WinBatch® Technical Support Forum

All Things WinBatch => WinBatch => Topic started by: morenos1 on May 18, 2016, 11:43:08 AM

Title: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: morenos1 on May 18, 2016, 11:43:08 AM
"Announcing Company's Retirement"


The most valuable Windows tool I ever had, but all good thing must come to an end ...  :'(

Time to move to a different OS ....

Thank You for all your help.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: rgouette on May 18, 2016, 12:39:49 PM
Noooooooo.......


WB has been my friend through many dangers...

thank you good folk
Rich
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: bmclellan on May 18, 2016, 01:40:56 PM
I wonder if they will release anything as open source after. I'd hate to see such a great tool end up in the grave once support stops.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: ....IFICantBYTE on May 18, 2016, 08:12:11 PM
What are you talking about?
... edited.. oh now I see it on the main WinBatch.com page.

Hmmmm.... that sucks big time.  :(
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: LAKosin on May 19, 2016, 04:31:33 AM
At least it coincides with MY anticipated retirement. It's been a great tool and I'm sad to see it's active life come to an end.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: tim0thy on May 19, 2016, 04:37:42 AM
I hope WWW will open-source these tools, too.
Wrote my first script back in 1992. WB was on a book CD-ROM (Windows 3.1 Secrets, I think). WinBatch and Paint Shop (now Pro) are the only tools from that CD-ROM still in my 'toolbox'.
24 years of WIL so far, it's been a pleasure  :D
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: Arulrajah on May 19, 2016, 04:11:17 PM
I am really said too  :'(

Very good product. Tech support was super!!

Good luck and thank you for all the help. Not sure I can find a product like Winbatch out there.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: stanl on May 23, 2016, 09:59:26 AM
Would have liked to seen a bit more tweaking on the CLR before the finale... but I WB will remain an excellent product for low level file processing and ODBC/ADO/SQL scripts.

If anyone would like to explore a post-hoc-developer group to exchange code and ideas with WB as it stands, I'm game.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: JTaylor on May 23, 2016, 01:16:30 PM
I am game.   I could probably host if needed.   Not sure if the SMF database/settings could be transferred easily or not or if they would do that.   Maybe they will keep the board up for a while???

Also, Tony, you may or may not remember but at one time there was an option to download the entire TechDatabase and it was updated occasionally.  I think I had even written an interface for it.  Could that be updated again so we can have that available locally?

Jim
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: td on May 23, 2016, 03:02:32 PM
All Tech Support articles are and always have been available for download as text files:

http://techsupt.winbatch.com/techsupt/wb_techdb_zip.zip  (http://techsupt.winbatch.com/techsupt/wb_techdb_zip.zip)

The file is automatically updated daily.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: JTaylor on May 24, 2016, 05:41:00 AM
Thanks.   Didn't know that was still happening.

Jim
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: mcjathan on May 25, 2016, 08:26:33 AM
Nooooo!  Please try to find a buyer for Winbatch!

In case there is no buyer, will there be an ongoing Winbatch tech support (user run) forum?
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: jtrask on July 06, 2016, 08:49:47 AM
I plan on sticking with WinBatch as log as I can, but I need to start thinking of a replacement sooner rather than later.  Any suggestions? 

Being able to compile is a must.  Should I just bite the bullet and get Visual Studio?  I'm sure its capable of doing everything I'd need, but is it overkill?  A fair about of what I do is create wrappers for software deployments.  Those that are not straightforward might require that I create/delete registry keys before/after the software is installed, check for files/directories.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: stanl on July 09, 2016, 04:51:17 AM
Quote from: jtrask on July 06, 2016, 08:49:47 AM
I plan on sticking with WinBatch as log as I can, but I need to start thinking of a replacement sooner rather than later.  Any suggestions? 

Being able to compile is a must.  Should I just bite the bullet and get Visual Studio?  I'm sure its capable of doing everything I'd need, but is it overkill?  A fair about of what I do is create wrappers for software deployments.  Those that are not straightforward might require that I create/delete registry keys before/after the software is installed, check for files/directories.

Depending on the different versions of Windoze you support I would say you could stick with WB for a long time. I have several scripts compiled with WB 2008 that were migrated to Win10 by users and still run perfectly.

