manes@vger.nsu.edu ((Mark D. Manes), Norfolk State University) (01/29/91)
In article <1991Jan25.223254.2312@desire.wright.edu>, arc@desire.wright.edu writes: > I was wondering... Is there anyone out there that has written an > accounting-type program with AmigaVision? I have written a complete point of sale system, including inventory management and customer management. All in AmigaVision! :-) > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > = /// | Jim Perry | Arc@Desire.Wright.edu = > = /// Amiga! | ^Communications Consultant| -or- = > = \XX/ The One | Arc Electronics, Inc. | Arc@WSU.BITNET = > = ____& Only... | Wright State University |"Ouch! Quit-it." - Bart= > = | Dayton, Ohio | Ozzy Osbourne Rules = > ======================================================================== -mark= +--------+ ================================================== | \/ | Mark D. Manes "Mr. AmigaVision" | /\ \/ | manes@vger.nsu.edu | / | (804) 683-2532 "Make up your own mind! - AMIGA" +--------+ ==================================================
ruslan@uncecs.edu (Robin C. LaPasha) (02/01/91)
Ahem, Mark, do you think just maybe you could be a little more forthcoming about that accounting system you've built in AmigaVision? 1. In your application, what's a POS system? Is it a fancy cash register, or a very friendly ledger book, or something else? 2. Is it freeware, shareware, commercial, or "I wrote it for this guy, but no one else in the world ever gets to see it"? C'mon, give a few hints. Maybe follow up from here into c.s.a.multimedia, too. -- Robin LaPasha |Keeper of the Amiga ruslan@ecsvax.uncecs.edu |Hypermedia Mailing List
manes@vger.nsu.edu ((Mark D. Manes), Norfolk State University) (02/02/91)
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" +--------+ ==================================================