I'll better my life as a designer, promised...

As you may read on my blogs I sometimes write for pdalive.com about using my smartphone and evaluating software on it. My last post was about Windows Mobile 6.1 on my TYTN II. Although the update was minor (from 6.0 to 6.1 is a small step after all), there is something in this update that made me realize something important about creating updates of my own software.


There is a couple of things in WM 6.0 that I always did wrong. E.g. when I want to lock my phone, I press and hold the red 'hang up' button. This locks the device so I can't make an accidental call to someone (something that happened quite a lot before I made a habbit of locking my phone). But, when you lock the phone, it locks with the current application in front. Most of the times I want the home screen active before I lock it. So, I made a habbit of activating the home screen before I locked the device. Frequently this means unlocking the phone, activating the home screen, and lock the phone again. But, I also want the first page of the HTC pluging (which displays a clock) active. So, most of the times, I unlock the phone yet another time, activate the first page on the HTC plugin before locking it finally.

Besides all the 'major' improvements in the WM 6.1 update, this is something that either Microsoft or HTC now does for me. Whenever you press and hold the read 'hang up' button, the home screen is made the active application and the first page of the HTC plugin is selected before locking the device. Apparently, other users found themselves performing the same procedure as I did in WM 6.0.

Now, what's all this got to do with my life as a designer? Well, I realized that I was very please to find such a small improvement in a new release of the software. It's not something a sales person can use to sell additional licenses with, but it is a change that makes the life of a uses just that tiny bit better.

I want to add more of such things to the releases of our own software. I want my users to get the same pleased feeling about our software when they start using a new release. I want them constantly thinking: hey, that's great! Simply because a little function or feature just does it's job a bit better.

From a commercial point of view it might be much better to have big new features in your release (like support flow charts in our upcoming main release version 6). But, and that is the promise, I will make sure that version 6.1 will have a big focus on all those little things that can make you go oooh. I think in the end, that will pay off, even from a commercial point of view.

Bye,
Bart

TYTN II Rom update: go for it

I couldn't hold myself. Yesterday some sites (I saw it first on the Dutch site www.allaboutphones.nl) reported the leaking of the offical to be ROM update for my HTC TYTN II. This update should include Windows Mobile 6.1 and - reportedly - speed improvements of the display drivers.

Of course I am also reading the forums of the XDA developers (http://forum.xda-developers.com/) where a lot of work is done on 'custom' ROMs. WM 6.1 is out there for quite some time now. But, since I am still in the warranty period of my HTC TYTN II, I never decided to install a ROM-update, although I was longing for it very much.

But I believed the posters yesterday, telling us that the leaked updates are the offical ones. The story is that they are leaked to have some 'cheap' evaluation with expert users by HTC. Fine by me. So this time I jumped in and installed this update and am now running on WM 6.1 on my TYTN II.

SO, what is it like? I can only say: great! The phone responds much faster, feels a lot quicker. It boots quicker and I get the feeling that the phone has come to life. I never found it that bad, despite my agreement with things stated at www.htcclassaction.org). But having the WM 6.1 update installed I can relate to the frustration of the guys behind htcclassaction.org even more. IMHO it's a disgrace that HTC has sold me a phone for a lot of money that could perform a lot better, simply by installing the right drivers.

Now, I also understand that the improvements are only partial of what the chips are capable of. I'm keeping an even closer eye now on all those hacker sites. I want more of these improvements, absolutely. My call to HTC: make these improvements even better en implement them for all phones. You will gain a lot of respect if you do and customer satisfaction leads to increase in sales in the end. To read my opinion on how great customer support helps sales, please read my blog item on that. I was seriously considering the upcoming iPhone 3G, but this improvement will make me wait a while. At least until WM 7 is out... I hope Microsoft will deliver something that is stunning. It needs to I'm afraid :-)

That's that on the speed improvement. Now, what about WM 6.1. Of course a lot is already said on that subject. Most find the improvements minor. You can't disagree with that, but I think threaded sms, zooming in IE and the overall speed improvement is very valuable. I was getting hooked on Opera mini, but the zooming in IE makes me doubt that a bit. So, here's another call to HTC: make Opera 9.5 mobile available on *all* your phones, not just the Diamond. It will hook your customers to your products even more. Most of us buy a new phone every 6 - 24 months and chances that being a HTC improve vastly if the customer is satisfied.

