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13,
Number 2
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Spring
2003
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Winchester,
Virginia
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Project
Budget Manger Joins DMAC As A Wannabe Product
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Three,
four and five-year game plans rarely attract attention.
Too much can happen in the short run.
DMAC
has long range plans for newly acquired Project Budget Manager,
but for the time being it will continue to be marketed to its
existing market. Its “wantabe” status is based on plans for it
to be upgraded to thin-client LAN capability so that it can join
DMAC’s new line of NetBased products.
Project
Budget Manager is expected to be useful to DMAC customers for
planning and cost-control purposes. For the rest of the story,
check out Project Budget Manager at www.projectbudgetmanager.com
or click the link on the DMAC web site.
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Unibase
by DMAC Release 8.0 Now Supports Microsoft GUI Developing
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Unibase
by DMAC, release 8.0, now supports a true Microsoft Graphical User
Interface (GUI) for developing and supporting Unibase data capture
applications on Windows 2000 and XP operating systems. The MUI
versions of Unibase by DMAC, release 8.0, support Windows 95,
98,and ME. Unibase by DMAC retains its 32bit, multithreaded, high
speed display, independent data entry and image entry interface
for keyers on all these Microsoft operating systems.
The
32-bit trial version is on the DMAC web site and the new CD-ROMS
are available for all clients with hotline and upgrade support
assistance. It is a “load and go” type of upgrade. No
persistent (IE disk based files) have changed.
For
the Unibase clients who have built great confidence in the 32-bit
Microsoft Menu User Interface (MUI), it still exists separate from
the GUI entrance to Unibase. In fact, on the very first screen of
the GUI version (also called the splash screen) the choice to go
into the MUI version is provided. Yes, an environment variable
gets rid of the splash screen. Only one new icon is presented to the user – wmenu. This is
the GUI entry point to Unibase by DMAC. All the MUI icons still
exist.
DMAC
hopes this brings the best of all worlds to its clients. Just in
case some clients are trying to get the last little bit of speed
or just use up old hardware, the 16 bit Microsoft Menu User
Interface (MUI) 8.0 version exists and accesses
compatible persistent files with the 32 bit Microsoft
versions of Unibase (and, of course, Samba and LINUX). The GUI
version has on line help. See the related article.
As
almost all users have discovered, GUI is slower than MUI. Newer
operating systems are slower than older ones. Clients should
really think hard before upgrading an old machine to a newer
Microsoft operating system. Fred’s experience (and others too)
is that it will not work. Modern Microsoft takes 2.0 gigahertz and
512 megabytes of RAM to approach an old Windows 95 or 98 in speed.
All
this said, yes, Unibase by DMAC GUI version, and of course the MUI
versions, run on older Microsoft operating systems too . . . mostly. The 16-bit Unibase version does not support the
picklist verb. Windows 95 and some Windows 98 based systems do not
correctly support some of the mouse right click functions.
And
of course, since this is the first release of this new C++ code
written by the next generation of DMAC’s programmers, DMAC
expects some inconsistencies and shortcomings. Report them and
DMAC will fix them if DMAC can reproduce them.
Un-reproducible errors no doubt exist and they will keep us
all humble.
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Conversion
Help Never Stops: <lastkey> Solves A Problem
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Every
time DMAC helps a client move from someone else’s old decrepit
software to the wonderful world of Unibase, we find that different
problems arise. Most
of the time it is in undocumented paths through the old decrepit
software. Some times it is in novel uses of available features.
As
always, DMAC helps work through these surprises for the client.
The control function <lastkey> is now provided to help the
user determine what was the last key entered by the keyer.
DMAC’s new client had a bunch of field edits where the
path through the edit was determined by what the keyer entered –
sometimes as much as in six previous keystrokes. Since the
client’s programmer had exited long ago, DMAC solved the problem
by making the same data available for the program with <lastkey>.
Oh,
well. DMAC tries to help clients overcome these conversion
headaches. The only headache we seem not to be able to handle well
is when the client gives up trying to go forward.
As a reminder for those who think they can rest using
yesterday’s technology let me tell you a story about lawn mowers
that actually happened this spring to Fred.
There
are these five acres around a beautiful building that houses a
volunteer group. The
group is responsible for the lawn. Takes the group six man-hours
with a four-year-old 42-inch, 18 horsepower lawn tractor and a
string trimmer to cut the grass. Along comes an outsider who says he can take care of the lawn
for less than what anyone at the group thought was possible. Wham.
Outsider mows the lawn in 40 minutes and trims in 10 with fancy
new equipment. Need we say more?
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On-Line
Help In Release 8.0 Presents Many Challenges
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On-line
help in Unibase by DMAC, Release 8.0, differs from the Menu User
Interface (MUI) and the Graphical User Interface (GUI). Duh! The MUI gives access to the entire Unibase by DMAC manual.
The GUI gives access to the entire Unibase by DMAC manual. GUI
talks in mouse clicks; MUI talks in menu items.
Ok,
that covers about twenty percent of the Unibase by DMAC
environment. How does one cover all of the information. Leave
it out? No. How does one cover the AID Language? Leave it out? No.
How does one cover the concept of batching and pulling work? Leave
it out. No.
