Post #80,471
2/9/03 8:08:47 PM
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Took on a VB Project, Traveller Character Database
I put a hold on learning new languages until I can clear my head and concentrate better to read the docs and manuals and books for the new languages. I'll have to CDR the files to a disk for later, but I will try and get back to Smalltalk and Delphi, etc. later on.
What I need is a project I can work on and complete to make me feel good. Not one I can sell, but one my friends can use. We play Traveller [link|http://www.farfuture.net/|http://www.farfuture.net/] [link|http://www.downport.com|http://www.downport.com] [link|http://www.travellerrpg.com/|http://www.travellerrpg.com/] for references to the role playing game.
Anyone long ago it accured to me that there is no program that can enter characters into and then print out a character sheet on them. This would be a great gaming aid because players and game masters always lose character sheets and then there is an argument on who had what and what the character has in skills, attributes, etc. With this program there can be no more problems, just update the character in the database when it changes and then print out the character sheet. Lost the sheet? Print out a new one. No more fights with the GM and other players, all records are kept in a database and the player is responsible for keeping it up to date. Later on I can find a way to get the database migrated to be used by a GM and send updates via a file to update the GM database with the player changed records.
But anyway it is a start, I just wrote my first ADO recordset from scratch, not looking at any other programs I wrote for any ex-employer. This is totally from scratch. I had an ADO issue, but I resolved it after looking it up at [link|http://msdn.microsoft.com/|http://msdn.microsoft.com/]
I suppose when I am done I can always convert it to Smalltalk, Delphi, Java, C++, or some other language. As long as I figure out the logic, and code and forms to be used with this program in Visual BASIC.
Learning a new language would take me too long at the current state of mind I am in. So I can hone in my VB skills for now, and learn the other languages later.
The program can be adapted to keep track of GURPS and AD&D characters as well. I don't think that they have a character database program either.
So far I am using ADO 2.6, Access 2000, and VB 6.0 to create this program. I have a copy of Crystal Reports 7.0 I can use for the reporting part of it, IE printing out character sheets, etc.
[link|http://pub75.ezboard.com/bantiiwethey| New and improved, Chicken Delvits!]
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Post #85,137
3/1/03 9:44:57 PM
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I also did a "project"
[link|http://www.schoolmotion.com|http://www.schoolmotion.com] to brush up on PHP, MySQL, and fill in the gaps on my resume with *something*.
Amazing how it is hard to get customers even if you give a service away for free. I wonder how my money-charging competitors (like myschoolonline.com) survive.
Most of the tire kickers are rather young, perhaps students. Perhaps it is an idea too early in history to fly.
________________ oop.ismad.com
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Post #85,522
3/4/03 1:48:16 PM
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It is all in the marketing
you have to show them some value for using your program, or have a catchy web banner that you can pay someone to show for you.
Even giving the service away for free doesn't always help if hardly anyone knows that your web site exists nor does your product exist. Who outside of IWETHEY really knows about it anyway? How have you promoted it? Are you reaching your target clients somehow? It doesn't sell itself, it takes someone to sell it for you. If you cannot sell it, even for free, then you aren't going to have any customers using it.
[link|http://pub75.ezboard.com/bantiiwethey| New and improved, Chicken Delvits!]
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Post #85,143
3/1/03 10:19:02 PM
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Have you considered...
...rather than just doing it "the same old way", and not as extreme as "learning a new language", just trying a couple new things? Thought about trying ASP (if you have Win2K Server or NT)? Might give you a leg up for when you decide to go with a strong OO language. If you still want to go with straight VB, I have some code which allows you to do CGI with VB (VB4, but should work). Let me know.
I recommend this because in my circles, local GUI's are dead, dead, dead. Web services is where it's at. Then you wouldn't need clients to get Crystal Reports, Access, and all that jazz. You could program the back end to use any decent database; only forcing the client to have a decent web browser. That way, when HTML is replaced, rewriting the front-end won't be so hard. Gotta look to the future of your app!
Just a thought.
Many fears are born of stupidity and ignorance - Which you should be feeding with rumour and generalisation. BOfH, 2002 "Episode" 10
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Post #85,253
3/3/03 2:45:10 AM
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I don't see it
I recommend this because in my circles, local GUI's are dead, dead, dead. Web services is where it's at.
Everything is dead dead dead. My resume is full of web stuff: ASP, ColdFusion, PHP; yet it ends up in the black hole, right next to all the VB resumes.