So, if you're not a hero, wait for the official ROM update, but get it as soon as it's there. It is very much worthwhile. If you are a hero, go get it now.

Google for RUU_Kaiser_HTC_WWE_3.28.405.0_radio_sign_25.83.40.02_1.65.16.25_Ship and you'll find the English update.
Google for RUU_Kaiser_HTC_NLD_3.29.404.0_radio_sign_25.83.40.02_1.65.16.25_Ship and you'll find the Dutch update.


I'm only so sorry for everyone that doesn't get this update on their HTC phone...

Bye,
Bart

Windows Ultimate Extras is a sham... I agree

Today I finished installing Windows Vista Ultimate edition. My machine was ready for a fresh install, something I do about once a year. Since we have a partnership with Microsoft I decided to install the Ultimate edition. Who doesn't want that anyway? I want everything in the Ultimate edition if that's available :-)

When I finished installing this version I went looking for all the extras that I remembered that were promised by Microsoft. I only found the poker game. The DreamScene did't want to start when I had two monitors connected to my portable. After disconnecting the external monitor I enjoyed the videos on the desktop for at least a minute or so. Then I realized that M$ was asking a ton of money for, well, just a handfull of useless things. Yes, more fun, but not for longer than a minute or so. Not worth the money at all. Although I am very MS-minded, I was very disappointed with what MS calls the Ultimate. I found this nice looking website which I wouldn't have otherwise, so there is something good in all this :-)

Btw, I had some problems installing update 2 of the BDS 2006 I am using, but found this article that solved the problem. I had to read it three times to realize I had to start the command box as an Administrator, but I'm up and running now.

Embarcadero: you'd better keep Delphi/Win32!

The storm of postings has died out (a bit), so let's give my two cents worth. First of all: I'm only thinking about Delphi for Win32 here. I'm not particularly interested in the other CodeGear products I'm afraid. So I won't bother you with my comments about those.

All the postings on the aquisition are quite positive about the future of the products, Delphi for Win32 not excluded from that. I'm not so sure though. A take over/merger like this inevitably will lead to a refocus of the future of products and services. Embarcadero will probably take this opportunity to save and extend profitable products and cut those that are not. Now is the time to do so: everybody (employees / customers / partners) will be open for that and will understand such moves. It's common sense, right?

If the above thought is true: what are the chances for Delphi/Win32? Somewhere along the line the following discussion will come up:

(boss/financial manager/commercial manager): Ok, we've cut the number of products. What do we do?
(A): Let's drop Delphi/Win32
(B,C,D..Z): NO! We can't! There are too many developers and products out there.
(A): Well, let them move to Delphi/.NET!
(B,C): That's a thought. Yeah, why not. I never had a problem with that...
(D,E,F..Z): But, that's a completely different way of working for them...
(A,B,C): They probably will have to anyway in the future and most of them won't mind.
(D,E,F,G): That's right, I never had but positive effects since I changed.
(H,I,...Z): But, what about the Tiburon? Didn't we just update the roadmap for that?
(A,B,...Y): If they want Unicode and stuff: let them use .Net. It's the future. And of course, they can always keep using Delphi2007.
(Z): Why doesn't anybody ever listen to me?

I would really hate it if this happens, but - to be open and frank - I could relate to such a thought. Cut the (large) number of products and focus on the ones that have the real future. It would give me an immediate problem (well, not that immediate, there's always Delphi2007, right?) but I would understand it, really.

But, I don't think I would switch to Delphi.Net to be honest. I think C#/.Net would really come into the picture in that case. Give the problems I have to find good Delphi developers (if you know a good Dutch Delphi developer send him/her to me now!) I would really consider leaving Delphi.

Others might go that line too. So, Embarcadero: you'd better keep Delphi/Win32!

Folders kept in use

Some time ago I noticed that a couple of small (conversion) programs of mine showed some strange effect. Folders that were used were kept in use. If, even after closing down the program, I tried to delete the folders, Windows told me they were in use.

