{"id":5013,"date":"2007-12-11T19:42:00","date_gmt":"2007-12-11T19:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.msdn.microsoft.com\/vbteam\/2007\/12\/11\/euchre-revisited-fixing-bugs-and-service-releases-matt-gertz\/"},"modified":"2024-07-05T14:37:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T21:37:06","slug":"euchre-revisited-fixing-bugs-and-service-releases-matt-gertz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/vbteam\/euchre-revisited-fixing-bugs-and-service-releases-matt-gertz\/","title":{"rendered":"Euchre Revisited: Fixing bugs and service releases (Matt Gertz)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s really embarrassing when a bug gets out the door in a product.  <\/span>In particular, it\u2019s hard for me to just sit and take it (however well deserved the criticism is) when a Microsoft product gets nailed in the press for a bad error.  <\/span>It\u2019s much worse when a friend or relative is the one dealing out the grief.  <\/span>However, worst of all is when your specific product \u2013 your specific feature \u2013 is getting railed on by your family.<\/font><\/p>\n

I vividly remember an incident about eleven years ago, when I was a developer on Visual InterDev and my wife was working on her Master\u2019s in Education.  <\/span>She needed to create a training website as part of her MS project, and I pointed her to ActiveX Control Pad, which my team had just released.  <\/span>And, oh my goodness.  <\/span>My wife had an unerring ability to run into bugs which we\u2019d missed before releasing the product, and all I could offer was the feeble, \u201cOh, yeah, I told so-and-so about that \u2013 guess they didn\u2019t fix that right \u2013 heh, heh, oops,\u201d as I slunk down further into my chair and hid behind a couple of pillows.<\/font><\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s step back into the Wayback Machine and revisit my first major series of posts for this blog, which was the nine-part series on Euchre (which starts with <\/font>this old post<\/font><\/a>).  <\/span>Being somewhat proud of that program, I\u2019ve been distributing it to family for several years now (I wrote the original using VS2003, updated it in 2005, and then tweaked it again for the blog series earlier this year).  <\/span>You can imagine my consternation when my dad e-mailed me this past week and said that he\u2019d encountered a problem running my app \u2013 not once, but twice.  <\/span>Apparently, whenever his partner decided to call for a loner when he himself was the dealer, the game would freeze up \u2013 he\u2019d be asked to pick up the kitty card, but he couldn\u2019t actually do it.<\/font><\/p>\n

Well, now my family geek cred was at serious risk \u2013 I needed to deal with this fast.  <\/span>My family is chock full of serious Euchre players who also look to me to be the expert on all things electronic.   <\/span>I had an idea as to what might be happening, but I\u2019d need a way to not only fix the problem but distribute an update to my family.  <\/span>I instantly realized that this would be a golden opportunity to talk about updates on this blog and, so, here we go.  <\/span>I\u2019ve attached the final version to this post which, like the previous version, does not contain the Speech MSMs \u2013 they\u2019re too big to attach.   (<\/span>See <\/font>part 6<\/font><\/a> and <\/font>part 9<\/font><\/a> of the original series for more information on how to get the speech APIs.)  The new solution is saved in VS2008, incidentally.  You can, of course, make the changes directly in whatever copy you have from my old post — the changes are really easy to make, as you’ll see.<\/font><\/p>\n

Fixing the Euchre Game:  <\/span>Finding & Fixing the Bug<\/font><\/h2>\n

The fix can be done in either VS2005 or VS2008.  <\/span>(I\u2019ll be using the latter).  <\/span>If you open the solution using VS2008, the first thing that you\u2019ll notice is that the \u201cVisual Studio Conversion Wizard\u201d will pop up to convert your project types to the VS2008 format.  <\/span>Click \u201cNext\u201d to proceed, and you\u2019ll be asked if you want to create a backup before converting.  <\/span>It\u2019s always safer to create a backup, so I\u2019ll specify a location for that and click \u201cNext.\u201d  <\/span>The next page of the wizard just tells me about the things that might be done during the upgrade process \u2013 there\u2019s no action to take here, so I\u2019ll click \u201cFinish.\u201d  <\/span>The upgrade process takes just a few seconds in my case (very little has changed except some metadata in the project file), and after it completes, I\u2019ll click \u201cClose.\u201d  <\/span>(I could also check a box here which would bring up the conversion log if I wanted to.)<\/font><\/p>\n

