[sci.electronics] review of EditSCH

fmgst@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Filip Gieszczykiewicz) (06/15/91)

	Greetings. I am writing this about the EditSCH program that was
	recently posted in sci.electronics. No, it's not a flame about
	wasting the bandwidth with a global post instead, of what should
	have been done: ask who wants it and mail it to only those people.

	I consider this to be a "review" of the program.

	Basicly: it sucks. There are more bugs in this program than in
	most public domain programs that I have seen. I don't see how
	posting of a program of this low quality can help with the poor
	opinion people have about ShareWare. Here is my list of what I
	hope I don't see in Rev 3.0 and why I think this program is not
	worth a dime:

	(I ran this on my 486/25, SVGA, 200MB 11ms drive)

	#0 Screen update sooooo ssssllloooowwwww (even on my machine)
	#1 SETUP -> GRID -> 0,0 -> divide error (dumps you to dos!!!!!)
	#2 FILE -> CLEAR -> NO (save) 
			    Why does the program take the time to
			    redraw the screen if it will be next cleared?
	#3 FILE -> LOAD -> any .SCH
			    Why does the program not give an option to either
			    append or erase old and load new file?
	#4 COMPONENT -> SAVE 
			    Pull-down menu is in the way of a message in
			    the opened window... 
	#5 SETUP -> DIRECTORIES -> 
			    MY MAJOR COMPLAINT: Check the validity of the
			    directory! If it does not exist, this program
			    will dump in 4 different ways!
	#6 DRAW -> BUS -> (click to make a diagonal buss) -> EDIT -> I get
	a gray bar in the pull-down menu! -> DELETE -> (click on buss) 
	depending on angle, there may be dots left on the screen!) -> DRAW ->
	I get a "Delet" on the first line of the menu (it's from the next
	pull-down menu to the right....))
	#7 FILE -> QUIT -> YES -> CANCEL 
			    Selecting CANCEL should not exit you out, it should
			    return you to the drawing screen. 
	#8 FILE -> QUIT -> YES (select OK without selecting a filename and
	    		    having a non-existent subdirectory in #5 (see 
			    above) BLOWS YOU AWAY!
	#9 COMPONENT -> LOAD -> OK (wrong subdirectory in #5) I get one of
	3 things after this one:
	   o	COMPLETE freeze - requires power off/on
	   o	Shows some kind of red menu for 1ms and shows me the LOAD
		window - when I click on anything, it just hides it and returns
		me to the drawing window.
	   o	Kills the drawing - I need to redraw (slow and a general pain)

	Now, the purpose of a Schematic entry program is to make matters
	simpler. This program is not only full of bugs, it's SLOW, it's
	unreliable, it's a pain to work with - quite frankly, I prefer
	paper and pencil.

	Take care.

	P.S. I hope the author of this program has some sense and fixes
	these errors. A word of advice: Don't use BASIC for the display
	routines... get some real assembly programmers to do a good job.
	Even better, buy the excellent ShareWare assembler, A86, and recode
	the screen routines with it!
-- 
_______________________________________________________________________________
"The Force will be with you, always." It _is_ with me and has been for 11 years
Filip Gieszczykiewicz  "... a Jedi does it with a mind trick... " ;-)
FMGST@PITTVMS  or  fmgst@unix.cis.pitt.edu "My ideas. ALL MINE!!"

winefred@b11.ingr.com (Winefred Washington) (06/18/91)

In article <139483@unix.cis.pitt.edu>, fmgst@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Filip Gieszczykiewicz) writes:
> 
> 	Greetings. I am writing this about the EditSCH program that was
> 	recently posted in sci.electronics. No, it's not a flame about
> 	wasting the bandwidth with a global post instead, of what should
> 	have been done: ask who wants it and mail it to only those people.

	Good Idea. I'll do that next time.

> 
> 	I consider this to be a "review" of the program.

	I thinks a review would give a little more information about the
	complete program not just it's faults.

> 	Basicly: it sucks.
	Please see comments in end of article.
> 
> 	(I ran this on my 486/25, SVGA, 200MB 11ms drive)
> 
> 	#0 Screen update sooooo ssssllloooowwwww (even on my machine)
	Mr. Filip Gieszczykiewicz I have a 385SX 16Mhz and it appears to run
	fine in my opinion how long does it take to update.