I looked high and low for this, but in the end found the cause of it all. I didn't close a Find in the folders. Putting a try..finally in the code did the trick. This guaranteed closing the Find, no matter what. So, if you experience that folders are kept in use, go look for this one.

procedure foo;
var
 sr: TSearchRec;
 ok: boolean;
begin
 ok := (FindFirst('*.*', faAnyFile, sr)=0);
 try
  while ok do
  begin
   goDoSomething();
   ok := (FindNext(sr)=0);
  end;
 finally
  FindClose(sr);
 end;
end;

Bye,
Bart

The top 10 tools every (Delphi) programmer needs

This week I was at a client site to talk about our ways of developing software. Our client uses Delphi for developing their software too and are contemplating using DevExpress' components for their next generation software.

I was stunned to find that (until now) they only use Delphi. That's it. No other support tools or component libraries (apart from the Virtual Tree List).

That meeting inspired me to list the tools I think are absolutely necessary or at least very helpfull in developing (Delphi) software.

1) A professional component library.

As you may have guessed DevExpress is my top one favorite. I hardly need any other components to implement a professional user interface. There is *no* way you can get better results for the amount of money you need to spend on the library. I would always recommend the VCL subscription. It will set you back $500-$1000 every year but you will get a ton of components for that.

There are a couple of alternatives that you might want to look into. I'm sure that I will get some recommendations in the comments on this post :-) Let the list grow...

2) A logging tool / component

Of course you can use OutputDebugString to print debug statements or you can write your own logging tool. But there are a couple of professional libraries out there that already have done that for you (and more than you probably think of at first) and that are extremely usefull.

My favorite is Raize's CodeSite, but SmartInspect is very good also. Again, I'm sure there are others out there.

3) An exception catcher

I don't know another word for this type of tool, but I'm using two actually. Madexcept (which is my favorite, and only $25 for a commercial license) and EurekaLog. It will help you explain exceptions, especially when your software is already in the wild out there.

4) A bug administration tool

There are a couple, but my favorite is FogBugz. It's reasonably priced and does the job very well. It also has a simple but very effectie planning and time tracking feature. It will handle registering the status of issues, mailing to clients, handling received mail, et cetera. Excellent stuff.

5) Version control system

Now, I was perplexed to find that the client I visited didn't use a version control system. I couldn't think of a workable environment without it. We are using Visual SVN Server and Turtoise as a client. Even if you are in a single developer environment you should take the time to set this up. Don't let the costs scare you: it's free...

6) Creating setups

Every piece of software should be delivered in a setup. There's a couple of free (and not so free) tools out there, but we are using Wise for Windows. That's a bit old actually, but does the job very well.

7) Build tools

Now, eventually you have to deliver your software. You can build your software and assemble and distribute the setup by hand, but invest some time in setting up a professional build tool. Once you got the right scripts set up, delivering your software is a snap. We use Automated Build Studio. I actually wrote a testimonial on that which you can find on their website. Good support too.

8) Debugging tools

I don't use many other debuggers from the one in Delphi, but if you need some special things (like profiling the performance of your application), you might want to look elsewhere. We are using AQTime but I don't need it that much to be true. It's only at special occasions that I start that.

9) Unit testers

Every other month or so I tell myself I have to develop some unit tests. I never get to it, but writing this piece makes me a firm believer in unit tests again. I will, honestly, setup some unit tests.... Really, you should do it to.

10) Documentation

Now, here's a bit of plugging our software. How could I ever use anything else but our software for that? Google does it, SAP does it, Microsoft does it, so I'd better use it myself too :-)

If you want more information on what our products can do to your documentation (not only as a technical documenation tool, but for a great variety of documentation needs), please don't hesitate to contact me.

That's my list. What do you have to add, strike or comment?

Bye,
Bart

Opera Mobile Mini browser

My last review of Makayama's webbrowser made me realize I was ready for a new browser. WM6.1 is coming with a tweaked IE Pocket and WM7 promises to be great, but I won't wait any longer. I installed Opera Mobile Mini and gave it a shot. I know it has been around for a while already, but I only looked at it recently.

Now, there's something between Java and me. I always have an eerie feeling when I know I have to start Java and from there I start something else. I know it's me: I'm from the Basic interpreters age. It feels (in my mind that is) clunky and slow and not optimized. I know I'm wrong, but I can't get over it.

But, if there ever was an application that will make me change my mind and (more important) take away that feeling when reading the word 'Java', it will be Opera Mobile Mini. It's extremely fast, renders pages very quickly and will do so (almost) the same as a desktop browser will.

