic memory management, a comprehensive standard library, and three compiling methodologies: dynamic, just-in-time compilation, and pre-compiled. Lasso also supports Query Expressions, allowing elements within arrays and other types of sequences to be iterated, filtered, and manipulated using a natural language syntax similar to SQL.
Lasso includes full Unicode character support in the standard string object, allowing it to serve and support multi-byte characters such as Japanese and Swedish, and supports transparent UTF-8 conversion when writing string data to the network or file system.
Lasso is often used as a scripting language, and also used in a wide range of non-scripting contexts. Lasso code can be packaged into standalone executable programs called "LassoApps", in which folder structures are compiled into single files.
The Lasso Server application server runs as a system service and receives requests from the web server through FastCGI. It then hands the request off to the appropriate Lasso Instance, which formulates the response. Multiple individual instances are supported, allowing one server to handle multiple sites, each as separate processes. The server uses a high performance IO-based green threading system designed for multi-core systems.
Lasso can be compared to the server-side scripting languages PHP and Python, ColdFusion, Ruby, etc.
Free for development, Lasso allows partial access to its source code, allowing developers to add or change major components of the language. Licensing comes in both SAS and stand-alone versions.
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 , and Russell Owens' , both built in AppleScript and requiring the use of FileMaker Pro calculation fields for formatting..In the Fall of 1995, independent developer Vince Bonfanti wrote a new CGI based on ROFM, using 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 , a print and website development firm based out of Issaquah, Washington, who bought the source code.
At this time, Blue World experimented with improvements for the CGI in the Frontier scripting environment, which inspired the name "Lasso". Further need for improvement drove the creation of a C-based 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 Mac OS 8 and above.
Lasso's popularity grew most notably from reviews in print publications 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 conferences.
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, differed from Lasso 1.2's LDML, but was close enough as to offer an easy transition for developers looking to serve from FileMaker Pro through third-party servers and offered more compelling features.
Including the Lasso-like Web Companion in FileMaker 4.0 helped grow popularity for Lasso in the fast-growing 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.
On February 26, 2002, Blue World released Lasso 5, a radical departure from the FileMaker-centric language to date. Lasso 5 included, among many updates, a completely rewritten architecture, and an embedded MySQL database. Though Lasso 5 still spoke to a FileMaker database, 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.
Lasso 5 also added support for Apache HTTP Server natively under OS X, Windows, and Linux, joining Webstar 5, AppleShare IP, and iTools.. This drove closer ties to a classic LAMP server architecture.
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 in 2001, losing out to Adobe Dreamweaver 3. Lasso Studio for Dreamweaver 1.5 was also reviewed favorably by MacWorld magazine earning 4 and a half mice. Later version of Lasso Studio supported both Macromedia Dreamweaver and Adobe GoLive including Lasso Studio 7 for Dreamweaver and GoLive 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. Blue World began to distance the Lasso language from FileMaker and Apple. In 2005, Lasso Pro received MySQL Network certification 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.
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. This also included the first "free" version of Lasso limited to IP addresses. OmniPilot followed this release with a number of complementary products, including Lasso Studio 8 for Dreamweaver and GoLive on March 28, 2005, Lasso Studio for Eclipse, ChartFX integration and a number of free Lasso-based solutions.
In 2007, three OmniPilot employees, Kyle Jessup, Fletcher Sandbeck and Kerry Adams created a new company, LassoSoft LLC, to purchase the intellectual property of Lasso from OmniPilot and continue development. Recognizing the need to be competitive against much more popular languages such as PHP and 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.
In December 2010, a new Canadian company was formed, LassoSoft Inc., 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 have released further developments in recent years.
Release history
| Version | Release date | Notes |
| ROFM | >1994-03-14 | Russell Owens' FileMaker CGI, early AppleScript-based connector for FileMaker Pro databases |
| 0.1 | Sep-1995 | CGI connector written by Vince Bonafonti in C/C++ to connect FileMaker Pro to the web |
| 1.0 | 27-Sep-1996 | Connector for FileMaker Pro 3.x and WebSTAR |
| 1.1 | Dec-1996 | WebSTAR plug-in, client browser information, complete GUI security layer |
| 1.2 | Jan-1997 | Source code licensed to Claris, named CDML, installed in Claris Homepage |
| 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 |
| 2.5 | 1-Dec-1997 | Added tag standardization and interoperability, ability to communicate with the WebTen web server |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 3.6.5 | 1-Oct-2000 | Added connector for MySQL, Red Hat and OS X support |
| 5 | 26-Feb-2002 | Rewritten architecture for OS X, Windows, Linux, with embedded MySQL; added sessions, file manipulation, native connector for Apache, and LassoScript |
| 6 | 17-Sep-2002 | Added imaging, PDF manipulation, native XML, FTP integration, date math, durations |
| 7 | 30-Aug-2004 | MySQL externalized, FileMaker closed connector |
| 7.1 | 13-Sept-2004 | Added compatibility with Filemaker Pro 7 |
| 8 | 25-Oct-2004 | Lasso Server broken down into separate "sites" for hosting providers |
| 8.1 | 19-Sep-2005 | Added document caching, stability fixes |
| 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 |
| 9 | 29-Jan-2010 | Major architectural change: more syntax, strong-typing vs. weak-typing, JIT compiling, native serializing, 64-bit support |
| 8.6 | 20-Apr-2011 | Speed, stability increased |
| 9.1 | 11-Jul-2011 | New administration interface, 64-bit connector, new SAS licensing |
| 9.2 | 1-Jun-2012 | Windows support added, integrated debugging, integrated code profiling |
| 9.3 | 23-Jan-2015 | New admin interface, new compilation methodology, centralized server deployment |
Code examples
Hello World
Here are three ways to say "Hello world!" on a Lasso page.Hello world!
Square brackets are reserved in Lasso, so HTML entities must be used to show square brackets on Lasso pages for other purposes than marking Lasso tags. Alternatively, printing square brackets can be by Lasso or be disabled by including at the file top.
Inlines
// Find all records in a table
inline =>
Inlines are the basic Lasso tool for database actions. can be issued as above, in Lasso's db-independent metalanguage, in which case the same search code works for MySQL, FileMaker Pro or for any other database backend with which Lasso can connect.
If needed, a SQL statement can of course be embedded in the inline when using a database server that supports SQL:
// Execute SQL statement
inline...
In the above example, the dashes before commands denote optional parameters. These can be specified in any order and generated dynamically; the last of any duplicate parameters take precedence. The inline command supports a large range of parameters allowing developers to interact with databases that they may not have intimate knowledge of.
Custom database connectors can be created which allows leveraging the abstracted nature of the inline command.
99 Bottles of Beer
The next procedural example prints out the lyrics for the song "99 Bottles of Beer".// Define a couple of useful methods
define br => '
'
define bottles => #n != 1 ? ' bottles' | ' bottle'
// Declare the local that will store the lyrics as a string
local
// Use Lasso query syntax to generate the lyric
with n in 99 to 1 by -1 do
// Output result
#out
The next example uses an OOP approach to print out the lyrics when the object is represented as a string:
// Define type
define bottles_of_beer => type
bottles_of_beer