Did
DMAC come up with THE answer? No. But, we tried to get everything
into the on line manual with the GUI in a format which would be
helpful. Recognizing the shortfalls, DMAC will be listening very
carefully to what clients suggest to improve the on-line help.
Just because the subject is not really tied to a menu item or a
mouse click, does not mean that the subject should not be in the
on-line manual; especially since this on line manual can be
printed and become the off line manual.
DMAC
considered using the HTML files approach to the manual. The help
authoring system can produce either a single .hlp and .cnt file or
the multiple html files with just a different click of the mouse.
We settled on the .hlp and .cnt files because we figured they
would be more portable and easier to update on the clients server.
DMAC
plans to update the GUI manual frequently until clients tell us it
is as good as the MUI manual. So if the manual is poor in a
particular area, let DMAC know and we'll fix it and put it up on our
web site for easy download.
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Reaching
Network Printers Requires Knowing How
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Almost
every week now, some client calls and says that they have upgraded
their system and can no longer reach the network printer. No two
upgrades are the same in that the “experts” do it differently
each time. So here are some comments that might apply or might
help get to the right answers more quickly.
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16
Bit Microsoft conventions support the 8.3 naming convention.
So if you want to access the printer with the 16 bit MUI
Unibase versions, using the "compare" command, name the server with eight, or fewer,
character names. And the printer name must be changed to an
eight, or fewer, character name.
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The
32-bit MUI Unibase by DMAC version works with the 16-bit
Version so it supports the 8.3 name convention also.
If the Unibase environment variable for long names is
set, then up to 14-character names are allowed. If you do
this, then the 16-bit versions will not work with these longer
name printers. Also
the 32-bit MUI supports the universal naming convention
(\\server\printer). For the 16-bit version of Unibase, some
16-bit workstations support this; some do not.
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The
32-bit GUI Unibase by DMAC version works with all lengths of
names. The Naming conventions also work. But, if you set up
printer names that only the 32-bit GUI interface can access,
the MUI versions might not be able to access them. But do you
care? The universal naming convention (\\server\printer) is
supported.
Compatibility
between the old and the new exists. The capability exists,
with the newer versions of operating systems, to add printers that the older
versions cannot see. Oh well, forward we go?
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Hey!
Maybe Recession Is Over In the Data Capture Industry
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After
a business downturn, one of the first signs DMAC sees of the
beginning of an upturn is the request for programming assistance
beyond the question answering stage. Good! We are starting to get
requests from clients for someone to crank out formats and jobs
for new work.
DMAC
has never been in this market because we do not wish to compete
with our clients. But,
DMAC in the past has maintained a list of which clients need
programming help and which clients have spare help available. DMAC
just puts them in contact with each other – usually west coast
helping east coast and vice versa. So, if you have some spare
programming time and wish to help some other client, let DMAC’s
Lori Breeden know. Jon Klein keeps thinking this would make a good
web page but we are not sure how to do it. Any ideas would be
appreciated.
And
no, no one has talked about offloading keying work. That comes
later in the business cycle.
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WebBase
Heads To Microsoft Servers
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The
pace of technological change is rapid and yet slow. When DMAC’s
WebBase first arrived, it was on a LINUX server. Now this summer
it will be moved to the Microsoft servers. Why?
Reason
number one has to do with ease of client use. DMAC has found that
introducing LINUX into a Microsoft world creates more problems
than with just DMAC. Web masters have a hard time learning about
LINUX in addition to keeping up with the Microsoft world.
Frustrations run high.
Reason
number two has to do with ease of DMAC use. As the next generation
of DMAC programmers got up to a full head of steam the technical
differences between LINUX and Microsoft was splitting them into
two different groups and DMAC is too small to have two approaches
to every solution. How can you tell a programmer that because it
is twenty times faster on one operating system counts for little
when the client wants to use the other operating system? Don’t
have the answer.
So
DMAC is moving its Microsoft solutions to the first rank and LINUX
and Unix solutions to the second rank. All this really means is
that the new products will come out first in Microsoft flavor then
later in LINUX or Unix flavor if a client purchases (and waits)
for it.
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Wrfmouse
Supports Display Independence Features
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Wrfmouse,
the 32-bit flagship of the Unibase screen design programs, now
supports the Display Independence Features that have helped
clients support a wide variety of displays with a consistent view.
In
Wrfmouse the client can choose the target screen density and for
imaging, the display area for the images. Images appear on either
the left, top, right, or bottom. The percentage of the screen can
be set in Wrfmouse also.
The
screen densities chosen are shown as adjusted in the client’s
workstation as they will be shown in the keying process on all
keying workstations, regardless of what particular settings the
workstation has previously set for the operating system. That is
the goal; clients will help us assure that this 32-bit
enhancement, and whatever other changes are necessary to image
entry, makes it happen.
Why
is this important? Well, clients could do this in the 16-bit
environment by telling the screen driver to change density. Now
with the newer Microsoft operating systems (and browsers) the
underlying pixel density cannot be changed. So software must take
over.
Just
stay with the 16-bit environment? Nope. Newer displays have NO
16-bit multi-density drivers. So, no density choices are
available. And old computer and video boards do die. Life moves
on.
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