Preview Updates

This page that will hold updates of the parts of the program as they are finished to show what progress has been made in the program, design changes, etc from newest to oldest.

Feb 26, 2011 - Mileage log program updates include new styled buttons, the ability to use 'skins', file being worked on displayed in title bar, and re-worked box and button sizes to display better on Apple os's.

Feb 17, 2011 - New program going into testing, a parts logger. Entries are logged directly to an sql db. So far listings can only be added to.

Initial draft of the program.

This program and the mileage log may wind up combined at some point, but for now are completely seperate.

Feb 17, 2011 - Release Candidate uploaded to the site. Program starts with a dialog to either create a new log, or continue from an old one. Once a choice is made, the program opens to its logging status. Included is a help file, credits slideshow. This is more or less the final layout.

Dec 30, 2010 - As some of you know from testing, the module below didn't work out so great, and it came with a lot of baggage (having to install both mdac components and sql server express, along with a framework to support the program), so it has been completely scrapped and I re-wrote the program.

Here is the current interface :

The layout is currently fluid, but for now functional. The program .zip file includes the executable for Windows, Mac, and Linux (Linux may require additional files to work, I am currently running it on my distro after downloading only one file) .

I included a log file for you to be able to load up, the add / delete / clear grid / load and save functions all work. Currently I am adding a status bar to give information about the particular part of the program you are working in, there is also a complete help file built into the program in case you get stuck.

For now, there are some caveats on entering information.

1. When entering the odometer reading, the format is 6 digits (the comma will be put in automatically), so entering it should be 056230 which will equal 056,230 in the box. Currently its set to whole numbers, in the final program it will also insert the decimal point for the fractional mileage.
2. Entering the Gallons also requires 4 digits, so if you put in 7.7 gallons, you need to enter it 0770. Again, the period will auto-fill, so it will enter 07.70 .
3. Entering the Cost is the same thing. Since I doubt in my effective lifetime that it will ever cost more than $99.00 to fill a metro, I've limited the digits to 4 but all of them need to be entered. So if your fill up cost you $9.50, you should enter it 0950, and the $ and . will be added automatically showing $09.50 .
4. The MPG Av. currently does nothing, when the program is finished it will automatically calculate this value. The total MPG average will also be automatically calculated, currently not functional.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated :)

Sep 7, 2010 - First attempt back at programming since the surgery. This is a module attempt at getting the db entries in the database and having them stick (hopefully with no errors). Here is the obligatory screen shot of the module :

As you can see, some things have been changed or condensed heavily, this module is strictly for the purposes of entering information into the db. As always, please try to follow the testing guidelines and post results in the feedback page.

Thank you for your patience during my absence.

Apr 14, 2010 - Module implementation of car selection drop down box being worked on, current progress shown in pictures below. Since a user may have one (or more) cars that simple descriptions do not differentiate enough, Old Fart Programmer decided to allow the use of pictures in the drop down list selection to ensure user is working with correct car.

It is suggested by the programmer that the user take pictures that include the license plate so that identifying said car is easier. The pictures below show random images of cars used to test the module.

1. The part of the program this module corresponds to highlighted in yellow.

2. The module by itself, choose the car to work with from the list, the image will contain a default picture ( as shown above ).

3. Press the [ Add Car Image ] button ( not yet shown in working program ). An 'Add Your Car...' image dialog will open. Choose an image that will help you identify which car you are entering the information for -OR- that you will be looking for information from the database about.

4. When the image is added it will be indexed to the drop down list of cars you have selected to work with. Choose your car from that list, and the image should confirm that you are working with the correct vehicle.

The image will be automatically scaled to fit within the parameters of the image box as shown in the layout at the top, so image size will not matter. The image itself will to some degree matter, however most common formats should work out fine, jpg, bmp, etc.

Any comments or feedback would be appreciated in the appropriate feedback sections setup for the testing pages.

Apr 8, 2010 - The third revision of the interface implementing further suggestions from the beta testing group :

1. Status bar was added to the bottom of the program to advise user of required data to be entered
2. Exit button was connected and is now working
3. Some controls were re-arranged for cleaner layout purposes

Linux Beta 3 Windows Beta 3

Mar 30, 2010 - The first revision of the interface for the program implementing the following suggestions from the beta testing group :

1. User should be allowed to enter more than one car
2. There should be an entry area for weekly notes to show things that may affect mileage differences (i.e. using additives or having done recent maintenance)
1. Cost per gallon was added to keep track of monthly costs to fuel the car
   1. Initial layout of the program was 800x600, this was found to be too large for a net-book screen. Layout size of the program was reduced to 640x480.
2. Graphing was changed from lines to bar chart layout to keep track of both costs and mpg averaging

Linux Beta 2 Windows Beta 2

Mar 28, 2010 - The initial program layout and design.

Initial goals of the program :

• keep track of mileage of a single car, have user enter car information
• have program pull date for entry from users pc directly
• enter odometer reading and gallons per fill-up, then enter information into database
• use to graph to show recorded mpgs per month, calculation based on mileage difference between previous odometer reading and last entered odometer reading, divided by the amount of gallons used to fill entry.

Linux Beta 1 Windows Beta 1