> 	#1 SETUP -> GRID -> 0,0 -> divide error (dumps you to dos!!!!!)
	I never though anyone would do this. thanks for the info.

> 	#2 FILE -> CLEAR -> NO (save) 
> 			    Why does the program take the time to
> 			    redraw the screen if it will be next cleared?
	The program is written in C++ and is programmed using event-driven
	techniques.  Creation and destruction of dialog boxes automatically
	cause screen redraws in areas where the display is covered.

> 	#3 FILE -> LOAD -> any .SCH
> 			    Why does the program not give an option to either
> 			    append or erase old and load new file?
	Good suggestion.
> 	#4 COMPONENT -> SAVE 
> 			    Pull-down menu is in the way of a message in
> 			    the opened window... 
	I don't understand this comment since all windows can be resized and
	moved.

> 	#5 SETUP -> DIRECTORIES -> 
> 			    MY MAJOR COMPLAINT: Check the validity of the
> 			    directory! If it does not exist, this program
> 			    will dump in 4 different ways!

	Good suggestion.

> 	#6 DRAW -> BUS -> (click to make a diagonal buss) -> EDIT -> I get
> 	a gray bar in the pull-down menu! -> DELETE -> (click on buss) 
> 	depending on angle, there may be dots left on the screen!) -> DRAW ->
> 	I get a "Delet" on the first line of the menu (it's from the next
> 	pull-down menu to the right....))

	You are not exiting each command properly please hit the Right button
	when you are done with a command.  Please email	if you want to more 
	details.

> 	#7 FILE -> QUIT -> YES -> CANCEL 
> 			    Selecting CANCEL should not exit you out, it should
> 			    return you to the drawing screen. 
	Good suggestion.
> 	#8 FILE -> QUIT -> YES (select OK without selecting a filename and
> 	    		    having a non-existent subdirectory in #5 (see 
> 			    above) BLOWS YOU AWAY!
> 	#9 COMPONENT -> LOAD -> OK (wrong subdirectory in #5) I get one of
> 	3 things after this one:
> 	   o	COMPLETE freeze - requires power off/on
> 	   o	Shows some kind of red menu for 1ms and shows me the LOAD
> 		window - when I click on anything, it just hides it and returns
> 		me to the drawing window.
> 	   o	Kills the drawing - I need to redraw (slow and a general pain)

	I'll make a change to verify the directory before accessing commands
	in the next version. Thanks for you diligent testing of EditSCH.

>
> 	P.S. I hope the author of this program has some sense and fixes
> 	these errors. A word of advice: Don't use BASIC for the display

		EditSCH is written in Borland C++, as for the speed 
		problems I'll have to investigate it further.


	In the future, I will query people to see who's interested in
	any software I may think would be of interest to people in this
	newsgroup.  I am new to the network and do not know all of the
	rules and procedures.



	EditSCH V2.0 is the result of work from several people.  It's
	companion program is EditPCB, and PCB layout program. While I
	appreciated Mr. Gieszczykiewicz's suggestions, I am personally 
	offended by the comment "EditSCH sucks."

	EditSCH is a GUI-based program and includes PRINTDM allowing 
	a person to print schematics on EPSON 9 & 24 pin, Postscript, 
	and HP LaserJet.  If you were to registered (but you probably 
	would not after Mr. Gieszczykiewicz comments) you would receive 
	a library of 100+ components, User's Guide in a 3-ring binder, 
	and PrintHP, utility to plot schematics on HPGL compatible 
	plotters for only $25.  EditSCH	was not written to compete with 
	Orcad, Tango, Autocad, etc.

	It was written to provide a low-cost way of generating schematics
	that almost anyone could afford.

	I'm sorry for posting this response on the net;however, I do feel
	some of Mr. Gieszczykiewicz comments were too harsh, and omited 
	some of EditSCH good points.

	If anyone has any suggestions are comments, please email them directly
	to me and I'll see would I can do.

	If anyone would like to try either EditSCH or EditPCB for themselves,
	both programs are available by calling:

		Softronix (205)851-7945  8:00 AM to 4:30PM (central)

	At 6:00PM the BBS is enabled and you may download the programs by 
	calling the same number.


	Winefred Washington

	P.S. Softronix is looking for a few good beta testers.
	     (Mr. Gieszczykiewicz, how about it? ) :-).