Troubleshooting a 'Needle in a Haystack'

After returning from a 3 week vacation in the USA I found out that there was something terribly wrong with my DigiWaiter Server setup file...
2 people reported they had an error starting the program:
Application has generated an exception that could not be handled

At first I thought it had something to do with the .net 1.1. framework but it turned out they had it installed and it was functioning alright.

I tested the server installation on approx 3 different machines (2000 and xp) and after that I draw the conclusion that my setup package was ok.

Now I had to figure out what was wrong, the 'application has ...' message is very common and it's very hard to determine what is causing this.

I installed the DWS on a machine of which I thought it resembled the machines of the users reporting the error.
It was a windows 2000 machine with nothing fancy installed..

I got the same error message and I was more or less 'happy I got it too', this gave me the opportunity to figure things out myself without having to ask the people who reported the errors..

Errors on client machines are hard to debug since there's no debugger on the client!
However if you copy the following files to the clients application folder:
cordbg.exe
cordbg.exe.config
msvcr71.dll
msvcp71.dll
msdis140.dll

And press 'cancel' at the error message the debugger will start and shows you more info!

You can download these files from:
http://www.dolesoft.com/downloads/DolesoftDebugger.exe

To make a long story short, it turned out that DWS needs the mdac 2.6 or higher (machine I tested on had 2.53) and I didn't include a license file for the crystal report engine that comes with the DWS suite.

I fixed it all so everything should be ok now, it's a shame that hundreds of people might have downloaded a program which didn't work for them.
I guess they installed it, got the error and just uninstalled it (which I would do ;)), I'm happy these 2 users reported it!

Take care and beware,

Mike

22-06 Version 1.1 of the DigiWaiter Server's available for download now!

I finally finished a version with some new version which I found stable enough to 'release'.

Whats new?

Print Engine: Bind a printer to each category and send each order to the right printer on receival. Let's you print your entrees in the kitchen and your drinks at the bar!

Live Update function: checks for updates automatically



Updated SteelBlue Design
Bug fixes (e.g. fixed datagrid errors)

Please report every bug, comment or whatever you like to the Dolesoft Board

Table status

How do you notify the kitchen that a table's ready for the entree?
Someone who works in the hospitallity business told me about working with coloured keychains.

If a table is ready for let's say the entree the waiter hangs a green keychain with the tablenumber on it on a board so kitchen nows they can start preparing the entree.
When they are done they place the platter on the 'distribution counter' with the keychain next to it.

How would you automate this process?
Would it be handy if I create some kind of panel with all the tables on it and you could change the status by changing colour (e.g. apetizer=green, entree=red, dessert=blue)?



Waiters could change the table status and depending on the status the printers in the kitchen would print the orders needed...

If you have an idea, please leave a comment?

Time to kick in some freeware!

BabyMouse freeware

Last week I thought of ways to attract more visitors to my site, what better way to do so by giving away things for free?
So this weekend I created a small tool which I already had in mind for the last couple of months.
It's called babymouse and it removes the right click and scroll wheel functionallity of the mouse.
Impressive ahh?



Wait up, before clicking the crosshair read a few more lines because it might sound familiair...
With 3 kids ages 6, 4, and 1,5 I get my share of quality time playing computer games with them but especially when playing games / activities on the internet our pleasure's spoiled every 30 seconds e.g. because of them right clicking in Internet Explorer...

So if you haven't clicked the crosshair by now you might as well read the whole story on my web page:
http://www.dolesoft.com/babymouse_freeware.html

God bless and take care!

Mike

Operators order another round of handheld POS, wireless peripherals

I've read a great article on POS today, I might have a look at how I can integrate these belt mountable POS printers in my apps...

It's a great article which really encouraged me to continue this project:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_26_39/ai_n14710404#continue

Quote from the article:"They allow us to get orders to the kitchen faster, and drinks get to the table faster"

There's a new update available!

I always wanted to implement a 'nifty little update feature', thanks to a guy named Igor Krupitsky I got one, I used his code:
http://pscode.com/vb/scripts/ShowCode.asp?txtCodeId=3640&lngWId=10
but changed the registry part since that requires my users to have administrator rights so I'm using an xml file to read some settings.
The update app uses an HttpWebRequest / port 80 to fetch the encrypted and password protected zip file which holds all the changed application files (e.g. executable, database file).
The xml file holds all 'variable' information so I can use this tool for all of my apps (except for the pocketpc applications..)
I guess I'll let the DigiWaiter periodically check for updates (or one can initiate it manually) this way I can 'roll out' new updates more easily..

