SDK Project

[Bluejay07]

Hello,

My boss has given me a project that was created in the SDK and wants me to start learning/examining the project. We do have the SDK; however, I don't know where to start or what needs to be accessed and in what order.

Could anyone point me in the direction on how to open/access/load this project?

Thanks.

If at first you don't succeed, then sky diving wasn't meant for you!

 

[Jay Converse]

There's a tutorial you can follow. Unless you're a masochist, my suggestion would be to ask your boss for another project.

 

[ettienne]

LOL, I second what tuba says.

 

[Bluejay07]

Another project isn't possible. This project was originally given to another company to complete but he's not impressed with how they have handled the project so he wants me to learn it so we can eventually make any changes ourselves.

When I tried learning the SDK a few years back in 54, the tutorial was horrible to follow.

If at first you don't succeed, then sky diving wasn't meant for you!

 

[Jay Converse]

That's all there is. That's one reason why so few people use the SDK. Ettienne and I have done Accpac for decades, and we don't go near the SDK. Maybe 10 people in the world know it well.

 

[Bluejay07]

That's the answer I was afraid of.
I've done some sdk work from within a VB6 project but never as a stand alone project.
Thanks for your responses.

If at first you don't succeed, then sky diving wasn't meant for you!

 

[DjangMan]

One of the challenges is that the SDK contains over 25,000 lines of source code and it is heavily reliant on templates. You make a copy of a few files, fill in some fields in those files and then run a few batch files and you get a whole bunch of new text files to edit. It's written in C with no visual debugger built in.

A handful of companies have been successful and a few others have died off (NMS, anyone?).

You might be better off figuring out why the project didn't turn out the way your boss wanted and then contact another 3rdparty developer like Greytrix or CodePartners with a 'perfect' spec doc.

 

[vbdbcoder]

Why use the SDK?

Unless your product idea is unique and is guranteed to have market in the Accpac world, I would stick to the customization of the existing Accpac module using .NET, plus any custom development job you might get. The flip side is when the upgrade happens, you will need to update your project. Still it will be an easier job than SDK. And the customer is happy...

just my 2 cents.

 

[Bluejay07]

Thanks for your comment DjangMan (I thought I replied but I apparently I didn't).

Hi vbdbcoder,
Thank you for your response. The product is unique and is in use by many companies, specifically companies that have access to ports and freight ships.

Why use the SDK?

As mentioned in the first post, the original program was created with the SDK and I've been asked to maintain it, not to recreate it. In addition, our company does a lot of custom programming that integrate with Accpac using VB6, not VB.net. Furthermore, if you record a macro, the macro is displayed in VB6 code, not VB.net code. It is for this reason that we haven't migrated to VB.net. Perhaps you have been successful using VB.net with Accpac and despite our efforts, using VB6 has been more beneficial for my company for the moment. We may try again in the future, although there are no plans as of yet.

Thank you again for your suggestion. Your response is appreciated.

If at first you don't succeed, then sky diving wasn't meant for you!

 

[ettienne]

Bluejay, may I ask where you are located and which company you work for?

 

[Bluejay07]

Hi ettienne,
I'm just wondering why you are asking for that information?

If at first you don't succeed, then sky diving wasn't meant for you!

 

[ettienne]

Just interested, nothing sinister. The previous company I worked for wrote SDK programs and one of them was for shipping companies. The software was sold off to another company. I'm still in contact with some of the SDK developers.

 

[Bluejay07]

No problem ettienne.

My office is in Canada although many of our clients are located in the bahamas and carribean. These companies manage freight ships, unfortunaly, I don't really know who they are since my boss associates with them. The parent company for me is Axis Global Partners.

If at first you don't succeed, then sky diving wasn't meant for you!

 

[ettienne]

Ok, it's not the same software then. Some of my clients in the Carib may be running your software, although I don't get involved in that side of it. You may be better off subbing the SDK work out, it can take you months just to figure it out.

 

[Bluejay07]

Thanks.
I just might restart the tutorial. That way I'll have a better idea on what I'm referencing and gives me a starting point.

If at first you don't succeed, then sky diving wasn't meant for you!

 

[vbdbcoder]

Bluejay07,

Thanks for a lot of info. provided here. I have been doing VB6 programming for a long time before upgrading to .NET. Now I am completely using C# for any Accpac related programming work, which I belive I am providing better value to my company and the companies' clients.

VB6 was discontinued by Microsoft in 2008.

At first, it might seem a lot to switch, but shouldn't be too bad after a couple projects. Customers are impressed by what was built using .NET.