But, what I like most is something I missed most in the Makayama browser: the zoom function. It makes the difference between a good browser and an excellent browser. I can't imagine I will use another browser again (until something new comes along of course :-)).

There's a couple of things I need to find out. I already read how to create a direct startup link to the Opera midlet, but I would like to have it registered as my default browser, so it will launch when clicking on an url in a newsfeed or e-mail message. I'm sure that information is out there, but if you know, please share it with me.

Bye,

Bart

Astraware Platypus reviewed

I was planning to take my time for this review. For once, I would sit down and make a proper evaluation. After all, when you have a ton of work to do, who can afford to play games? Our Office Wii is locked up, our lunch time has been reduced to half, all because of our work load.

So, how come I found time to evaluate Astraware's Platypus? Simple: I couldn't put it down. It's addictive. It's old fashioned in a world with interactive super controllers, tilting phones and jumping up and down in front of a television set. But, that's good! I love the retro feel of the game. It's shoot-em-up old style, and it's completely destroying my work day.

The game is very responsive, you really get an arcade type feeling looking at your business phone. The colors and graphics are nice and it's very playable. Nice things like automatic suspension when an email arrives made me smile. It's a jewel of a game and one that is worth it's money.

Maybe I will update this review a bit later to tell you what things you can find in the city of Collosatropolis. But to do that, I will have to end here and get back to it (now, would that be the game or my work...).

10 out of 10 for this one!

Bye,
Bart

DevExpress apparently will support unicode with their controls

It is not official yet, but in one of the Delphi news groups there was the following reply from DevExpress' Julian Bucknall to a question if they will support Unicode.

Re: Delphi 2008, Unicode and Dev Express

Tony

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:22:46 -0500, Tony Caduto
 wrote:

>Anyone know if DevExpress is going to release versions of the Quantum
>Grid etc that will be Unicode Compatible with Delphi 2008?

Duh . Of course we are.=20

You know you can just email me if you have questions like this. Anyone
can. Heck, I don't even try and hide my email address with DOTs and
ATs.

--
Cheers, Julian

-----------------------------------------------------------
Julian M Bucknall
CTO, Developer Express, www.devexpress.com
julianb@devexpress.com

Personal blog at http://www.boyet.com
Company blog at http://community.devexpress.com/blogs/ctodx
Author of "Tomes of Delphi: Algorithms and Data Structures"=20
Read my articles in PCPlus every month
-----------------------------------------------------------

Kind of makes my day :-)

Spending a lot of time on your support department pays off,

I am using third party controls wherever I can. If I can buy the stuff that I need, we don't need to develop it myself. Buying software components is always cheaper than developing them yourself.

If you look at two component(s) (sets) that I am using (DevExpress Suite and ProfDHTMLEdit) you can tell which gives good value for money. We spent $3000 on DevExpress software and about $100 on the ProfDHMLEdit component. DevExpress is way cheaper for us and I will always recommend that to others. ProfDHTMLEdit has proven to be very expensive and I won't recommend it to anyone.

I'll explain why. But first, let me emphasize that the two software packages don't compare in functionality. The DevExpress package is much bigger and serves quite different purposes then ProfDHTMLEdit, hence the difference in price. But, that's not the point. The point is: what do I get for my money, support wise. And how does that make you feel as a customer.

Another thing to know is that I realize that DevExpress is a much larger company then the single person that supports ProfDHTMLEdit. But, again, that is not the point. The point is: what does attention, curtosy and friendliness do to you.

The Bad Support Scenario
Once upon a time I started to use ProfDHTMLEdit. I was looking for a WYSIWYG XML editor, couldn't find a suitable one, and ended up with ProfDHTMLEdit. It is a HTML editor with no special features to support XML. However, using some tricks and stylesheets I was able to make into the light weight XML editor that I was looking for. Usage of our software grew and I was beginning to get strange bug reports that were caused by ProfDHTMLEdit. I looked high and low but couldn't find a cause nor a solution. I contacted the author of the component and at first he was very helpfull in trying to locate the problems. But, after some time it became clear it wasn't the usual kind of problem and he sort of gave up. I tried to insist, offering to travel to him in Russia, looking for the cause together. But, he wanted a lot of money for that (starting with a 'setup fee' of $1500) and that made me move away from that option.

