Ins info view restored

[drtech]

the code t hat was broken in 6.7 during the reworking of code that disabled the ins totals summary in the account module has been restored. I am just uploading it now to the head alpha version, 6.8.

[jordansparks]

Please no more commits. You will be able to use the plug-in framework for things like this in the future.

[drtech]

you don't want me to restore it? I thought that is the whole purpose of open source...to allow other developers to contribute...I am just maintaining the code I added long ago...

You are going to add a plug in framework? How is that going to work?

[drtech]

ok, I see a post in the other thread about this plug-in framework..
I will look at that.
I haven't committed the other code yet, but would like to however it works...

Thanks.

[jordansparks]

No, the whole purpose of open source it to future proof it so that if we go out of business you can still function. It also allows you to see the code and to have very good access to your database. I have never liked having external contributors for many reasons:
Reduces stability
Adds clutter
Wastes my time
Confuses customers
etc.

I finally found a good solution in plug-ins. You'll love it. You'll be able to make sweeping changes without having to ask for approval. You'll be able to make them in the beta version rather than having to wait for the next release. You'll be able to go crazy, yet still leave our core codebase uncluttered and stable. Don't like how one of our windows is behaving? Replace it with one of your own. Want extra fields? Make and maintain your own extra tables. Anything you can think of, and we won't give you grief about it.

About your "fix", Can you create a patch and email it to me? One complication is that you are going to want it in 6.7 which does not yet have a plug-in framework.

[drtech]

sounds great, I can't wait to try it. Isn't that going to require a lot of leg work to get it started? Is every form going to have to have an option on start up to load a plug in or how does that work?

I will send you my patch....how exactly do you want me to send it...the changed files, or can SVN create a patch without sending it or something?

[jordansparks]

I am building the plugin framework right now. There's going to be an example solution that will be easy to download and build. The result will be a dll. So no, I don't think it will be too hard. Just a short learning curve to get the hang of the various file locations involved. As for the work on our end, we will just add as many hooks as developers want. A hook is just a place where the program has the ability to fork if you have written code in your dll to take advantage of the particular hook. So yes, we need to add hooks, but that will go fast, and it will be very unlikely to destabilize the program. That's why I feel comfortable adding them to the beta version. For example, the place where a form is created and shown is a great place to put a hook if someone needs one. Any method anywhere in the entire program can have a hook at the top that forks off to an alternate method written by an outside developer. For example, if you want custom layout code for a module, we'll put a hook at the top of Resize method, and let you pass the parent form object as an argument in your hook. Then, your code could look exactly like the original with very minor alterations.

One consequence of a plug-in that takes advantage of a lot of hooks is that the programmer will have more code to maintain on their end. But using the SVN diff tool would make it really easy to spot changes that we make in order to keep current.

Tortoise can create a great patch. Right click on a file or folder to do so. The resulting patch is a text file that will look familiar to you.

[drtech]

I sent the patch...but if you could help me figure out why the editor changed all that other code when I thought I had the setting right to not change spaces and such.....
maybe it is because when I first opened up the designer, it said it couldn't find the toolbar reference or something and to build the project 1st, after I built it, it didn't help, so I just said ignore and it seemed to work fine, not sure what the problem is there... Any ideas?

[jordansparks]

Spacing changes is another big reason why I'm trying so hard to get away from outside developer submissions. I really don't know what happened in your case. I'll see if I can either sort it out, or else use it as an example in the new plug-in framework.

[drtech]

I can understand that...I have had the hardest time trying to get the visual c# designer to not change the spacing...but it still seems to....

[drtech]

sent you my patch again...via e-mail

[jordansparks]

100% successful in moving that entire block of code out to a dll plug-in. Everything was moved: textboxes, labels, events, database interaction. All of it. The only thing that remains in the main code is the labelInsLeft. But if I decide to remove that for some reason, it would be extremely easy for you to change your hover event to some other control without me having to add any more hooks at all. The three hooks are all at the form level. It's very cool. I might go ahead and move the Progress Notes out of there while I'm at it, just to make sure I have enough hooks in the right places.

[drtech]

cool, can't wait to see it and how it works...