Monthly Archives: October 2013
The Case of the Mismanaged MFS
Recently we were asked to install an audit tracking solution on an existing application. This is a fairly common use of MFS technology that many developers have implemented. Naturally we had a plug-in ready system. In fact, our AUDIT_MFS routine has its origins back to AREV and has served us and our clients very well for many years.
The Case of the Finicky Form
Recently we ran into a situation where the login form for an application we supported would fail to launch. This surprised us as this application has been running for over 6 years with no changes to the login form or the code that would call it. However, since we had made some changes (in a different module) we made the only reasonable conclusion: something we did was responsible for this problem.
The area of the application we updated manages the service that checks for updates online. As with many of our applications, this system would connect to a dedicated server for application updates, account validation, and system messages. It does this prior to allowing the user to see the login dialog, which is necessary in case the account was disabled for some reason.
The Future is Now – Form Translucency and Animation
January 2013 was a rather busy month for new OpenInsight 10 goodness: System Monitor updates, Direct2D support, Aero Glass, TASKBARID property, and improved image support (a subject that we have already commented on.) Two other new features – the TRANSLUCENCY property and the SHOW/HIDE methods – are the focus of this article.
To be honest, I did not expect to write an article about these features. First, we do not have a generic way to make OpenInsight forms translucent nor do we have a way to make OpenInsight forms appear and hide using animation. The second reason relates back to the first: we have not added these features to our own toolkit because we have never seen a compelling purpose for them, especially seeing that they usually appear as gimmicks.
