Mainly about Mac

 Let's be quite clear - it is NOT possible to install The Framers Pricing App on an iPhone or an iPad. 

The operating system for these devices is IOS, which uses a different code to that of Android. Also Apple is very careful (controlling?) about what you are allowed to install on your device. This means from a developer's point-of-view (ie. me) it is not worthwhile to jump through the hoops that Apple set, as well as maintaining 2 sets of code unless the App is for the mass market. (Sorry all you Framers, there just aren't enough of you!)

The solution I recommend is to buy a cheap  Android phone or tablet (have a look on Ebay). It does not need to be connected to a phone network, so no sim card, just connect to the wifi at home so you can download the App from Google Play. You don't need to do anything else, just know how to turn the device on and tap The Framers Pricing app icon. Everything else phone-related, you continue to do on your Apple device. 

Wessex Professional is designed for Windows and will not directly run on an Apple Mac, or MacBook (which use the OSX operating system). It is however possible to to install and run the program on a Mac with some other software. 

In previous posts I have mentioned CrossOverMac as worth looking at. 

There are other alternatives

• Wine. This is a free alternative to CrossOverMac, but rather more fiddly to set up.
• Boot Camp. This utility comes built into your Mac. Each time you start the computer you are able to choose between Windows or Mac. The problem is that in order to switch between to two systems you need to restart the computer. Also, you need a copy of Windows 10.
• The first (restart) problem is solved by using Parallels. You can switch between Mac and Windows without having to reboot the computer. I have seen it working and because Wessex Professional is running under Windows (albeit on a Mac) the program looks exactly as it should. (Wine and Crossover use a different system and the appearance is slightly different). However, you still need a copy of Windows 10 - expensive right? Wrong - have a look at UnitySoft for bargain basement software prices. 

All of these solutions cost less than £100 at the time of writing. 

So, if you like Apple products and you want to use the best framers pricing software, you don't have to choose between the two.

Can we fix it? - Yes, we can!

Just recently updates to the Windows and Android operating systems have caused "issues" with the Wessex Pricing Program and The Framers Pricing App. These have now been resolved, so now (and you guessed it) it's the turn of Apple.
Around Christmas there was a big update to the Mac operating system and also an update to Crossover for Mac. Together (and I'm not sure which one is to blame) it meant that if you were running the Wessex Pricing Program on your Mac using Crossover - it would no longer start (with an error message helpfully saying "Unknown error"!).
My solution is fairly drastic - delete the program and re-install it (it works, honest!).
"Ah!"I hear you say "If I can't start the program how can I make a copy of those 2 important data files (V3.mdb, & User.xml) which configure the program to my business?"
Fear not, the next paragraph will show you how to get to these, and so preserve your data.

Open Crossover and highlight the "Wessex Pr..." bottle (on the left hand side). Then click the little cog at the bottom left of the Crossover screen. This will bring up some options. Select "Open C: Drive" (see first screenshot).

Now you will see a screen with some folders (this is Crossover's emulation of Windows).

Open "ProgramData", then "Wessex Pictures", then "wpp4". Now the screen will show files including "V3.mdb", & "User.xml". Copy these and your data is safe!

(NB. Be sure to open the ProgramData folder NOT the Program Files folder.)

Now we can delete the program and re-install it.

Select "Wessex P.." again, and Right-click it (alien to Mac I know, but I could do it with the touchpad). This time click "Delete Wessex Pricing 4.x" and confirm.

The next job is to download the latest version of the program from Wessex Pictures to your Downloads folder.

When you've done that (back in Crossover) click "Install a Windows Application" and Type "Wessex Pricing 4.x" in the box, and click "Continue". Crossover will then install the necessary extra files. There will be various Licence agreements to accept. Finally the Wessex Pricing Program will be installed and you're good to go.

At the first run of the program you'll need to re-insert the Enabling code (get it from Wessex 01590 681681).

Now you can import the database ("File> Import Database") and the values ("Setup > Values" & click "Import).

All done, phew!

(NB. You can avoid the problem of finding your data files by using the automatic backup option ("Setup > Options" & select the "NtWk/BkUp" tab) which will make a copy of the two files each time the program is shut down).

More Mac

As you may have gathered from the previous post Wessex Professional has now been optimised to run on a Mac computer, using CrossOver Mac by Codeweavers.
The only piece of the program that is not quite right is the WorkTicket list in the full version. In Windows the entries are coloured (Red for overdue, Blue for to-be-completed, Black for completed), whereas on a Mac they are all black. In practice this is not too much of a problem. Codeweavers have, however, flagged this up and hope to get the list showing correctly on their next update.

It is very simple to install the the pricing program using this app, particularly as Codeweavers have added the Wessex program to their database of compatible programs.

The Mac installation method is as follows. -
Download and install the free trial of CrossOver Mac from Codeweavers.
Download the 30 Day Trial of the Wessex Pricing Program to the Download folder on your Mac.

Start CrossOver and click on "Install Windows Application".
In the search box type "Wessex"and select "Wessex Pricing 4.x" and click "Continue".
And that's it!
Crossover knows which extra files to download and install (for the record - dot Net Framework 2, MDAC & Jet 8).
It finds and installs the Wessex download in your Download folder.
In about five minutes you are good to go.
You have 14 days to check you are happy with CrossOver before you need to buy it, and 30 days for the Pricing Program.
The cost of CrossOver varies depending on how much support you want to purchase, but this is the most cost-effective and simple solution to running Windows programs on a Mac that is around.
Give it a go!

Running Wessex Professional on a Mac

I'm often asked if Wessex Professional will run on an Apple Mac computer. In fact a previous post on the issue has had more views than any of my other posts.
As you may gather I'm a "Windows" man, but a few months ago I bought a reconditioned MacBook to see what the fuss was about. Of course that led to some research to see about running the pricing program on it.
I downloaded the free trial of CrossOver Mac from CodeWeavers. The result - well see for yourself!

I've only had a short time to tinker with the result and there are some problems with printing, but there seems to be no major issues with the Basic version of Wessex Professional.
I certainly hope to be able to come up with a solution to the printing errors which would make the full version useable. (At the moment everything is printed into the top quarter of an A4 sheet, instead of over the whole sheet.)

It was very easy to install Wessex Professional into what CrossOver calls a "bottle" (think of it as an oasis of Windows files amid a desert of Mac!). Then I needed to add extra files (dependencies) to get the program to run (very few programs these days are completely standalone). Again CrossOver made it straightforward to find and install them.  Just so you know, these files are .Net Framework 2, MS Jet, MDAC, and Core Fonts.

Very encouraging so far - I'll keep you all upto date with further developments.