Cooltools to promote your site

I found these 'cooltools' today (thanks to http://www.realestateabc.com) didn't have time to check them out but they seem usefull though!

Google Ranking Check

Enter your search term and your web site/page. Find out where you
would come up on Google (provided you are in the Top 1000 sites). It
saves you having to search through pages and pages if you're not listed in
the top results.

Yahoo Ranking Check

Enter your search term and your web site/page. Find out where you
would come up on Yahoo (provided you are in the Top 1000 sites). It
saves you having to search through pages and pages if you're not listed in
the top results.

Yahoo - Google Comparison

Enter a search engine keyword and it displays the Yahoo Search engine
results with the Google search engine rank right next to it.

Mike's Multi-Search Engine Ranking Check

Type in your URL and your search term . Choose what search engines
you want to check (up to seven search engines and three directories).
Click "check rankings" and view your results.

SnakeT Multi-Search Engine Ranking Check

Type in your search term. On the bottom half of the screen, find
your site in Google's return, then highlight it. The top shows about
10 search engines and the green ball will be where you rank on each search
engine (if you are in the Top 25, anyway). It's cool.

Search Engine Scanner

Enter your site and four competitors, along with up to five keywords you
would like to search, and the results show you where you and the sites
show up in the major search engines.

Marketleap Keyword Search Results

Enter your URL and a keyword you want to check. The results show
search engines where you show up in the first three pages - and where you
don't.

Google Dance Tool

Did your Google search engine performance suddenly go "wacky?" Maybe
Google is currently "dancing," which means they are doing an adjustment.
This tool can tell you where you are currently placed on the different
Google servers.

Link Popularity Check

Marketleap LInk Popularity Check

Enter your URL and up to three competitors, then select "real estate" as
your category in the drop-down menu. Find out how you rank, not only among
those competitors, but among various other sites involved with real estate.

Link Popularity Check by WebPosition

Checks the number of links to your web site for three search engines and
compares it to three competitors you name, presenting the information in a
graph format.

UptimeBot LInk Popularity Check

This tool tells you how many sites link to you
(according to six search engines), plus your Google information about
PageRank, sites linking to you, total pages indexed, and how many times
your page is mentioned on web pages.

Mike's LInk Popularity Check

This is pretty cool. You have to scroll down the page a little and
find the "Submission Form" - then enter your URL. It creates a link
popularity report on a new page, but this is the cool part - you go back,
enter another URL, and the new report compares the results with the last one - so
you can compare yourself and up to four competitors.

Widexl Link Popularity Check

Checks the number of links to a specific web page (as indexed by
several search engines) and compares it with two competitors you name.

CGI Biz Link Popularity Check

Checks the number of pages linking to a specific web page as indexed by
three search engines at a time.

PageRank - WebRank

Proogle - Google Search Engine Results with Page Rank

Enter a search engine term and Google's search engine results are returned
- with PageRank. Good for finding sites with high Page Rank to link
to for your particular favorite keywords. May be up only temporarily.

KeyWord PageRank Finder

Enter a keyword and a PageRank, then this tool searches Google for pages
of that PageRank or higher. The tool may help you find sites you want
to get links from that have high PageRank.

Multiple PageRank Finder

List up to 25 of your web site's URLs to find out their PageRanks.
Or list URLs from other web sites, too.

Yahoo WebRank Checker

The higher the number, the better. Very similar to Google's PageRank.

PageRank Predictor

Predicts what your Google PageRank might be after the next update.
Doesn't appear to be a totally reliable tool.

Keyword &
Search Term Suggestions

Digital Point Keyword Suggestion
Tool

Covers Google and Overture - enter a search phrase or word, click enter,
and this tool not only suggests key search terms but tells you how many
times they are searched in an average day.

Overture Search Term Suggestions

Same as above, except it covers only Overture, but it tells you how many
times the search term was used for the previous month.

Miscellaneous

Download Time
Checker

Plug in your web page and click enter. It tells you how quickly your
page downloads for users on dialup, wideband, etc.

Whois by Network Solutions

Do you ever wonder who owns some of those "anonymous" web sites? WhoIs
will tell you (most of the time). Sometimes you have to switch to a
different registrar and sometimes the owner has paid an extra five bucks
for privacy