3111. A Printwiser client that recently installed version 8.1 reported a database error that Printwiser produced, database error code -308, ending with “Connection was terminated.” This was investigated and the client was advised it had to do with the network environment. Days later, he reported the issue no longer came up after reinserting the network cables.

3122. Visited another Printwiser Estimating client to install their own version 6.60 on a newly-acquired computer. They were also advised on the standalone nature of the Printwiser on their two computers, in the absence of a shared network database.

3133. News was received of the approval of our proposal to a client for the next major upgrade of Printwiser Estimating—the Capital/Energy Estimate Summary options. While handling files in one of the two flash drives we used at the client’s site yesterday, we mistakenly deleted a database file we intended to archive; luckily we were able to recall the deleted file using a utility called DiskDigger that we downloaded several years ago.

3155. Renewal of domain name and hosting for a web client was completed today, after the client paid a hefty ₦70,000 as Renewal Fee in Redemption Grace Period that went straight to the ISP, in addition to the normal renewal fees. The client was given 30-day renewal notification but they failed to act on it. Even when both domain and hosting expired and they could not access server email, they also neglected to renew within another 30-day grace period. But eventually, they did not wish to relinquish their prestigious domain name that their clients were familiar with, to register a new one, so they chose to pay the redemption fee. After the renewals, we uploaded our under-construction index page, then remaining to create their email accounts. Days later, another client whose domain name and hosting was due to expire in seven days was notified, and they promptly paid for the renewal.

3170. Work started on the Printwiser 10.0 upgrade with taking backups of development files, then altering some database tables. The upgrade work went on the rest of the month. Revising the estimate summary report. Getting stuck at the code for computing a new selling price, as it involved amounts that had to be calculated based on it. Deriving a working formula for calculating the new selling price. Completing coding the first implementation of the new summary format, moving to the client side to implement changes to the Options menu, Estimate List, Estimate Form, Estimate Case Binding Quantities form and the Settings form. Upgrading the revised estimate summary, the supplementary sheet and the cost sheet reports. Reviewing 5 different report formats that used code already created for an earlier report. Upgrading the cost analysis report, including the display of client stock amount that was not there before. Upgrading the work-back report, after deriving another formula for computing markup rate. Upgrading the flexible estimate report generation. Creating hard and limp cover versions of the estimate summary report with unit prices for each cover type. (Previously what existed was a detailed report that separated the total prices at each section, like machine room and bindery.) Revising a version of the detailed estimate working sheet report that included summary and unit price information.

The SQL coding part of the upgrade work was done using Sublime Text (Build 4169) and it was finally discovered how to edit the same file in two horizontal panes. To start with, the layout should be either two or three rows (horizontal panes). With the file open in one horizontal pane, select “Split view” from the File menu, which duplicates the file into two vertical panes. Now select another file and it will replace the two vertical panes with one. Then click on one of the two duplicate files in the side bar by the left,and from View menu, it can now be moved to the next group (horizontal pane). We missed using the Brief editor of DOS days though, as it made zooming in and out of files in different sections of the screen a breeze.

3181. Our staff couldn’t start work on a laptop for over 40 minutes as the mouse pointer wasn’t moving. His first culprit for the situation was QEMU that was still paused on a Windows install, but there was no difference after he quit it or after rebooting. The cause turned out to be that the mouse pad was turned off, though he couldn’t remember doing it; it was Googling the web that pointed him to this, and using the Fn and F9 keys came to the rescue.

3203. A Printwiser prospect from years back called again requesting new visit for installation, as they now had a different management that another staff that used Printwiser in the past had talked to. Following some online chats we eventually sent them our introductory email, including links to promotional stuff, including pricing, the YouTube video of Printwiser demo, pdf of write-up with sample reports.

3284. A web client staff reported that he needed assistance as he couldn’t set up his own server email account in Thunderbird because of password issue and this was quickly investigated. He could not log into the account at Webmail either. Eventually, we had to tell him he probably made a mistake while entering his password in cPanel, the reason why it was being rejected by Thunderbird, as when we did the password change now, we were able to log in at Webmail.