MultiValue Consulting and

                              Technical Support, Inc.

PICK Programmers & GUI Illiteracy in the 21st Century

Every MvCaTs Manager is GUI Literate and has been for quite some time.  But none of us started out that way.  Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, we felt just like you do, terrified of “the elephant in the room”.  Our employer was making noises about “going GUI” which would leave multivalue in the dust and us pounding the pavement …  Or so we thought.

The fact that you are still GUI illiterate this far into the 21^st century is a testament to your ability to dig in your heels and resist change.  But trying to hold back the transition to GUI will be no more effective than the levees in New Orleans were at holding back Hurricane Katrina.  GUI is its own “force of nature”; you either embrace it or it will eventually overwhelm you, with the potential to destroy your career.

But the Very Good News is that you don't have to leave PICK to "go GUI"; instead, you can “learn while you earn”.  With a serious investment of about six months of your time, you can learn AccuTerm GUI while you continue to earn a living as a character-based (CBI) PICK programmer.  Many employers may even be willing to let you spend time on the job doing so since you would be upgrading their screens and the end result would benefit them as well since they won't have to convert their database or hire new technical support.

Programmers write AccuTerm GUI code in 100% MultiValue (PICK) Basic so you can continue to use the skills you have developed over the years.  But the screens themselves will run in Visual Basic and C, without you ever having to learn either of those languages.  And the screens will have the complete "look and feel" of Windows applications.  Are you getting excited yet?  If all you feel right now is trepidation, read this paragraph again.

As an Official AccuTerm GUI Resource, MvCaTs employs a unique approach by taking existing character-based screen code and "reengineering" it to share most of the code with the GUI side by parsing into "GUI-friendly" subroutines for validation, data retrieval, file updating, etc.  These subs are also called by the event-driven GUI side to "do just one thing" based on the object the user clicked (such as the OK button).  Changes in the CBI subs are automatically reflected on the GUI side, reducing maintenance cost & time.   And changes to the online help for CBI prompts are automatically reflected in the GUI help hint balloons.  How cool is that!

But you have to “want” to learn GUI in order to be “able” to learn GUI.  If your mind continues to reject the thought of learning GUI, you will find it impossible to grasp the concepts of Object Oriented Programming (OOP), thus proving the old adage, “If you think you can, you’re right.  If you think you can’t, you’re right.”

Character-based programming uses the “Top Down” approach where you start at the first prompt, force the user to answer prompts with required entry as they move “down” the screen, and eventually end up at an Option line prompt where they can file a record or run a report, etc.  But with Object Oriented Programming, from the time the first form of the application is displayed, it’s more like the “wild west”.  The user can go anywhere, at any time, to any control, inside or outside the form, and the programmer has to account for all of those “events”, at all times.

Sounds scary, doesn’t it?  And it is … at first, and often frustrating as well.  It takes a good six months, conservatively speaking, before a programmer can begin to feel confident of his or her ability to produce a GUI screen from character-based source code and have it truly mirror the outcome of the original screen.  But once you “get it”, cranking out GUI screens becomes not only fun but fast as well as rewarding.  And it enhances your skill sets, making you more employable.

How do we suggest you get started?  First, take the free AT GUI tutorial and complete each assignment.  Then take the tutorial 4 more times to reinforce what you have learned.  This is just the tip of the iceberg, but it will give you a foundation on which to build further.  Next, purchase two sample AT GUI screens from MvCaTs, study the code, and then begin creating your own screens.  Or better still, have MvCaTs reengineer one of your own data entry screens and one of your report screens then study the code to see how we did it.  That way, the code is familiar.

You can use MvCaTs as a Training Resource while you teach yourself AccuTerm GUI.  For as little as 2 hours per month (or as many hours as you need), you could put us on Retainer then call for immediate, in-depth help whenever you get stuck or need advice of any kind.  We could also work shoulder to shoulder with you to meet deadlines if you are converting an entire software suite "under the gun".  But unless you can afford to retire this year, remaining GUI illiterate is no longer a viable option.  You can do this.  We can help because we’ve been there.  But remember:  not to decide … is to decide.

 Home / Credentials / Rates / Guarantee / Careers

In our 10th year as PICK of the Litter for MultiValue Support

  Make Contact

Privacy Policy:  Sending MvCaTs an email supplies us with your email address.  We will not sell or use it in any way other than to reply to your inquiry.