7054. We noticed something was wrong with the SSL certificate of bootswatch.com as it was said to have been revoked by the issuer and so our new blog and website pages didn’t format properly since the Bootstrap CSS file could not be accessed from that site; we implemented a temporary solution to access the Bootstrap CSS file on our server instead, which meant the Glyphicons on the menus refused to show properly on all desktop browsers (as noted last year) while showing on all mobile browsers. Revised the recurring transaction processing SQL code for MBGL to create batch transactions when the date went beyond the current period date, so that recurring transactions could continue to be processed using to generate transactions after the ended financial year had not been closed.

7065. We’d examined Perl the other day and now turned to the Python programming language at the Wikibooks site. It appeared interesting enough and we confirmed that OpenOffice 3 installed version 2.6.1 of it; we downloaded and installed the latest version 3.7.0 and began exploring the Windows GUI possibilities.

7076. Bootswatch.com became accessible again so we restored access to it from our websites.

7102. Reviewed GUI programming with Tkinter/Tk for Python. The commission payment feature in MBDM revealed an error situation and we revised the SQL code for when Payroll pay mode was selected, as this was not a valid GL transaction type for journal generation.

7124. Explored Python GUI programming with Tkinter/Tk, downloaded a book reader application called FBReader (recommended by one of the Python tutorials created by David Love), explored a tutorial at tkdocs.com, reading at the end of it about more powerful Python IDEs than the built-in IDLE, and downloaded a free Python Sqlite database application from Github, also checked out Objective-C, primarily for the Mac platform and capable of being used to develop apps for the iPhone.

7135. Continued Python GUI programming research work, checking out ODBC possibilities and RAD frameworks, downloading the tools and installing and going through the Kivy framework and seeing it could also be used to develop Android phone apps.

7161. Printwiser Planning client IT staff called to report they couldn’t get the Printwiser database up and running on a new Windows 7 computer and we arranged a visit to resolve the issue. Did web research on open-source and currently-maintained FreeBASIC compiler that started out implementing QuickBASIC syntax, and then the history of Microsoft’s Visual Basic whose support ended in 2008 with version 6, despite protests from the millions of programmers using it, after they moved on to VB .NET which worked differently.

7172. Made a slight change in MBGL’s batch transaction form, restricting viewing of all users’ transactions to Supervisors only while allowing query for everyone. Visited the Printwiser client and successfully set up an old copy of the Planning database without Sybase Central that was crashing. Their latest Planning database was corrupt and a new one needed to be rebuilt from a 2016 good copy and the latest log file. A MoneyBooks client called to report that the MoneyBooks icons had “vanished” from his desktop.

7183. Began database recovery work for the Printwiser client, with log to SQL conversion and analysis work on the SQL code, installing FreeBASIC and an editor so we could use FreeBASIC code to manipulate the huge (almost 3 GB) SQL code file. Processing of the file with the FreeBASIC code continued over 7 hours until the computer was hibernated after 4am.

7194. The processing of the log SQL file resumed in the morning when the computer was restarted from hibernation but after a second hibernation hours later we implemented an alternative strategy that finally saved the day, splitting a copy of the SQL file into 5 (each one 600 MB) based on Total Commander’s indication that the search string marking the start of required data update code was towards the end of the file (91%), and then the last of these into ten and writing another processing script to work on the smaller 60 MB file; by evening the recovery of the database was completed after our TrimLogSQL utility created in 2015 further compressed the extracted code from 31.8 MB to 18.4 MB, and it was finally run against the 2016 database. We uploaded the rebuilt database to our server and emailed client IT the download link and installation instructions. For Randomizer, we started setting up database objects to capture the Spin and Win statistics to assist in game plays, creating three tables, a couple of triggers and an insertion procedure and using these to record a few of the initial rows of data from a spreadsheet.

7205. Visited MoneyBooks client to sort out the “vanished icons” and other issues reported. We discovered the cause of the “vanished” icons was the fact that the Windows on the computer had been re-installed by someone, so the application had to be reinstalled, with care to avoid losing their existing data. Another issue was that the payslip showed up on the printer in very tiny fonts in some areas. Investigation revealed that the font used in those areas did not exist on the computer, so a work-around was created, a report format file that when applied changed those fonts to ones that existed on the computer.

7253. Completed recording Spin and Win results in the Randomizer database so now it was time to use it to improve bet distribution recommendation, as well as implementing the data entry in Randomizer.

7275. Carried out web research on another updated BASIC implementation, realBASIC (a version of which was later renamed Xojo by the company selling it), as well as Visual Basic.

7286. Came across an impressive Nigerian Emmanuel C. Onyema from Port Harcourt who got admitted to an Italian university after JAMB detained his results for five good years and was now working in a tech company in Texas, USA. He’d written a JavaScript programming book for young people and had an NGO for developing programming skills in young people. Checked out the website for the book and downloaded the Live Editor he used for the exercises and reviewed the visualization JavaScript language called Processing that he also used, as well as a JavaScript implementation of the Sqlite database system. Tried out using Python as a web server, which he adopted to allow readers working through the exercises in the book to use a web browser (for http addresses) without an internet connection.

7301. Implemented the first revision of the MoneyBooks Sales module this year, providing for an ending posting date.