Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!samsung!rex!ames!haven!uvaarpa!vger.nsu.edu!manes
From: manes@vger.nsu.edu ((Mark D. Manes), Norfolk State University)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: Re: Making Accounting Prog. With AmigaVision...
Message-ID: <582.27a98adf@vger.nsu.edu>
Date: 1 Feb 91 19:35:57 GMT
References: <1991Jan25.223254.2312@desire.wright.edu> <558.27a54947@vger.nsu.edu> <1991Feb1.032126.29193@uncecs.edu>
Lines: 88

In article <1991Feb1.032126.29193@uncecs.edu>, ruslan@uncecs.edu (Robin C. LaPasha) writes:
> Ahem, Mark, do you think just maybe you could be a little more 
> forthcoming about that accounting system you've built in AmigaVision?

Gosh... I would be happy to.
 
To be honest I wrote this application for the local Amiga dealership
that I provide software support for.  I chose AmigaVision to do it
in just to "see" how powerful this software is.  Certainly C is a 
much better language for this type of application, however, 
AmigaVision is doing a excellent job with few exceptions.

The problem was this.  The dealership - Video Computer Resources
in Chesapeake Virginia sells and is 100% Amiga oriented.  It was
decided that it would look terrible to set up a electronic 
cash register inventory management system on a IBM PC and in the
same breath speak the religion of Amiga.  

We had just completed some work with Republic Pictures in Hollywood,
which was the first AmigaVision project we took on.  I was 
impressed by the short amount of time it took to put that together,
so I said "Lets just see how far we can take AmigaVision!".
 
What started out as a simple receipt printing system turned into
a full blown cash register system, complete with Inventory Control,
Customer Database, Daily Report and several other reports.  Right
now it is in Gamma testing and is being used at the store.  
 
We have not decided its future yet.  It may become a offering 
as a "prototype" and we may rewrite it in C.  It may get sent
to one of the magazines.  We have not decided yet.
 
The AmigaVision flow is probably the biggest (at least according
to Kathy Godfrey at CATS) in existance.   It is 782k. :-)
 
I found AmigaVision to be extremely capable of handling this type
of application, believe it or not!  The form icons and the database
management is adequent, and of course the math functions are all
there as well.  The string manipulation capability of AmigaVision
is impressive and is really what made this possible.
 
I did run into some problems that are worth mentioning that did
cause a lot of extra "get around" code to be written.
 
One problem had to do with the formatting of numbers when using 
the printer output icon.  It seems you can't really format the
numeric values at all.  You simply position the field in the 
printer icon and that is it.  I got around this by converting
the number to a string and writing a string "muncher" that 
rebuilt the string in a format that was acceptable to the 
business community.  Like commas and dollar signs etc. etc.
 
The second most annoying problem came with the lack of arrays.
I had to create a lot of variables and most of them global to 
make the code work to my satisfaction.   It would be wonderful
if more modern programming constructs could be used such as
passing of variables to sub-routines without using global
variables etc. etc.
 
If I had a few wishes, and I have expressed them to Commodore,
it would be to add arrays, improve the printer output capability,
give the ability to 'pack' the database,  allow re-indexing of a
database, allow the creation of a database in code not just in the
database editor, and to provide an outside runtime module for 
flows created with AmigaVision.

All in all AmigaVision is probably one of the most capable and
directly use-able programs I have ever had the pleasure to work
with.  I believe that both Kathy Godfrey and John Campbell have
done an excellent job in supporting and helping make this product
a "model" as to how multimedia and now application generation
should be done.
 

> 
> Maybe follow up from here into c.s.a.multimedia, too.
> -- 
> Robin LaPasha              |Keeper of the Amiga
> ruslan@ecsvax.uncecs.edu   |Hypermedia Mailing List

 -mark=
     
 +--------+   ==================================================          
 | \/     |   Mark D. Manes                    "Mr. AmigaVision" 
 | /\  \/ |   manes@vger.nsu.edu                                        
 |     /  |   (804) 683-2532    "Make up your own mind! - AMIGA"
 +--------+   ==================================================