I tried other components, but there still wasn't a good alternative available. I continued debugging, tried wild guessed work arounds, all to no avail. To make a very long story short: after two years I found help with Marco Cantu and we were able to solve the problem in the end. It was all caused by a memory corruption in the ProfDHTMLEdit control. We were even able to create a good work around for the problem.

I reported this (including demo program of the problem) to the author again and also found that my work around benifitted other users. I have had no official reaction or software update since. In general, the questions asked on the support forum are answered in one sentence, sometimes a single word. No thank you, sorry, did it help? None of that. You feel like you are a burden to the supplier instead of a customer.

I never did a calcuation of the actual cost of this simple, one component. But it must be in the many tens of thousands of euros. Remember the original purchase price was about 100 euro.

The Good Support Scenario
As said earlier, we spent a lot of money on the DevExpress components. Starting with buying the one component pack, gradually we used more and more DevExpress components and ended up with a VCL subscription (worth $600 / year). All in all a couple of thousand dollars changed hands.

In the years that I have used the DevExpress components I have reported numerous bugs and questions with DevExpress. Let me just describe the typical flow of support messages.

1. I report my problem on the website. Using a form I can supply the necessary details, search existing questions and knowledge base. If it is a new problem or question I can submit it.
2. I will be notified when the issue is accepted (or declined) and will be informed when:
1. The issued has been reviewed
2. An answer was given
3. A suggestion for a new feature is accepted
4. The new feature is planned
5. The new feature is actually implemented
3. If the answer to a question cannot be described in text only (in a few lines), a sample project is always supplied.
4. I can respond again using text, modifying the sample program or whatever I feel is the right way.

I will always get a prompt answer. If a solution or answer is not easy to give, they will tell you they need more time. You can track the issues you have opened. You really feel there's somebody on the other side that is working with you.

If I had to pay the hours that the DevExpress support people spend on me, I probably owned them another couple of thousand. And, having such excellent support, saved me a lot (and I mean a lot) of time.

The point and the benefits

Working in a software company myself I can see where the benefits are with excellent and abundant support:

1. Your customers think very highly of you.
2. They will always recommend you to others.
3. Your customers will give you much more feed back, which is invaluable to you. You will know precisely what they want.
4. Your customers will probably come back to you without thinking twice.

And probably there are a couple of other reasons to think of.

In any case (and I have writting that down a couple of times before): the support team of DevExpress is that level of support that we strive for. I can only hope we can reach that in our live time.

Bye,
Bart

Ps: right after posting this, I found an artical that touches some of this

Ps2: coincidence or not? Only hours after I posted this, I got a response from the ProfDHTMLEditor with an official solution to the 2-year old problem... Maybe blogging is gooed for something.

Makayama's Touchbrowser

Now, here's a line that you won't see too often: I love software by Microsof and I love the iPhone. When first reading about the iPhone I wasn't convinced at all about its innovative power. But, once I got my hands on it, I was hooked. I think that the iPhone really is a next generation thing.

So, anytime I read that a piece of hardware or software brings the iPhone experience to Windows I am intrigued and I have to take a look. Now, when the TouchBrowser was announced I was very optimistic, because the pocket version of IE is, well, not too modern. After reading that the TouchBrowser was 'nothing more than a wrapper around IE' my hopes died immediately.

But, after using the TouchBrowser I think it really could be innovative. It eliminates all the clutter and chunky user interface bits that go with Windows Mobile applications. It really is a 'fingers only' application. It performs well and it maximizes the usage of your touch screen. And I love the way you enter URLs; I didn't flip my TYTN II open once to go to the keybard.

However, as said, it could innovative. There's a couple of things wrong and missing. First and foremost, you need a zoom function. You have no clue what is on the page. There's a couple of small scroll bars to tell you where you are on the page, but as you don't know what's on the invisible parts of the page, that doesn't help much.

Other things are minor, but I was looking for that. Increasing font size (if you
are over 40 like me, you need glasses or bigger fonts), better management of your Favorites (you get the IE-favorites), progress indicator for loading pages ("please wait" doesn't help)

There's also a couple signs that it's a first release. The close application button doesn't work, after ending the task via the task manager you can't restart TouchBrowser. There is no home button. The settings page looks clumsy. Stuff like that.

