About MCS
Mission Critical Software (MCS) was founded in 1998 to develop custom business & database software on Windows platforms for small to medium-sized organizations. Some recent MCS clients include Choice Hotels Canada, Sunoco Natural Gas, Konbek Trade, On-Line Solutions, and Converge Advertising.
Currently, MCS provides business database solutions in a Client/Server or DCOM/MTS/COM+ environment. MCS also provides e-commerce solutions using .Net, DCOM, IIS, ASP, and VB Script.
Check the MCS company web site at www.mcswiz.com for more details. This site also offers tools and system development information dedicated to today’s Visual Basic and Access database developers.
About The Author
My name is J. Richard Wakefield, and I am the President of Mission Critical Software Ltd. I have also been a fan of model railroading for as long as I can remember. My main railroading interest is the CPR of Southern Ontario during the steam era of the 1940's to mid 1950’s. Branch lines are my favorite topic. Check my layout at www.mcswiz.com/mylayout/homepage.asp.
This database project actually started back in 1982 being written on an Apple IIe in AppleSoft BASIC. I started this project as a tool in the early days of teaching myself BASIC programming. It was later resurrected in the 1990’s as a Windows program using VB3, again as a learning tool. By 1999, I realized the dispatching programs that existed on the market were not as good as what I could develop, hence this application.
I’ll do a little bragging at this point. I have been writing software since 1981, with 90% of my programming training being self-taught. Early on, I realized that Windows was the future of systems development. In 1984, I attended the Institute for Computer Studies in Toronto, ON, where I was formally trained in Windows-based database design and software development. I then worked for a few companies writing custom VB applications, but by 1998 realized I preferred to work for my own business, creating MCS.
I have taught database design and software development at an Ajax, ON technical institute since 1997. I have also had two articles published in the Visual Basic Programmer’s Journal (Feb 1999 and Apr 1999) on VB programming-related topics. I published a paper on a small geological enigma in the May 1988 issue of the Journal For Geological Education. Besides trains, geology is also a hobby of mine. My main area of interest is the Precambrian geology in the Bancroft, ON area.
I have to admit that, even with the business applications I have personally written, this by far was the most complicated and challenging, as well as the longest development time. I sincerely hope that you enjoy what I have created for you. Feel free to send me comments and suggestions at jrwakefield@mcswiz.com, or visit my MCS web site at www.mcswiz.com.
Acknowledgements
I would personally like to thank the following people for their contributions to this program:
· The many beta testers who helped to identify and correct problems before we generated the final product including Bruce Wilson, Marshal Abrams, David Husman, and especially David Bond who took it upon himself to test every day for more than two years.
· My brother Ross, a life long rail fan and hobbyist, for his desire for someone to write a better switchlist program.
· My nephew, Rick Dale, for his help with the MCS website..
· Kim Sadler for editing this documentation.
· And finally, to my family for their understanding while I took the little spare time I had to write this program.