"DataEase For Windows"
Complete Database Management System
and Application Builder for Windows

Developing Windows Software as Senior Systems Programmer at DataEase

 

Screen Captures from "DataEase For Windows":

My Migration Feature for importing older applications: Below - Notification of exact nature and safety of the requested migration : Migration progress indicator : Migration from old DataEase for DOS application and custom zoom feature : These screens emphasize features that I developed and are taken from a sample application developed using DataEase for Windows called "Club ParaDease": My Layout Options feature : My DQL (DataEase Query Language) procedure editing and floating toolbar implementation : My Convert to DQL procedure implementation: My customizable and relocatable toolbar with "balloon" help feature : My form and rulers zoom and relocatable toolbar features: My squareness indicator feature for creating drawing objects : My split-window Three-Pane Form Editor (never released): My "Fancy Objects" available only as an optional feature: (My Fancy Line, Text, Field, and Picture Button objects let the application developer add raised and lowered borders, arrow points, engraved, embossed, raised, lowered and shaded text, slanted text and buttons containing both text and an image.)

 

My Experience Building DataEase For Windows

A month after our successful release of "DataEase Express for Windows", Microsoft released their similar product, "Access". It included a programming language feature that our product lacked. So we embarked quickly on programming the complete product, "DataEase for Windows", that would include support for the DataEase programming language, "DQL" for "DataEase Query Language".          As we met with the leaders of our programming team, they set our goals of adding new features including "Zoom" and "DQL", using the "C++" object-oriented programming language instead of "C", and converting our previous "Obects" to C++ objects, but with the warning not to give in to the temptation to convert all of the other possible objects to C++ objects too, since that would take many years to develop. But they left the company to start a new enterprise, and the other remaining programmers, over my objections, decided to ignore the warning and convert every conceivable object to be a C++ object          Before the other programmers began their grandiose scheme, I decided to program the proposed "Zoom" feature over the weekend. On the following Monday I announced to the team that I had completed that new feature. But one of the other developers objected that he had attempted to create such a zoom feature for his previous company and had concluded that it was an impossible job. I challanged the team to use my zoom feature and try to find any flaw in it. It worked perfectly for everyone! One of the original team leaders told me he had watched a demonstration of my zoom feature in an early version of "DataEase for Windows"at a users conference in Europe, and the attenders were amazed by its perfect performance.          When the other team members began programming their scheme over my objections, they completely broke the early version, and it was never able to run again. Because of my objecting, I was taken off the team and given a new assignment of assisting in the development of the internal "Prism" database engine portion of the product. But my preference was always to develop the user interface look and feel of the product, so I was dissapointed by the change. A big problem in my new assignment was that the new product was now completely broken, and there was no way for me to test the development of Prism. Fortunately, I had saved an earlier version of the product and was able to use my "Test Vesion" to test Prism. I added the proposed new features to my test version to make its features as complete as the proposed "DataEase for Windows".          Whenever I met the company president in the hallways, he would ask me how all was going, and I would report that the product was still completely broken. I did some quick calculations and later reported to him that just one of the team's proposed changes would require rewriting five thousand lines of programming, a monumental task! The team members responded to that by admitting I was right, but that they would solve that huge problem by a "magic trick": they would teach the testing team members how to change those lines without impacting the programmers' progress. Although much time was spent on that "magic trick", no progress was made by those testers!          Finally, after many months of delay, the team had to admit that their program was still broken and that they had no good estimate of when it might be able to run again, let alone be ready to market. They had no idea how to finish the product. But I reminded everyone that my own "Test Version" was working just fine, and it could be used as a new basis for the product. When it was obvious that my approach was the only solution that would produce a finished product in time to market it, the team leader was replaced, and I was restored to developing the user interface portion. My solution worked and "DataEase for Windows" was released to the market.          Probably because of my suggestion, I was called into the President's office. He asked me if there was anything I would really like to do, and I replied that I had always wanted to take a trip to Florida's "Disney World and Epcot Center". He then told me the Company would give me time off and funding for that trip!