Getting Round The Crash

I'm sure you know this one, don't you?

If, in any Windows version of DataEase or Ffenics, you are happily developing away and you get the dreaded "Exception" message to tell you that all the work you just didn't save is heading down to Rio, then:

1. Curse
2. Curse again
3. Click the DataEase or Ffenics screen behind the message BEFORE you click ok, and
4. Go File -- Save/Save As, etc
5. Now click the GPF ok button to bomb out of your application.

You might even find you can continue working for a bit with that dialog box on screen ... but you might not get a second chance, so save, bomb out, and jump back in again.

Can 't guarantee it will always work, but as you only lifeline when this happens, always worth trying!

You live and Learn

Just found out something I didn't know re scripting.

If you are in the object about which you are scripting, you can omit the object name.

So, for example, if this is the ValueChanged event for FieldA, you DON'T need:

FieldA.Fill.Color.Red := 255 . etc

But can get away with:

Fill.Color.Red := 255 .

Show () .

Which saves some typing!

(I will also save some typing by NOT going back to old articles and blogs to adjust code. Sorry!)

More importantly, it means that a lot of scripts can be generic, as long as they reference the properties and methods of the current object, and that you are pasting them into objects that have those properties and methods.

Time at the Piano in New York

Just uploaded a new article to my website about my time in New York working on the World Trade Center disaster, and developing a new application for the Office of Chief Medical Examiner.

I think this is the third version I have written. The first appeared in Dialogue Magazine circa Winter 2001/2002, and I have no idea how to get hold of a copy.

The second was included in a volume of writings post 9/11 called 'On The Ground After 9/11' (ISBM: 789029073).

In this version, amongst other things, I compare DataEase and Ffenics to a piano, and the consultant to a pianist. A piano can't do everything. But compare the solo piano version of 'Rhapsody in Blue' to the full orchestral score, for example, and it is clear that on its own it does a pretty good version.

Similiarly, the piano is not every instrument, but is still a damn good solo instrument for beginner and virtuoso alike.

So it is with Ffenics. In the hands of a good solo performer, you can put together a pretty decent application to solve your small business needs.

Even in the hands of a rank amateur, does it not make a pleasing sound?