Now, games are notoriously hard to debug without logs (since play is always random), and I don\u2019t have technology built into my game to automatically recreate state — nor do I have the time to build that in.  <\/span>However, from my Dad\u2019s description of the problem, I have a fairly good idea of what\u2019s going on.  <\/span>The situation is that the player\u2019s AI partner has decided to go alone, but since the player is also the dealer, he needs to pick up the card in the kitty and discard another card before play can continue.  <\/span>However, the player also needs to have his\/her hand disabled because he\/she won\u2019t be participating in it.  <\/span>If I disable the cards too early, the player won\u2019t be able to respond to the call to \u201cpick it up,\u201d and the game will freeze.  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

That\u2019s really all the clues I need.  <\/span>I know the freezing must be happening during the bidding round (which is concluded either by the dealer picking up a card or the card being turned over), and I know it can only happen in the first bidding round, because in the second bidding round, there is no card to pick up.  <\/span>I therefore open the file \u201cEuchrePlayer.vb\u201d and navigate to the method \u201cBidFirstRound.\u201d  <\/span>(I can do this by using the right-hand dropdown at the top of the editor \u2013 making sure that \u201cEuchrePlayer\u201d is selected in the left-hand dropdown first.)  <\/span>Here\u2019s the code \u2013 can you spot the bug?<\/font><\/p>\n

    <\/span>Public<\/span> Function<\/span> BidFirstRound(ByVal<\/span> Table As<\/span> EuchreTable) As<\/span> Boolean<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Dim<\/span> rv As<\/span> Boolean<\/span> = False<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Dim<\/span> GoingAlone As<\/span> Boolean<\/span> = False<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>If<\/span> Seat = Seats.Player Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.BidControl.Reset()<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.BidControl.GoingAlone.Enabled = False<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>If<\/span> Table.DealerThisHand = Seats.Partner And<\/span> Table.UseQuietDealerRule Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.BidControl.ForceGoAlone(True<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.BidControl.ForceGoAlone(False<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.PlayerIsBidding = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.AcceptButton = Table.BidControl.OKButton<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.BidControl.Visible = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.BidControl.Enabled = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.BidControl.BringToFront()<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.BidControl.Update()<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>‘ Do a message pump here:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Do<\/span> While<\/span> Table.PlayerIsBidding = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>My<\/span>.Application.DoEvents()<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> Table.Exiting = True<\/span> Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Dim<\/span> e As<\/span> New<\/span> EuchreException(“ExitGame”<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Throw<\/span> e<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> Table.Restarting = True<\/span> Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Dim<\/span> e As<\/span> New<\/span> EuchreException(“NewGame”<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Throw<\/span> e<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Loop<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>GoingAlone = Table.BidControl.GoingAlone.Checked<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>rv = Table.BidControl.PickItUp.Checked<\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Dim<\/span> bid As<\/span> Boolean<\/span> = False<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Dim<\/span> value As<\/span> Integer<\/span> = HandValue(Table.Kitty(0).Suit)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>If<\/span> Table.DealerThisHand = Seat OrElse<\/span> Table.DealerThisHand = OppositeSeat() Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Dim<\/span> index As<\/span> Integer<\/span> = LowestCardOnReplace(Table.TrumpSuit) ‘ Player would drop this one to get the kitty card<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>value = value + Table.Kitty(0).GetValue(Table.Kitty(0).Suit) – CardsHeldThisHand(index).GetValue(Table.Kitty(0).Suit)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>If<\/span> value >= Makeable() Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> Not<\/span> (Table.DealerThisHand = OppositeSeat() And<\/span> Table.UseQuietDealerRule = True<\/span>) Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>bid = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> value >= Loner() Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>bid = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>GoingAlone = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>rv = bid<\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Dim<\/span> s As<\/span> New<\/span> StringBuilder()<\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>If<\/span> rv = True<\/span> Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.TrumpSuit = Table.Kitty(0).Suit<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>If<\/span> GoingAlone = True<\/span> Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.Players(OppositeSeat()).SittingOutThisHand = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.EnableCards(OppositeSeat(), False<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> OppositeSeat() = Table.LeaderThisTrick Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.LeaderThisTrick = NextPlayer(Table.LeaderThisTrick)<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> Seat = Table.DealerThisHand Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>s.AppendFormat(My<\/span>.Resources.Notice_IPickItUpAlone, GetDisplayName(Table), My<\/span>.Resources.ResourceManager.GetString(EuchreCard.GetSuitDisplayStringResourceName(Table.TrumpSuit)))<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.UpdateStatus(s.ToString)<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.SpeakIPickItUp(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>s.AppendFormat(My<\/span>.Resources.Notice_PickItUpAlone, GetDisplayName(Table), My<\/span>.Resources.ResourceManager.GetString(EuchreCard.GetSuitDisplayStringResourceName(Table.TrumpSuit)))<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.UpdateStatus(s.ToString)<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.SpeakPickItUp(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.SpeakSuit(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.SpeakAlone(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> Seat = Table.DealerThisHand Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>s.AppendFormat(My<\/span>.Resources.Notice_IPickItUp, GetDisplayName(Table), My<\/span>.Resources.ResourceManager.GetString(EuchreCard.GetSuitDisplayStringResourceName(Table.TrumpSuit)))<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.UpdateStatus(s.ToString)<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.SpeakIPickItUp(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>s.AppendFormat(My<\/span>.Resources.Notice_PickItUp, GetDisplayName(Table), My<\/span>.Resources.ResourceManager.GetString(EuchreCard.GetSuitDisplayStringResourceName(Table.TrumpSuit)))<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.UpdateStatus(s.ToString)<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.SpeakPickItUp(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.SpeakSuit(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.Players(Table.DealerThisHand).ReplaceACard(Table)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.PickedTrumpThisHand = Seat<\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>s.AppendFormat(My<\/span>.Resources.Notice_Pass, GetDisplayName(Table))<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.UpdateStatus(s.ToString)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.SpeakPass(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Return<\/span> rv<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The key to solving the problem is to find where I disable the partner\u2019s cards when someone decides to go it alone.  <\/span>That\u2019s these lines of code:<\/font><\/p>\n