But what companies really want is remote GUI's through HTTP. IOW web apps but with a more GUI-friendly browser instead of the current web standards which are optimized for e-brochures instead of biz forms. Business is just itching for that. JavaScript+DOM sucks eggs. What we need is a decent standard (such as SCGUI rant rant).
________________ oop.ismad.com
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Post #85,267
3/3/03 11:00:25 AM
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We know what you dream about. Talk reality for once.
Many fears are born of stupidity and ignorance - Which you should be feeding with rumour and generalisation. BOfH, 2002 "Episode" 10
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Post #85,274
3/3/03 11:32:14 AM
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Yeah. It's called CSS2
All we need is for either business to go with moz as the browser, of msft to update IE to actually have unbroken CSS2 support. \r\n\r\n You're right, javascript and DOM do suck. CSS2 can do pretty much everything it can do, and do it with a tiny fraction of the code. Take a look at [link|http://consultron.ca/searchengineswami/|this page] in IE and Moz. It's all bog standard CSS2; very simple stuff... very simple. It took me about half an hour to construct all the controls on the page... and best of all, they're all standard html controls like unordered lists and the like, which means they can even be accessible to old browsers! ... just not ones that are far out of standards compliance, like IE. \r\n\r\n Note... make sure you set up your browser window so you have to scroll up and down to see all the text.
--\r\n-------------------------------------------------------------------\r\n* Jack Troughton jake at consultron.ca *\r\n* [link|http://consultron.ca|http://consultron.ca] [link|irc://irc.ecomstation.ca|irc://irc.ecomstation.ca] *\r\n* Kingston Ontario Canada [link|news://news.consultron.ca|news://news.consultron.ca] *\r\n-------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post #85,278
3/3/03 11:56:15 AM
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What about Forms processing?
CSS2 is nice for laying out web pages sans JavaScript - though it still can't produce professional quality output when sent to a printer but it's pretty good for monitors.
CSS2 fails to go beyond the idea that input from the user is but a series of clicking on links. The Form elements have barely improved over what we had long ago in HTML 2.0.
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Post #85,281
3/3/03 11:58:33 AM
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That's a place where javascript has a great role
However, the original point wasn't that javascript sucked... it was that javascript + DOM sucked for creating good UIs.
--\r\n-------------------------------------------------------------------\r\n* Jack Troughton jake at consultron.ca *\r\n* [link|http://consultron.ca|http://consultron.ca] [link|irc://irc.ecomstation.ca|irc://irc.ecomstation.ca] *\r\n* Kingston Ontario Canada [link|news://news.consultron.ca|news://news.consultron.ca] *\r\n-------------------------------------------------------------------
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Post #85,282
3/3/03 12:07:27 PM
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It does suck....
...when it comes to forms processing. Doesn't mean it can't get the job done. But it will fight you every step of the way and be a general PITA.
The constraints of bandwidth and statelessness make web application programmming difficult to begin with. The dirth of innovation on the client side form elements is in stark contrast with all the improvements made to rendering side of the process.
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Post #85,300
3/3/03 1:00:48 PM
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And with a *touch* of browser-agnostic JS thrown back in
[link|http://www.aminus.net|http://www.aminus.net]
Many fears are born of stupidity and ignorance - Which you should be feeding with rumour and generalisation. BOfH, 2002 "Episode" 10
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Post #85,295
3/3/03 12:43:19 PM
3/3/03 3:55:23 PM
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ASP
I have done ASP programming for over 4 years. VBScript mostly. ASP.NET has changed that now, most companies are looking for .NET now. Also Visual Studio.NET 2003 is going to come out soon.
I have some light PHP 3.X programming experience, but when I installed PHP 4.0, it broke the programs because variables were not defined, they were not defined because they were supposed to come in on the URL of the page being referenced. I guess something changed between 3.X and 4.0 of PHP?
I used to have ASP links at [link|http://www.normad.com/asphelp.html|http://www.normad.com/asphelp.html] and PHP links at [link|http://www.normad.com/phphelp.html|http://www.normad.com/phphelp.html] but my web server is down until I can get another DSL connection going. I am trying to set it up on my father's DSL connection for now. Earthlink hosed me, and refused to connect me citing low quality DSL signals, which I know is BS as my DirecTV DSL worked great, and now SBC is fumbling the ball in getting me my DSL Kit. I may have to pay for a dialup and second phone line? :(
[link|http://pub75.ezboard.com/bantiiwethey| New and improved, Chicken Delvits!]
Edited by orion
March 3, 2003, 03:55:23 PM EST
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