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All in the data entry industry have technical problems daily. This past year DMAC's Development Group has played with a mean one. An explanation of this problem follows. Why give this problem statement? The statement is just to let our clients see into the lives of the developers who work so hard to give them a good product.

Definitions:

A short integer is defined to take up two bytes of memory in the computer.

An integer can take either two bytes or four bytes of memory in the computer. Each manufacturer can decide what it wishes by product and computer.

Problem Statement:

DMAC's 16 bit and 32 bit Microsoft products share the same persistent files. Sometimes integers are stored in persistent files. An integer is two bytes in the 16 bit product and 4 bytes in the 32-bit product. To share they must be the same length. Thus, in more than four million lines of code the integer is no longer uniquely defined.

After a little while passes,

Problem Extension:

If a short integer is mistaken for an integer, then the results differ if the number twelve is stored in a short integer as 12 or 21. Even more problems arise if an integer is stored as 2100 or 0012. Mix these storage ways together and the opportunities for confusion multiply quickly.

Guess What Development Beat Out All Year!

Yes, DMAC's Development Group thinks these problems are behind them. Potential bugs that have been in the code for more than ten years are gone. Why? DMAC is getting ready for the XML persistent files coming to Unibase in 2000.