            <\/span>If<\/span> GoingAlone = True<\/span> Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.Players(OppositeSeat()).SittingOutThisHand = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.EnableCards(OppositeSeat(), False<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

And then a bit later in the code, I then ask the dealer to replace a card, which, if the player is the dealer and their partner called trump, they\u2019re blocked from doing since their cards are disabled:<\/font><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.Players(Table.DealerThisHand).ReplaceACard(Table)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.PickedTrumpThisHand = Seat<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, before I swap the calls around, it is important for me to disable the cards in that order for any other reason?  <\/span>Let\u2019s see\u2026 nope.  <\/span>All I\u2019m doing between those calls is just printing out some text, playing some sounds, and setting a variable that will be used much later, so I\u2019m safe to move the card-disabling lines down a bit lower.  <\/span>Here\u2019s the fixed method:<\/font><\/p>\n

    <\/span>Public<\/span> Function<\/span> BidFirstRound(ByVal<\/span> Table As<\/span> EuchreTable) As<\/span> Boolean<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Dim<\/span> rv As<\/span> Boolean<\/span> = False<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Dim<\/span> GoingAlone As<\/span> Boolean<\/span> = False<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>If<\/span> Seat = Seats.Player Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.BidControl.Reset()<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.BidControl.GoingAlone.Enabled = False<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>If<\/span> Table.DealerThisHand = Seats.Partner And<\/span> Table.UseQuietDealerRule Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.BidControl.ForceGoAlone(True<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.BidControl.ForceGoAlone(False<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.PlayerIsBidding = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.AcceptButton = Table.BidControl.OKButton<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.BidControl.Visible = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.BidControl.Enabled = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.BidControl.BringToFront()<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.BidControl.Update()<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>‘ Do a message pump here:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Do<\/span> While<\/span> Table.PlayerIsBidding = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>My<\/span>.Application.DoEvents()<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> Table.Exiting = True<\/span> Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Dim<\/span> e As<\/span> New<\/span> EuchreException(“ExitGame”<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Throw<\/span> e<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> Table.Restarting = True<\/span> Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Dim<\/span> e As<\/span> New<\/span> EuchreException(“NewGame”<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Throw<\/span> e<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>               <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Loop<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>GoingAlone = Table.BidControl.GoingAlone.Checked<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>rv = Table.BidControl.PickItUp.Checked<\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Dim<\/span> bid As<\/span> Boolean<\/span> = False<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Dim<\/span> value As<\/span> Integer<\/span> = HandValue(Table.Kitty(0).Suit)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>If<\/span> Table.DealerThisHand = Seat OrElse<\/span> Table.DealerThisHand = OppositeSeat() Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Dim<\/span> index As<\/span> Integer<\/span> = LowestCardOnReplace(Table.TrumpSuit) ‘ Player would drop this one to get the kitty card<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

