Take Handle

[Majestics]

There is a database program for making invoice , its written in vb.net, there is no save option in that program, the programmer who designed it is not availble now... I want to add save button, the solution i have thought is to take the handle of the application and directly interact with it.... Please kindly post ur kind suggestion... Thank you in advance. (I want to program in java , i cant write the whole program from scratch).

[masijade]

So, the person who wrote is not there. And? Does that mean you don't have the source code either? The "solution" is, of course, to simply add it to the original code.

[Majestics]

I dont have the source code , also that person isnt here any more.... Now i want to add "save option" in the application... Is there any way... Senior Poster might faced such problems in past.... :-)

[masijade]

No. Anything you do will be a crutch and/or workaround. If "this person" wrote the code for this company (i.e. the company paid them to do it or they did while working for the company, even if in some other form) then the source code belongs to the company and they should have it somewhere, if they do not have it, but should, then find the guy and get it.

[JamesCherrill]

Assuming, for the moment, that this isn't any kind of copyright violation, even if you add a "Save" button, what will it do when pressed? Will you need to access the internal data of the app so you can save it? If so, it may be easier to re-write the whole app in Java

[mKorbel]

@ masijade

If "this person" wrote the code for *****

not at all, some InHouseAppS have long, long story :-)

[JamesCherrill]

Nice to know that thre are two of us on the planet who are not watching the royal wedding

[masijade]

@ not at all, some InHouseAppS have long, long story :-)

Yes, all. If a company contracts someone to write code for them, or someone writes (or even just tests) some code on that companys computers, that code belongs to the company. The only way it does not is if the company wrote a specfic contract in that manner, in which case they hopefully contracted for support, and if not, they need to throw it out as it is nothing but a dead weight for them and they were fools for doing it that way.

Edit: And, p.s., if it is a program that got into the company in any other way (i.e. someone wrote it at home and simply brought it to work and started using it) then the company still needs to throw it out as a security risk (and possibly/probably prosecute/discipline the employee) or the employee needs to start a process of getting it verified/certified with the company, which would then, probably, also require a support agreement, again.

Edit Again: At least this is the way in which most company employment contracts and/or computer use restriction documents are written.

[mKorbel]

@ JamesCherrill

and I hear something that Us President Barrack Obama too :-)

[mKorbel]

:-) I started learn programing because to my dept arrised amount of agendas at monthly bases, one day I wrote message wraper (I/O) between kondor and db2 in MsAccess, no one hepl me, without any inpact to my job, just inhouse(for they) handmade, but once day I said them goodbye and farewell and then they problems started (Sw changes + patch updates on both enviroments), but I gave them unlocked *.mdb file,

no SLA, never .... blablablablblabl (their result)

blablabbla == no one to want to reingeneering no authorized code, story ends, now lots of people typing data by their fingers to the session,

how much..., lots of ordinary employee coding into MsExcell or MsAccess

[masijade]

but I gave them unlocked *.mdb file

It already belonged to them, and if you hadn't have given it to them, and they decided they needed it they could have come after you legally.

[Majestics]

I m permitted to add "save button", company dont have the code.... How can access the internal data of an app... I mean wether i have to copy its ram data or some thing else....Any sufggestion .... Because its a new thing for me in programming... Its not simple for me to do now... I know there are some special programmer that can help me... Just the idea no need for explanation.

[JamesCherrill]

Getting at its internal data, without the source code, is going to be near impossible (unless some VB expert knows better?). Investing in adding things to a totally unsupportable program makes no sense to me, even if there is some technical way to achieve that. Seriously - look at writing a replacement program and scrapping the old one. Just how complex is this program anyway?

[Majestics]

Its a network based database application. Use for making invoice... I know this is hard but we can achieve it. Its not too complex but it will take a month for a single user to recreate it ... Company has no budget for the project now... Thanx to all for their kind suggestions.

[JamesCherrill]

If it's a database application, would it be possible to save the data by retrieving it from the database and saving that, as opposed to trying to capture it from inside the app?

[Majestics]

Actually the program is made by a fool... its a kind of application in which u can not save the data,, if accidentally computer restart or hang then u have to re enter the values again.. until u press "save button" the program is temporary utilizing ram instead of hard drive for storage... and if u press save all data is saved to database and u cant "edit" that back............... I know it will make u laugh but its the scenario.... Also i want to ask one more thing, i have been using dani web since 3 year and website doesnt update itself automatically, i have to refresh the page....

[JamesCherrill]

Hmmmm. It looks to me like you are on mission impossible here. IMHO it needs to be re-implemented. Sorry, I have no more ideas.

If I'm monitoring DaniWeb for interesting new posts I use a neat Firefox addon called ReloadEvery http://reloadevery.mozdev.org/ and set it to refresh the page every 5 mins or so. Works a treat for me.

[mKorbel]

@ Majestics

if you want to something, anytime, blablabal simulate any UserInput from Mouse or from KeyBoeard, then look for AutoIt (Win Platforms)

[Majestics]

Thanx... I dont know wether it will solve my problem or not but its a great thing ..

[JamesCherrill]

Interesting how one idea sparks another...
Maybe you can wrap the app inside a wrapper program that takes keystrokes & mouse clicks and passes them directly to the original app (so the app continues to work like beofore), but also keeps a log of all those on an external log file. So if things crash you can use the same wrapper program to re-play the keystrokes and mouse clicks from the file to re-instate the pre-crash situation?

[Majestics]

Love you all.................. Thank you for your great support and time............

[mKorbel]

@ JamesCherrill

<joke>that's inposible, fist anitvirus will k*i*l*l your wrapper (yes is possible set an exception for that)</joke>

without joke, my wife's back, hmmm maybe the time to new (her) wending :-)

[mKorbel]

@ Majestics

don't look for crutch, you lost one week, start codding, maybe your next employer appreciate that...