The Eric Wroolie Blog

Overpass Experiences

I’m a Firefox Convert — finally

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I finally switched to Firefox as my default browser this week. Despite the hype in the past, with Firefox 1.x I found too many sites which just didn’t render properly (due to web developers who didn’t code to standards). I also always work in corporate IE-only environments, so I always code and run with IE and do last-minute Firefox checks only if the project warrants it. The only reason I could see to use Firefox in the past was that it didn’t support Microsoft, but I found the quality of the browser lacking.

But this week I was building an ASP.net 2 app for a client and started to check things out in Firefox. I found everything rendered nearly identically. This way, I already had peace of mind about the code I was producing as I was building it (if it looked good in Mozilla, it will look in IE).

Firefox 2 seems to be a huge improvement over 1.x. I was really impressed.

I really started to appreciate Firefox when I started looking at the add-ons. There are hundreds of add-ons and themes written by the community that allow you to customise your browser exactly how you like it. A lot of the functionality is only coming into Windows with Vista and the sidebar, but it is still clunky. I like the add-ons best.

Here are some of the add-ons I’ve installed:

  • ForecastFox Enhanced — a weather update add-on which gives me up-to-date weather forecasts in the corner of the status bar (great for knowing what to wear on the motorcycle). Unlike the new weather gadgets in Vista, it allows you to set up separate profiles. When I’m at my client’s site, I choose their location and when I’m at home, I choose my own.
  • Del.ico.us Bookmarks ? I frequently bookmark something on my desktop but want to read the article on the laptop when I’m sitting on the couch later in the evening. I have to maintain two sets of bookmarks and it never works. With this add-on, it’s easier to use an online service like del.ico.us for all of my bookmarks (and I can have thousands).
  • FoxyTunes — I have a music add-on which interfaces with WMP so I don’t need to Alt-Tab each time I want to pause the music I’m listening to or skip to the next track.
  • Web Developer — superior to the developer Toolbar in IE.
  • Wizz RSS News Reader ? much better than the Feeds in IE7 and Outlook 2007 (which never stay in sync with each other on the same machine)

Anyway, I haven’t given up on Microsoft in any way. I still prefer Windows Media Player to iTunes (except where I need my iPod or for lookup up podcasts). But in browser terms, I’m going to give Firefox a go for a while.

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The Seduction of a Microsoft Access project

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The other day, I was asked a question I get asked on a lot of contacts: “How’s your Microsoft Access?” Then, with excitement, “we figure that you can knock up an Access application in just a few days compared with the weeks it will take for the other system.”

Another question I get asked on contracts is “We have an Access application that is in terrible shape. Can you help us create a SQL Server application based on it?”

I’ve moved away from Access for so many years now (“but they keep pulling me back in!”), but the VBA is still in my head. I may not be able to tell you the difference between Access 2002 and Access 2003, but I can code it just fine.

I’ve seen a lot of very big projects with Access at their core and I’ve seen a lot of very small projects where a developer insists on a full transactional Oracle solution. Access has its place, but there is a fine line to be observed.

The problem with Access is its apparent simplicity. When a project manager or a business user can slap together some forms and call it an application, they assume they can hand it to a developer and he will do the same thing as they did, but faster. A developer, however, will think about transactions, when the data is written to tables, how to control auditing and authentication, etc. In the end, you get an elaborate Access database application, but it may have been quicker to write it in C# or some other managed code.

The simplicity is also a problem because anyone can build an Access form. On 4 different contracts, I’ve been faced with a situation where a business user (and closet developer) “built” an access database which is now used by an entire company and can no longer take the strain. Since the database is usually not as normalised as it should be, it needs to be re-written on a more robust platform. I’ve done this a lot. And it always takes longer than it did to build the original Access database.

Access is a good tool. I know developers who would never ever touch it?even though haven’t explored everything it can do. Ask them to produce a one-user application, they’ll start designing SQL Server schemas and n-tier plans. I also know a developer who knows Access and VBA backwards and forwards but will not admit it when he’s in a contract.

As a report-writer and very generic application creator, Access is a very useful tool. For a seasoned developer, it’s definitely a step down.

We’ll see if I need to create another one this week.

My job and my ride

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I’m in a new contract now for a small company about a forty-five minutes away. I’m primarily doing consulting on this one. I’m helping this company set up a distributed development environment with proper source code repositories and collaboration systems. I’m also doing some interface design. It’s a lot of fun, even without the coding.

The best part about the new job is that it gives me the oportunity to ride my motorcycle into work. I’ve had the bike for about a month now and love it. It’s a Honda CBF600. It can do 120mph easy (the guy at the dealership told me). I got it up to about 85 on a very straight and quiet rode and freeked myself out by going too fast. I’m not quite there yet. I’m also not at that “weaving though traffic” stage.

The most embarassing moment I’ve had so far with the new bike was coming up to a roundabout with an uneven road. When I put my foot down, I lost my balance and dropped the bike. I got my leg out from under it before it fell. When I tried to lift it, I grabbed it as if I would grab my bicycle—by the handlebars. I couldn’t lift it no matter how hard I tried. The guy in the car behind me (with a growing queue of traffic behind him) got out of his car and with a big smile on his face put one hand on the rear seat of the bike and one hand on the handlebars and lifted it easy. Now I know– I need to lift it like I’m lifting a heavy box and not like I’m lifting a bicycle. I bent the clutch and the gear shift, but no other damage was done. I was able to bend the gear shift back myself by taking it off and hammering it out and replaced the clutch for about £10. So, a learning experience. That bike is heavy.

Here’s a picture.