Final conclusion: we're not quite there yet, but I think the iPhone experience will eventually be available on Windows Mobile. It won't be with (this version of) TouchBrowser, but we're getting close. Rest assured I will give version 2 a very close look.

See http://www.makayama.com/touchbrowser.html

Bart Roozendaal, Sevensteps

Alternative to TToolbar

Download sample code


If you are a DevExpress user, like me, you will use TdxBarManager instead of any of the standard Delphi controls that are available. I can imagine that CodeGear doesn't invest anything in (any of) the user interface controls with such many excellent alternatives around.

I am a VCL component developer too (for internal use that is). Most of those controls go with an ActionList for it's functions. The end user can access the functions using (amongst other things) a TToolbar. And one thing that I had not done (until today) is to replace the TToolbar component that I was using for toolbars that are part of the controls.

Now, I might be alone on this, but I think that TToolbar is one of the worst components that is in the standard package. It behaves irratically and configuring at runtime (as I do in my controls) is really a pain. Some years ago I created a subclass that kind of worked ok. But I never was happy with it.

This weekend I took it upon me to integrate the TdxBarManager into the current set of UI controls. The solution took me a bit of work, but I think that how I did might benefit others. So, I've created a demo project that demonstrates how you can use the TdxBarManager as a toolbar as part of your own UI VCL controls.

Unzip, compile the package, install it and run the demo program. That should do it.

If you have any questions, just mail me.

These examples are just a proof of concept and you will need to do some work on it to get it going. My actual code is a bit more complex than this. I might have forgotten something or made some typos.

Writing for PDALive.com

As from this week I will be writing for PDALive.com on a regular basis about things that concern Windows mobile phones. I own a HTC TYTN II myself. Apart from personal experiences I will write about projects and programs that we do that involve (windows) mobile phones.

First project will be an application that will be created to offer the user support information. One of out partners (LearningGuide Solutions) sells training material which is published as an end user support system in HTML and as trainingsbooks in PDF.

The next few weeks and months (probably) we will create a new application/publication that targets Windows Mobile phones. I am still looking for some ways to use Delphi for that, but I don't think that will be wise or possible. It will probably be C# and .Net (which of course is fine).

You might see some copies of articles I will create for PDALive on this blog. I will mark those with a special label.

Bye,
Bart

Class helpers vs Subclassing

In a Dutch Delphi forum I came across a posting that had some sample code using 'class helpers'. At first, I didn't know what it was. Later I realized I had seen that before, but somehow I forgot about those. Class helpers extend an existing class, without subclassing.

I tried to put down why I don't use class helpers, but do subclass frequently. I couldn't (and can't) remember. While writing all the pros for subclassing, I couldn't find and argument agains class helpers. Except of course, you can't override members. It took me a while to realize (again) why I don't help a class, but do subclass.

If anyone is reading this, what is your opinion about the subject? Are class helpers of *any* use?

Bye,
Bart

Rediscovering FogBugz

This weekend I had a bit of a crisis because I couldn't see the forest from the trees (is that English at all?). There is simply so much to do, that I panicked a bit and wondered how to solve that.

I thought it would be best to make a list of things to do. Sometimes that helps to realign your thoughts. First I started typing the list as tasks in Microsoft Outlook, but I realised that I tried that many times before and I simply don't like that. So, I looked further on at the tools we have. I realized that we use FogBugz for storing our bug reports and feature requests, but I could also use it to create my own lists.

I did know FogBugz has a couple of things that we don't use (wiki, discussion board) because I think that user interface is too simple. But I found that, after entering my task list and estimate the time needed for that, FogBugz has a great feature. It can calculate if a planned release date can be met or not. It will also tell you the probability that you will make that date.

Even based on this weekends work it already tells me the probability for the next release (about 20% :-(). I can imagine that, if you use it to plan bigger amounts of work of more people, it can be a really helpfull thing. So, we will be good boys and use that feature of FogBugz and see if it helps.

If you don't know: FogBugz s created by FogCreek, a company with a state of mind much like ours. Just read http://www.fogcreek.com/About.html.

Bye,

Bart

Namechange

We are thinking of changing the name of our company from Sevensteps to 7-Steps. Not a big change, but to see what it would look like in documentation, I will try it out for some time on this blog.

