Re: RPG H, F, and D specs freeform documentation software

Out of the blue I got ANOTHER call from Help Systems regarding updating
Abstract for full freeform RPG.

They reviewed it again and said there will be no updates to the product
"for the foreseeable future". I asked if that meant "ever" and her
response was "at least not in 2016."

She also told me that other Abstract users were asking for this, in case
that made me "feel better." Really? It's about "feelings?" I said if
anything that made it worse. Multiple users (not just me) are asking for
it and they're still not going to do it. However, if there's a sudden
groundswell, they might look at it again.

I also told her I was getting the impression they were never going to do
any updates, but just milk the product for maintenance fees. She agreed it
looked that way. I also asked if they expected to sell any additional
licenses since there wasn't support for freeform. She said that could be
an issue. I said more like a problem.




On Sat, Apr 9, 2016 at 6:56 PM, Jeff Crosby <jlcrosby@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

I was not a jacka$$ when talking to her on the phone, but I can say,
without question, that I made my point.

My opinion of HelpSystems has taken an extreme nosedive.


On Sat, Apr 9, 2016 at 3:22 PM, Vernon Hamberg <vhamberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

+1

When I started in this field in 1989, at Help Systems, there was a
co-marketing kind of relationship between HS and Hawkeye. That is no more.

In recent years I went looking for Pathfinder and had the hardest time of
it - so I pretty much gave up - I had my doubts that they even had a plugin
for WDSC, etc.

We have Abstract, and they DO have a plugin - albeit done, may I say, on
the cheap? You have to install the Abstract component into Access, then the
plugin basically runs things out of that component. It is useful but kind
of weak, seems to me.

And now with the "stabilizing", shall we say, of Access, this becomes
more of a problem. There's a similar question around SEQUEL's dependence on
Access for authentication in its Viewpoint client - I expect SEQUEL to take
care of that challenge, and I want to see Abstract being developed just as
vigorously.

We shall see - and I HAVE had some communications with these companies
about this.

Cheers
Vern


On 4/8/2016 5:20 PM, Jon Paris wrote:

Glad to hear it Doug,

If only they didn’t make it appear that they don’t actually want to sell
anything to you!

The website is better than it used to be, but if I didn’t already know I
wanted the product I doubt I’d have the patience to go through all the form
filling to find out more.


Jon Paris

www.partner400.com
www.SystemiDeveloper.com

On Apr 8, 2016, at 5:05 PM, Englander, Douglas <

Douglas_Englander@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Jon,

Pathfinder does support free format H, F, and D specs in their latest
release.

Doug

--
This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing
list
To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-l
or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
at http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.

Please contact support@xxxxxxxxxxxx for any subscription related
questions.

--
This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing
list
To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-l
or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
at http://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.

Please contact support@xxxxxxxxxxxx for any subscription related
questions.

--


Jeff Crosby
VP Information Systems
UniPro FoodService/Dilgard
P.O. Box 13369
Ft. Wayne, IN 46868-3369
260-422-7531
www.dilgardfoods.com

The opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily the opinion of my
company. Unless I say so.