Anybody else having problems with v1.8a and Vista 64-bit?

beerslayer

Hi, folks - n00bie here so please be gentle...

I have run PointBlank 1.8a successfully on my laptop for several weeks now, so PointBlank seems to work under Vista 32-bit (SP2), which is what my laptop uses. However, my dad's new laptop runs Vista 64-bit (also SP2), and he's having a strange problem that I cannot reproduce.

It seems that every time he tries to enter data, PointBlank crashes. The error message from Windows is not very helpful... something to the effect that the application has terminated unexpectedly. (As if we didn't notice that on our own!)

Since I cannot reproduce this problem, I wondered if anyone else has been able to enter data successfully into PointBlank running under 64-bit Vista.

beerslayer

The above description is pretty vague, I know. That's the best information I had at the time. I now have two updates to add to the above report:

1) The problem has nothing to do with 64-bit Vista. I have now been able to reproduce it consistently under 32-bit Vista as well. I suspect the problem is not OS dependent.

2) The problem boils down to one simple issue: if the file "FIREARMS.DAT" does not exist in the same directory as PointBlank.exe at the time the application is launched, then when the user goes to the "Firearm Database" tab, the button "Edit Entry" is NOT deactivated, and when the user clicks it, the app crashes.

Workaround is for the user to simply click New Entry in that tab instead. Once a new entry has been Accepted, the file FIREARMS.DAT is created and the problem cannot reoccur unless the file is manually deleted. Even deleting all entries from the Firearm Database still leaves behind FIREARMS.DAT, and the problem does not occur because Edit Entry is deactivated when that file exists.

So it seems like there are two, probably easily fixable bugs here:

1) The application should not crash if the Edit Entry button is clicked on the Firearm Database tab, regardless of whether or not the file FIREARMS.DAT exists in the application's directory.

2) The Edit Entry button should be disabled when this file does not exist in the app directory.

One temporary fix might be to simply have the .zip file/installer contain a valid, if empty (of entries), FIREARMS.DAT file. But the underlying code that allows the crash should probably be fixed too.

Thanks for an otherwise excellent little program! I, too, am looking forward to version 2.0, but of course Real Life (TM) takes precedence... Smile

gelandangan

Gday beerslayer!
welcome to the site!
Drag a log and sit near the fire.. uhm, you are in north california huh.. well, you can sit far from the fire for now..

Ok Now that all those preliminary are done, here is what I think..

Vista suck!!
OTOH, some other insist to use them..

beerslayer

Are you my good twin?

whittling

Welcome .Don't worry about Gelandangan .We haven't had to many problems with him -YET.

beerslayer

I'm not worried about him. Remember - I'm the evil twin, and evil always triumphs over good. (Well, almost always...)

Does the developer read bug reports entered into this forum?

Pumpkinslinger

Beerslayer, he sure does! Just give him some time.

gelandangan

You can get the evil twin status mate!
not going to fight you for it.. Angel

but promise me to share the takings Very Happy

beerslayer

Sure. You can have 0% of any takings where you didn't help, and half of 1% from any take where you actually helped. Will that be OK?

Very Happy

beerslayer

I hope this issue is being considered for the 2.0 version currently in beta...