• Re: Latest Powerbase

    From Harriet Bazley@21:1/5 to Derek Haslam on Fri Apr 15 14:38:43 2022
    On 15 Apr 2022 as I do recall,
    Derek Haslam wrote:

    Powerbase v.10.42 (11-04-2022) is now available for download from my
    website www.boulsworth.co.uk and is, thanks to a lengthy exchange with
    Martin Avison, a thoroughly cleaned up version which is expected to
    perform well on all recent versions of RISC OS including those with
    the latest version of the Wimp.

    I'm curious as to what on earth the problem could have been, since so
    far as I'm aware the database front-end is a basic WIMP icon-based
    display that one wouldn't expect to have redraw issues....

    --
    Harriet Bazley == Loyaulte me lie ==

    I like work; it fascinates me; I can sit and look at it for hours.

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  • From Martin@21:1/5 to Harriet Bazley on Fri Apr 15 17:26:56 2022
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Harriet Bazley <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 15 Apr 2022 as I do recall, Derek Haslam wrote:

    Powerbase v.10.42 (11-04-2022) is now available for download from
    my website www.boulsworth.co.uk and is, thanks to a lengthy
    exchange with Martin Avison, a thoroughly cleaned up version
    which is expected to perform well on all recent versions of RISC
    OS including those with the latest version of the Wimp.

    I'm curious as to what on earth the problem could have been, since
    so far as I'm aware the database front-end is a basic WIMP
    icon-based display that one wouldn't expect to have redraw
    issues....

    I am not sure Derek reads this newsgroup, so I will say...

    The redraw problem appeared to be caused because although the PRM
    says that Wimp_RedrawWindow must be the first Wimp call after a
    WimpPoll, there were many calls to it in the program that did not
    abide by this rule.

    It appears that this caused no problems up to about Wimp v5.76 (29
    Jun 2020), but v5.80 showed redraw problems. Exactly which change
    provoked this I never managed to work out, but changing PB to abide
    by the rules fixed the redraw problem. And that enabled me to help
    with the original weird Report problem that Chris posted.

    Martin

    --
    Martin Avison
    Note that unfortunately this email address will become invalid
    without notice if (when) any spam is received.

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  • From Martin@21:1/5 to Chris Newman on Fri Apr 15 23:02:04 2022
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Chris Newman <[email protected]> wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>, Martin <[email protected]> wrote:

    [Snip]

    I am not sure Derek reads this newsgroup, so I will say...

    He can't get access via his ISP - BT. Have any BT users out there
    got round this problem? I'm sure Derek would like to know.

    I suggested www.eternal-september.org to him, but I do not know if he
    followed that up. I use it to fill in missing posts from giganews!

    --
    Martin Avison
    Note that unfortunately this email address will become invalid
    without notice if (when) any spam is received.

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  • From Chris Newman@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Fri Apr 15 22:30:45 2022
    In article <[email protected]>, Martin <[email protected]> wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>, Harriet Bazley
    <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 15 Apr 2022 as I do recall, Derek Haslam wrote:

    Powerbase v.10.42 (11-04-2022) is now available for download from
    my website www.boulsworth.co.uk and is, thanks to a lengthy
    exchange with Martin Avison, a thoroughly cleaned up version which
    is expected to perform well on all recent versions of RISC OS
    including those with the latest version of the Wimp.

    I'm curious as to what on earth the problem could have been, since so
    far as I'm aware the database front-end is a basic WIMP icon-based
    display that one wouldn't expect to have redraw issues....

    I am not sure Derek reads this newsgroup, so I will say...

    He can't get access via his ISP - BT. Have any BT users out there got
    round this problem? I'm sure Derek would like to know.

    --
    Chris Newman

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  • From Martin@21:1/5 to Paul Sprangers on Fri Apr 15 22:59:23 2022
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Paul Sprangers <[email protected]> wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Martin <[email protected]> wrote:

    [...] although the PRM says that Wimp_RedrawWindow must be the
    first Wimp call after a WimpPoll [...]

    Even before the 0 reason?
    The redraw in my program has glitches too. Could it be a matter of
    swapping Wimp calls? Or is it just my usual lack of understanding,
    after all?