Bye,
Bart

Update: I reversed the title of the blog (and other general info). It probably won't be 7-Steps. Maybe not a change in name at all... We'll keep on thinking

Investements in hardware - continued...

In one of my postings I wrote about investing in hardware. Sometimes this involves a lot of money (computers, beamers, et cetera). Sometimes the investment is small but the gain is large.

Last week we bought a couple of pcmcia Gigabit network cards for our portables. For EUR 25 per card our networks speed increased 10 times! Now, that's value for money :-)

We are currently looking at a new fibernetwork that is being rolled out in our neighbourhood. For a mere 350 euro / month we would get a 1Gb network connection.... That would mean 100x our current upload speed... I canb hardly wait; working at home using a remote connection would be so much more comfortable...

Bye,
Bart

When do you decide to do a redesign of your software?

I'm working like hell right now on the implementation of a new feature of our software in oder to support flow charts. With the flow charts, and accompanying editors and publication engine plugins, an author can add flow charts to describe a business process, work flows and stuff alike.

The flow charts are, in the tradition of the Sevensteps approach, object oriented and stripped from whatever visual markup that could be there. If you want a green flow chart element: fine. But, first create a style for that and apply it to the flow chart object. Want a italic text? Sure, but change the style to do that.

This approach enables us to have a true single source system and reusable content objects in our CMS-es. But, yesterday I was working on the styles editor and the flow charts editors and found a flaw in my design. The handling of actually applying the styles was programmed in the style editor, instead of in the flow chart object. Although the style editor worked beautifully, I realised my mistake when working on applying the styles for the actual flow chart objects. I found myself reimplementing the same code again.

Although I am under enormous time pressure, I decided to change that implementation and moved the code for applying styles to the place where it belongs: the flow chart objects.

It all took another day of my available time for all this (and I am running out of time already), but I am assured to know that later on I will be glad I did it. Right now it feels like time wasted, but I know better than that :-)

I have one rule that I don't move away from, no matter what: if you decide to do something, do it right, or don't do it. If you do it wrong, and - worse - if you know that it's wrong, it will bite you later on. It might take a day, a week, a year: you will regret it.

So, the answer to the question is: you do a redesign if you know that it's wrong. Don't change it and it will haunt you. Do it over again, and you'll be happy in the end.

Bye,
Bart

Upgrading user interface

In the upcoming release 6 of our engine we have added a couple of nice features. E.g. we are introducing a flowchart module which will help you describe business processes and work flows.

But, one of the other things that will be visible immediately, are our new icons. Over time the icon set that we use has become, to put it mildly, a bit out of sink. Icons were designed by different visual designers, I 'borrowed' from Office; you know how it goes.

We decided to go through the entire interface and replace all icons with icons that can be found here:

http://www.famfamfam.com/lab/icons/silk/

This is a free, yet professional set of icons that is used quite regularly. It holds about 80% of the icons that we need. The missing icons will be in the style of the famfam icons.

We also implemented the skinning engine by DevExpress. Although it doesn't make the software any better, it is always nice to have a good looking interface. And the end user can now select from 20 different themes to give the software a bit of a personal look.

Btw: the famfam icons are PNG images. I used the TcxImageList of DevExpress to use those. That gives a much better visual appearance than the good old icons that we all know.

Bye for now,

Bart

Vista solves XP SP2 problem

This week one of my colleagues visited a client at the university of Antwerp to upgrade their installation of Sevensteps software. They were still using version 4.x (which we developed some 5 years ago). It was really time for them to upgrade to the current state of our engine.

Version 4.x suffered from the Windows XP Service Pack 2 upgrade - in fact that upgrade broke our software big time. It was then decided to do a complete remake of our software and version 5 was born. It was a major upgrade for us as you can imagine but one that we didn't regret for a single moment.

Much to our surprise we found in Antwerp that installing version 4.x on Vista generated a Windows error message, stating that the problems were known and if we wanted an update for it. After confirming that - we just were too curious to find out what MS had in store for us - some downloading occured, a new OCX was installed and presto: version 4.x performed as well as it ever did, and some....

So, Vista not only takes you to a next level on Windows, it also solved our old problems. A bit late, I must admit, but it is nice to now that customers with old versions of our software can still us it under Vista.


Bye,
Bart