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My interest in Windows programming started in the Spring of '93 when I went out and bought a 386. I could have bought a 486, but I have always been a firm believer in making code that runs fast on slow machines. After all, if it runs fast on a slow machine, it should run quite nicely on a faster machine. I told my wife I would learn how to program using windows. Well 3 months passed by and she discovered all I used the computer for was to play games (I already had a full time job writing OO with C++/UNIX). So she answered an advertisement in the paper for a

"Windows programmer wanted, No experience necessary"

That was in interesting break into the world of windows programming. I had no experience and signed a contract where I would receive royalties on a piece of software I was to develop. I had no experience in what language to pick, but at the time, the person I was working with suggested I use Borland C++ OWL to get the job done.

I ended up investing nearly $10K in this endeavor. I used EDI's Installer for the setup program. I used Borland's Paradox engine for the database, I used BC+ 3.1's OWL to write the actual code. In the early development, I invented a shareware/freeware DOS program called COBGEN that will generate base class objects (C++) for you automatically. At the time there were none on the market. I won an award 1 month after I had it up for distribution on the Internet. But after about 2 months, ProtoGen came out, and shortly after that Visual C++ had a code generator. Mine was in DOS and didn't stand a chance, but needless to say I used it to develop the Great American Vacation Guide". This is the product I developed at home and was in CompUSA for several years. I even managed to get it Windows Logo certified.

Back in the beginning I had bought VSP support from Borland. It gave me a special compuserve account, as well as special 800 number access to their technical engineers. Later I picked up a Microsoft Developers Network Subscription. All this helped greatly as I had no idea of how to program in windows. After the Vacation Guide got reviewed in PC Novice, July 1994("Planning the perfect vacation"), I quit my UNIX job and decided to program windows full time. I went to work for a small firm and got to learn the SDK (really it was MFC). You see back in OWL 1 you didn't have to know how windows worked to be able to write a windows program. I firmly believe OWL 1 was a really good abstraction of windows programming. I didn't even know how to do a SendMessage because OWL did it all for you. Well when I learned MFC I quickly had to learn the SDK because MFC was not a very good implementation of Object Oriented (OO) programming.

After a year with MFC, I quit that job and took a job doing CBT with Borland C++ again. In time I went from knowing nothing about how 'hooks', CBT, and the OS works to being one of the few people in the world aware of how to tweak the system to one's benefit.

There is even a side story I will mention. We gave Microsoft a copy of our CBT binary in exchange for a bunch of MS licenses. Well about a year later ETS (Educational Testing Services, the makers of the SAT) came to us with a program they wanted us to try to duplicate. It was our CBT program. The story they were told was that MS had tried to reverse engineer it and failed. Then they went to ETS, since ETS had CBT experience and asked them to write the code. ETS tried and failed, and went to our company.

I was able to achieve this rare level of programming status by asking many 'dumb' questions of many people more experienced than me. If you want to delve into this area, you have to be willing to remove yourself from the Microsoft mindset, and if told it can't be done, well don't believe. One of my dumb questions was 'How can I tell if the system is idle?'. Microsoft and others will tell you you cannot do it. But let me say it has been done. I can determine this on win3.x, NT, and 95.

Another person who helped tremendously is Jeffrey Richter, a leading expert on how the Windows operating system works. Years ago he wrote an algorithm called 'Sendkeys' which was capable of sending keystrokes to other applications. I extended his language and made it more functional by providing new capabilities. We exploited this new extension to the language in our endeavor to be the best CBT outfit in the world. He also helped me personally when he answered a question on the live Microsoft UA theatre broadcast a few years ago. I am thankful for his discovery as we were able to use it to make our code even more robust.

Todd Laney of Microsoft also gave me a hand. I figured out how he did the 'xmouse' trick in windows. He confirmed via email I'd gotten it right!

I used to answer questions on CompuServe's Borland forum (BCPPWIN). After almost 4 years of answering people's questions, I received the Stellar Technical Assistance Recognition (STAR) award from Borland on Compuserve. I never made it to TeamB status but I did get to participate in their yearly BBQ's.

After 2 intense years, I pretty much had pushed the leading edge of CBT as far as I could go, plus I needed a vacation. We went from having me as the only programmer to having 3 other programmers on staff. I hadn't taken a real vacation for over two years and often had been asked to take my computer with me to write code where ever I went. Having also had over 30 days of comp time I had never had a chance to use, I peacefully departed.

I'm still in the DC area but did quite a bit of traveling, including key west. Currently i'm marooned here though...

Interesting news: I managed to get my first patent: #5816820, the simulation generation system, was jointly developed while doing CBT development. This system was used to develop a standalone engine I call RVNESIM which was passed out at the launch of Win95 in Washington. RVNESIM stands for a magical event. RVNE is old english for RUNE. In this case the RVNE is a magical event. SIM represents the name of the engine. Its a simulation engine that gives you the look and feel of really being there. I wrote RVNESIM in one long day.

I now have full rights and ownership to the "Vacation Guide". When Microsoft bought out AutoMap Pro, the market got a little tougher. Take a look at my current endeavour. Duneram is writing a game that will target Windows and the Playstation.

Send me an email: if you have more questions...