    Not quite sure what you mean.

    When a Wimp_Poll returns reason code 1 (RedrawWindow), then
    Wimp_RedrawWindow must be the first Wimp call made, and it should not
    be called at any other time.

    Does that help?

    --
    Martin Avison
    Note that unfortunately this email address will become invalid
    without notice if (when) any spam is received.

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  • From Paul Sprangers@21:1/5 to Martin on Fri Apr 15 23:30:10 2022
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Martin <[email protected]> wrote:

    [...] although the PRM says that Wimp_RedrawWindow must be the first
    Wimp call after a WimpPoll [...]

    Even before the 0 reason?
    The redraw in my program has glitches too. Could it be a matter of swapping Wimp calls? Or is it just my usual lack of understanding, after all?

    Paul

    --
    http://riscos.sprie.nl

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  • From Brian Howlett@21:1/5 to Chris Newman on Fri Apr 15 22:58:31 2022
    On 15 Apr, Chris Newman <[email protected]> wrote:

    He can't get access via his ISP - BT. Have any BT users out there got
    round this problem? I'm sure Derek would like to know.

    Free: http://news.aioe.org/
    EUR10 per annum: https://news.individual.net/overview.php

    There are probably others.
    --
    Brian Howlett - Email to From: address deleted unseen -----------------------------------------------------
    "I'm Brian, and so's my wife..."

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  • From Paul Sprangers@21:1/5 to Martin on Sat Apr 16 10:58:15 2022
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Martin <[email protected]> wrote:

    When a Wimp_Poll returns reason code 1 (RedrawWindow), then
    Wimp_RedrawWindow must be the first Wimp call made, and it should not
    be called at any other time.

    Ah, now I understand what you mean - and I sin against that rule indeed.
    Before calling Wimp_RedrawWindow, I do a Wimp_GetWindowInfo call. Should I really move that one after the redraw call? If I do, things go horribly
    wrong. So, I still may not understand you.
    (Apologise for drifting off the topic.)

    Paul

    --
    http://riscos.sprie.nl

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  • From Steve Fryatt@21:1/5 to Paul Sprangers on Sat Apr 16 11:07:31 2022
    On 16 Apr, Paul Sprangers wrote in message
    <[email protected]>:

    In article <[email protected]>,
    Martin <[email protected]> wrote:

    When a Wimp_Poll returns reason code 1 (RedrawWindow), then Wimp_RedrawWindow must be the first Wimp call made, and it should not be called at any other time.

    Ah, now I understand what you mean - and I sin against that rule indeed. Before calling Wimp_RedrawWindow, I do a Wimp_GetWindowInfo call. Should I really move that one after the redraw call?

    What details do you need to find from Wimp_GetWindowInfo to perform the
    redraw, that you don't get in the block returned by Wimp_RedrawWindow and Wimp_GetRectangle?

    If I do, things go horribly wrong.

    Define "horribly wrong"... which might help us help you. :-)

    --
    Steve Fryatt - Leeds, England

    http://www.stevefryatt.org.uk/

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  • From Martin@21:1/5 to Paul Sprangers on Sat Apr 16 11:27:36 2022
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Paul Sprangers <[email protected]> wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Martin <[email protected]> wrote:

    When a Wimp_Poll returns reason code 1 (RedrawWindow), then Wimp_RedrawWindow must be the first Wimp call made, and it should
    not be called at any other time.

    Ah, now I understand what you mean - and I sin against that rule
    indeed. Before calling Wimp_RedrawWindow, I do a Wimp_GetWindowInfo
    call. Should I really move that one after the redraw call? If I do,
    things go horribly wrong. So, I still may not understand you.
    (Apologise for drifting off the topic.)

    I am only quoting what is in the PRM and the StrongHelp manual!
    What do you need from WindowInfo before you enter the redraw loop?

    --
    Martin Avison
    Note that unfortunately this email address will become invalid
    without notice if (when) any spam is received.

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  • From Paul Sprangers@21:1/5 to Steve Fryatt on Sat Apr 16 12:59:26 2022
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Steve Fryatt <[email protected]> wrote:

    If I do, things go horribly wrong.

