Yet another new version - what's that all about?

 It was only a month ago that 4.4.10 was made available to download, and now there is 4.4.11. So what's going on?

I'll put my hand up and say that some "issues" had been found in the previous version. This new download sorts them out.

• An issue when the program was networked - it was possible for different computers to issue invoices with the same number.
• Extra Cost - if the Extra Cost "includes vat" box was ticked the full extra cost was shown on the main form, rather than the net amount. However the final price was accurate.
• If the box to record the amount of deposit was left blank, then the program would throw up an error. Now it assumes you meant that customer did not pay a deposit (ie. 0).
• Searching through the Customers - the surnames were displayed in alphabetical order, but not necessarily the initials.

Hopefully, now we're back on track to issue updates every 9 -12 months again.

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).

Update Mouldings v's Windows Update

A few weeks ago I had a call from a Wessex Professional user about a problem she was having, trying to update her moulding records from an Excel file. I was quite busy framing at the time (the day job) so I said I'd try to repeat the issue that evening at home, not expecting a problem.
Within a few minutes of running a test the same error message appeared ("unexpected error from external database driver (1)") - problem time!
I put the error message into Google and found that other people had the same problem, and the cause was the latest Windows update.

Now I'm a firm believer in the saying "If it ain't broke - don't fix it". Unfortunately it was broken and I had to fix it!

Very quickly I came up with one solution, but that involved expecting the user to download and install 100mb of new database engine. Ok if nothing else could be done, but not ideal.

The breakthrough came when I found a DLL that returned data from an Excel file (DLL's are small files that add functionality to a program). The slight fly in the ointment was that the data came in a slightly different form which meant that a section of code had to be rewritten. Overwriting code that had worked perfectly well upto the Windows Update was rather galling, particularly as it is quite complex (loops within loops). However, after much head-scratching and testing a new program version came into being.
So, download ver. 4.4.4 from the Wessex website and all will be well.