Our new accounting software now runs properly on all three platforms: newer Macs with ARM chips, older Macs with Intel, and Windows. They all can convert Goldenseal files to the new format. We had to rewrite more of the old NeoAccess database code to make that work.
Our staff is now set up to test on every Mac OS from Mojave to Ventura, plus Windows 10 and 11. The new app may run on older systems, but we won’t test it any further back.
We’ve also transitioned from programming to marketing: finishing the website, making videos. At the same time it’s a chance test every detail, and fix any lingering bugs. Then we’ll start paying the annual Qt license fee, and build a beta version to distribute.
Just like the current Goldenseal, the final app will be a single icon to install on your drive. But that’s a lie. Apps actually are packages, with many folders and files hidden inside. Some of it is source code, turned into machine language. Also included are text resources, pictures, layouts for windows and data fields, sounds, etc.
On the Mac, you can see the guts inside any app: just right-click on the icon and choose Show Package Contents. Windows has a more complex packaging system that requires specialty apps to view.
While setting up new computers for testing and debugging, we ran into the down side of packages. There are two apps we use to program on Macs: Qt Creator with 500,000 files packed inside, and Xcode with 750,000. Installing or deleting each of them can take an hour plus because they are so big. We used Force Quit in the middle of one Xcode deletion. It corrupted the file system so badly that the disk needed a total wipe and system re-install. Oops.
Apple and Microsoft are both getting more fussy about app security. There are more hoops to jump through. That’s something we’ll be dealing with between now and the first release.
Dennis Kolva
Programming Director
TurtleSoft.com
