Doing Volunteer Work (It's 1999 again!)

Having not looked at VB6 or Microsoft Access for more years than I spent using either product, I find myself suddenly thrust back into 1999. Last week, I started work on a volunteer project to fix bugs and add features to a VB6/Microsoft Access application for the local Center for the Arts, here in rural NoCal. Finding the source code on the Center's servers was the first hurdle, but then I realized that the original app (which was itself written as a volunteer project, and is brilliantly conceived and executed by its original author, who has left the area) used both VSFLexGrid8 and Crystal Reports 9, neither of which I currently have a license for. Until I can rebuild that VB6 application, I can't make any fixes. The story goes uphill from here.

I called ComponentOne (the distributor for the aged VSFlexGrid8) and worked my way through to my local rep, Jennifer. After a few bouts of phone tag, we finally hooked up, and (I am not kidding you), you could not possibly ask for more attentive, caring customer service. Jennifer not only offered to provide a free license (OK, I pulled a few strings...) to the old control, but found out quickly that I did indeed already have a license to the control (from 1998) that was still valid. We spent a good hour on the phone working through all the details, trying to ensure that she got me the same version of the control that was used in the application, but before we got off the phone, we had the VSFlexGrid8 issues worked out. Thanks to ComponentOne, and to Jennifer, for making what could have been a long (and unpaid!) adventure have a happy ending.

Wish I could say the same for Crystal Reports 9. I'm just afraid to even start with them. I'm scouring all my old archives to see if I have a copy lying about (I KNOW I had a license at one point). I'd rather poke my eye with a sharp stick than ever touch Crystal Reports (and will probably replace all the CR reports with Access reports), but this barrier still lies between me and my first compilation of the application. But I'm glad to be able to provide volunteer support for the local arts community, and hope that some day I'm able to actually build this thing...

And speaking of Microsoft Access, Garry Robinson, an Australian Access developer, contacted me yesterday to let me know that his company has purchased all the back issues of the once-great newsletter, Smart Access (originally from Pinnacle Publishing--this newsletter is where I got my technical writing start, back in 1993. Thanks to Paul Litwin for that...) If you're interested in a nice slice of history, or are perhaps developing in Access on a daily basis, this resource could be very helpful. Yes, the articles were written a while back, but believe me, most of what you'll find in Smart Access is still valid information, if a little stale. Check it out here: http://www.vb123.com/smart. You can find Garry's post on the Access team blog here http://tinyurl.com/l44j9y.

Thanks to Garry for making this valuable resource available.