Hi Sharrie,

You may want to remind your boss that Microsoft is in the process of killing DOS - future versions of Windows will not run DOS programs.

Over the years, I have seen alot of people with genius go belly-up in this game because of one bad decision.


>Thank you for confirming for me what I cannot get my company to accept.
>
>Now I will humble myself and tell you why. I don't yet have the expertise to do it right. I'm getting there. I've gotten the entire system laid out with class hierarchies from charts to CRC cards. Oh yeah. I've tried at work and at home to get this done for a couple of years now. Hasn't happened, yet.
>
>Meanwhile, I'm required to support the existing DOS-based clients..... the same ones who want to move to Windows solutions.
>
>I'd love to "rent" the talent that I lack thus far. That isn't an option, either, until I can convince the CEO that this will be time efficient and cost effective.
>
>I'm still struggling with Mediator and Observer patterns. You bet I want to keep the interface separate from the processing and business logic! I am an absolute believer in encapsulation! So much so, I started doing that in my DOS code back in '95. Still, there's a lot of spaghetti code in the original system....and ruefully, some of it is MINE. :^(
>
>I will pass your comments directly to the decision maker. Unfortunately, I know the response all too well. She is a genius. But primarily in her own area of expertise. She wants to bring the discipline of her accounting field into our fledgling software development field. I'm all for it! Alas, as many people do, she only listens to those who agree with her. I'm not saying she's wrong here --- I'm simply saying you're right, and she disagrees.
>
>And I think we all know where she is coming from:
> 1- She spent years developing the concept.
> 2- She spent many dollars seeing it come into existence in DOS.
> 3- She realizes it must go to Windows..... or die.
> 4- She doesn't want to run the risk of long term development for Windows.
> 5- She doesn't want long term debugging, either.
> 6- She is willing to sacrifice some now, in order to re-vamp it all later.
>
>If there is a way to do this, I'm ready to learn it.
>
>David Powell
>WagnerSys@aol.com