You might consider Powershell as a scripting alternative to VS, and it can be compiled, and if your version of WB supports the CLR that can help you to transition.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: kdmoyers on July 11, 2016, 11:56:06 AM
Does anyone know a way to develop VBA programs *without* having any of the MS Office products installed?
I ask because it seems like VBA might have a decent subset of WB functionality and so might be a partial replacement.
(But I'm not sure myself, as I don't have any MS Office products)
-Kirby
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: stanl on July 12, 2016, 03:23:41 AM
Quote from: kdmoyers on July 11, 2016, 11:56:06 AM
Does anyone know a way to develop VBA programs *without* having any of the MS Office products installed?
I ask because it seems like VBA might have a decent subset of WB functionality and so might be a partial replacement.
(But I'm not sure myself, as I don't have any MS Office products)
-Kirby

Not sure about VBA, but vbscript and .wsc (which also works with jscript) might be good alternatives.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: kdmoyers on July 12, 2016, 04:16:00 AM
Quote from: JTaylor on May 23, 2016, 01:16:30 PM
I am game.   I could probably host if needed.   
Count me in! Let me know if I can contribute on some way.
-Kirby
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: chrislegarth on September 30, 2016, 09:34:07 AM
Count me in too.  I went to renew and saw the announcement.  This is truly a sad day indeed.  :'(
I hope there is some way that WinBatch can live on post retirement.  It is an exceptional program.
It was a constant in this ever changing world.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: snowsnowsnow on September 30, 2016, 11:23:27 AM
I wonder if there is any chance it could be open-sourced.  It'd be a shame if the source code just died.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: td on September 30, 2016, 05:16:02 PM
I doubt that the source code will be open-sourced and I doubt that either WinBatch or its source code will  die.   
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: snowsnowsnow on October 03, 2016, 07:46:08 AM
Quote from: td on September 30, 2016, 05:16:02 PM
I doubt that the source code will be open-sourced and I doubt that either WinBatch or its source code will  die.   

I suppose this is getting into an area you might not be able to talk about here, but I'll ask it anyway.  What *will* happen to the WB codebase once the company "retires"?

I suppose that there is a distinction to be made between retiring and dying, although in terms of the business world, the two terms usually end up being synonymous.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: td on October 03, 2016, 09:44:16 AM
The "official" response to post-WindowWare questions:

"WinBatch is our go-to program for so many tasks and because of that we do have an interest in keeping WinBatch current and available after Wilson WindowWare as a Corporation dissolves next year.  Details are still being kicked around, though any announcement  posted on the website will be closer to the retirement date."

Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: kdmoyers on October 03, 2016, 12:22:18 PM
That sounds positive!

WBT is pretty much the mortar that holds all the bricks together around here, I need it to stay working for as long as possible!
(grin)

-Kirby
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: stanl on October 03, 2016, 02:14:10 PM
I'm a couple years behind on compiler maintenance (1) WB is not authorized where I work, and we are in a major merger (Charter/TWC); (2) the last couple of releases have not included any more on the CLR which is my biggest interest.  I would however, pay the maintenance fee for the final update before the corporate dissolution and probably support any aftermath.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: ....IFICantBYTE on January 12, 2017, 06:49:17 PM
Any more news on this Tony?
Do you have any ideas when an official announcement might be made?

(Just dreaming, but what if Tony got in touch with Deana and together they were able to buy the rights to WinBatch from WilsonWW and then continue the product as their own enterprise? - that would be nice for the rest of us!)
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: td on January 13, 2017, 06:32:48 AM
DON'T PANIC!
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: kdmoyers on January 17, 2017, 09:07:38 AM
I have my towel, I'm ready for anything!  :)
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: ChuckC on January 19, 2017, 04:36:33 AM
And... I've got a cup of hot tea, which, theoretically, makes anything, no matter however highly improbable, still possible.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: stanl on February 03, 2017, 03:51:16 AM
Once the final/final release with bug fixes, new features is announced - I will renew. 
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: chrislegarth on February 16, 2017, 12:46:12 PM
I've had sleepless nights about this announcement but I'll try not to panic. :)
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: smarr on March 27, 2017, 01:03:02 AM
Just for fun, I  gave a local painter my winbatch favorite icon and she create this canevas for me ...
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: tim0thy on April 05, 2017, 01:14:00 PM
Just got home after a gruelling day, checked my Inbox. I very pleased :)
Thank you to all who are going to make it happen.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: td on April 06, 2017, 06:40:39 AM
I am sure the Wilson family appreciates your support.
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: kdmoyers on April 06, 2017, 11:49:00 AM
(opens email, reads message)
Yay!!
-Kirby
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: jrball on April 07, 2017, 07:41:11 AM
Quote from: tim0thy on April 05, 2017, 01:14:00 PM
Just got home after a gruelling day, checked my Inbox. I very pleased :)
Thank you to all who are going to make it happen.

AMEN!!!
Title: Re: WinBatch Announcement.
Post by: LAKosin on April 10, 2017, 04:16:40 AM
I'm confident that the best is yet to come.