Hi. Thanks for that question, because it also cleared up some things in my own mind.
I was talking about the "build process" that occurs at the company itself, that is performed by the developers or some "build team" that exists for no other reason than to compile all the source code and --eventually -- to create the latest version of the Amazing Charts client.
I should have been more clear, because I now realize that I am talking about two different processes that almost certainly occur at the company itself in order to create the client: Development and Build.
Nowadays, everyone uses some IDE (Integrated Development Environment) to write the code for their programs. The Amazing Charts client is almost certainly no different. And when the AC developers are writing the AC Client code, they are almost certainly making calls to a Windows API that is known as the .NET Framework, which you can think of as "already compiled code" that is supplied by Microsoft. In fact, you can go to the Microsoft website and download various versions of the .NET Framework (various releases, I mean).
Microsoft has made several releases of the .NET Framework. The two most recent, and the only two that we need to talk about here are 3.5 and 4.0 (I think that those are the version numbers). There is some possibility that the AC developers were using (in their IDE, this would be called "targeting") 3.5 for a long while and then suddenly switched to using 4.0, maybe some time around January 2011. Or, to be more precise, there is some possibility that AC versions 5.1.9 and upward were all compiled using the .NET Framework 4.0 framework. And this might be the source of the problem. It could be that .NET Framework (as distributed by Microsoft) is "broken", and then again it could be that the AC program itself is "using" some functionality in .NET Framework 4.0, and they are using it incorrectly.
But this is all just a guess! I have to remember that not only is the client behaving "badly", but also the C:\AmazingCharts.xml on the file is getting corrupted by "something". Is that "something" in the client? Or is it in the Server?
My guess, however, is that even THAT problem (the file corruption) is due to something going wrong in the AC client. And that "going wrong" could be occurring in the AC developer team's code, or it could be occurring in the .NET Framework 4.0.
By the way, a few weeks ago, a Help Desk person told me (via Chat) that .NET Framework 4.0 comes "bundled" with the AC client installer when you download the installer. He claims that the AC client now needs 4.0 (can no longer just use .NET Framework 3.5) because of something having to do with Crystal Reports; I know nothing about Crystal Reports, and I don't really care, I think.
The problem that I had with this claim (that .NET Framework 4.0 comes bundled with the latest release(s) of AC Client) is that I KNOW for a FACT that .NET Framework 4.0 did NOT get installed when I installed any of the versions 6.x of the AC Client onto my XP boxes. There was no trace of .NET Framework 4.0 on my machine after I ran the AC Client installer.
Is that part of the problem? I don't know! I don't know if the Help Desk guy was even correct in telling me that .NET Framework 4.0 DOES get installed when you install the AC Client! So, since I still did not have the .NET Framework 4.0 installed on my machine, what I did was to go out to the Microsoft website to download .NET Framework 4.0 and to install it.
I did so. I then ran the AC Client again ... and we still have the same problem.
But there is yet another (very) stick issue here: I have no idea how to verify that my AC CLient on XP is actually USING the .NET Framework 4.0 that is now installed on my machine. I have many other .NET Frameworks also installed on that same machine, e.g. 3.5 ... and the AC Client might be using the 3.5 rather than the 4.0
I simply do not know how to determine which .NET Framework a program is using when you run that program. However, I have heard that some of this depends on which .NET Framework the "developers" use (target) when they are writing and compiling the AC Client code. And I sure would like to find that out.
At the very least, I would love to know if the development team is now "targeting" .NET Framework 4.0 when they develop the code, and I would like to know if the "build" team is in fact including .NET Framework 4.0 in the AC Client installer.
Ideally, I woud like very much for a developer from AC to call me or email me, so that we can test out whether or not the Version 6 (even 5.1.9) clients running on XP are using the .NET Framework that was "targeted" during the development and build cycles at the company. AND to find out whether or not it is really true that ".NET Framework 4.0 ships with the AC Client". It does make sense that it should; otherwise, if you install the AC Client and try to run it, if the AC Client needs 4.0, it simply won't work. Then you (the end user) would have to go to the Microsoft website, download 4.0 and install it yourself! So, yes, I certainly could believe that the .NET Framework 4.0 does ship automatically "inside" the AC Client installer when you download it. But like I said, when I ran those installers for the 6.x versions, I still did not see any .NET Framework 4.0 on my machine. I still had only .NET Framework 3.5
Greg (MaxJammer)