    Define "horribly wrong"... which might help us help you. :-)

    [I transported this discussion to a new thread in
    comp.sys.acorn.programmer, with the subject 'Wimp_RedrawWindow protocols']

    Paul

    --
    http://riscos.sprie.nl

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  • From Chris Newman@21:1/5 to Harriet Bazley on Sat Apr 16 22:15:30 2022
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Harriet Bazley <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 15 Apr 2022 as I do recall,
    Derek Haslam wrote:

    Powerbase v.10.42 (11-04-2022) is now available for download from my website www.boulsworth.co.uk and is, thanks to a lengthy exchange with Martin Avison, a thoroughly cleaned up version which is expected to
    perform well on all recent versions of RISC OS including those with
    the latest version of the Wimp.

    I'm curious as to what on earth the problem could have been, since so
    far as I'm aware the database front-end is a basic WIMP icon-based
    display that one wouldn't expect to have redraw issues....

    Derek Haslam has replied via me & made some remarks re this....

    "No, I don't understand it and it puzzled Martin too. You're quite
    right about the database record window having nothing but icons and
    should only need user-redraw for the grid when in design mode. The
    problem occurred with Wimp 5.79, which I think you and others such as
    Harriet Bazley have, but *not* with Wimp 5.76 which I have on my
    ARMbook with RO 5.27. Nor did it happen on my WinPC/Virtual Acorn
    system with Wimp 5.61. I'd be interested to know if the same problem
    has surfaced with any other software.

    I tried issuing a Wimp_OpenWindow command, even though it oughn't to
    have been necessary. That didn't work either unless a Wimp_CloseWindow
    was issued first. Very strange indeed! The eventual solution was to
    use Wimp_ForceRedraw.

    The other problem which you originally communicated to Martin
    (corruption of a report window with multiple occurrences of the same
    field) was an interesting one. Martin pinned it down to the routine to
    remove white space and created a single-record database which
    illustrated the problem clearly. It would only occur if the "Total"
    line was longer than the maximum *configured* length (not the maximum
    *actual* length) of the first field. An unusual situation. I
    implmented a workaround which prevented the corruption but wasn't
    satisfied because it could truncate the footer under certain
    circumstances. Then I tracked down the bit of the program which
    excludes certain types of line (especially header lines) from the
    white space removal. I found that a footer line was *not* so excluded.
    Added that to the list and all was well.

    Powerbase is a large program and I converted to to RISC OS (from a BBC
    micro version) around 1991 so I sometimes find myself puzzled
    regarding how things work!

    v.10.42 is the newest version. I did a silly thing when I uploaded it
    to the website, failing to remove my "reg" file and a Config file
    which refers to my HD pathname. A warning from another user led me to
    rectify that PDQ.

    Regards,

    Derek"

    --
    Chris Newman

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  • From Stuart@21:1/5 to Chris Newman on Sun Apr 17 08:44:11 2022
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Chris Newman <[email protected]> wrote:
    Derek Haslam has replied via me & made some remarks re this....

    I think you had better get in touch with Derek again about his website as
    it says payment can be made through the now defunct APDL website.

    --
    Stuart Winsor

    Tools With A Mission
    sending tools across the world
    http://www.twam.co.uk/

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  • From Chris Newman@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sun Apr 17 16:25:32 2022
    In article <[email protected]>, Stuart
    <[email protected]> wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>, Chris Newman
    <[email protected]> wrote:
    Derek Haslam has replied via me & made some remarks re this....

    I think you had better get in touch with Derek again about his website
    as it says payment can be made through the now defunct APDL website.

    Well spotted. I've sent a mail.

    --
    Chris Newman

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  • From Chris Newman@21:1/5 to Chris Newman on Mon Apr 18 11:10:10 2022
    In article <[email protected]>,
    Chris Newman <[email protected]> wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>, Stuart
    <[email protected]> wrote:
    In article <[email protected]>, Chris Newman
    <[email protected]> wrote:
    Derek Haslam has replied via me & made some remarks re this....

    I think you had better get in touch with Derek again about his website
    as it says payment can be made through the now defunct APDL website.

    Well spotted. I've sent a mail.

    Derek has acknowledged & will fix it.

    --
    Chris Newman

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