  <\/span>              <\/span>value = value + Table.Kitty(0).GetValue(Table.Kitty(0).Suit) – CardsHeldThisHand(index).GetValue(Table.Kitty(0).Suit)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>If<\/span> value >= Makeable() Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> Not<\/span> (Table.DealerThisHand = OppositeSeat() And<\/span> Table.UseQuietDealerRule = True<\/span>) Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>bid = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> value >= Loner() Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>bid = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>GoingAlone = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>rv = bid<\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Dim<\/span> s As<\/span> New<\/span> StringBuilder()<\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>If<\/span> rv = True<\/span> Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.TrumpSuit = Table.Kitty(0).Suit<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>If<\/span> GoingAlone = True<\/span> Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>‘ Bug #1:  <\/span>I used to disable the opposite player’s cards too early, right here.  <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>‘ Code moved to farther down, fixed 12\/10\/2007.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> OppositeSeat() = Table.LeaderThisTrick Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.LeaderThisTrick = NextPlayer(Table.LeaderThisTrick)<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> Seat = Table.DealerThisHand Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>s.AppendFormat(My<\/span>.Resources.Notice_IPickItUpAlone, GetDisplayName(Table), My<\/span>.Resources.ResourceManager.GetString(EuchreCard.GetSuitDisplayStringResourceName(Table.TrumpSuit)))<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.UpdateStatus(s.ToString)<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.SpeakIPickItUp(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>s.AppendFormat(My<\/span>.Resources.Notice_PickItUpAlone, GetDisplayName(Table), My<\/span>.Resources.ResourceManager.GetString(EuchreCard.GetSuitDisplayStringResourceName(Table.TrumpSuit)))<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.UpdateStatus(s.ToString)<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.SpeakPickItUp(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.SpeakSuit(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.SpeakAlone(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>If<\/span> Seat = Table.DealerThisHand Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>s.AppendFormat(My<\/span>.Resources.Notice_IPickItUp, GetDisplayName(Table), My<\/span>.Resources.ResourceManager.GetString(EuchreCard.GetSuitDisplayStringResourceName(Table.TrumpSuit)))<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.UpdateStatus(s.ToString)<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.SpeakIPickItUp(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>s.AppendFormat(My<\/span>.Resources.Notice_PickItUp, GetDisplayName(Table), My<\/span>.Resources.ResourceManager.GetString(EuchreCard.GetSuitDisplayStringResourceName(Table.TrumpSuit)))<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.UpdateStatus(s.ToString)<\/span><\/p>\n

                    <\/span>Table.SpeakPickItUp(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

  <\/span>              <\/span>Table.SpeakSuit(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.Players(Table.DealerThisHand).ReplaceACard(Table)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.PickedTrumpThisHand = Seat<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>‘ Bug #1:  <\/span>I shouldn’t disable the opposite seat’s cards<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>‘ until they’ve replaced the card (if relevant).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>‘ Fixed 12\/10\/2007 by moving code from higher up to here.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>If<\/span> GoingAlone = True<\/span> Then<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.Players(OppositeSeat()).SittingOutThisHand = True<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

                <\/span>Table.EnableCards(OppositeSeat(), False<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>s.AppendFormat(My<\/span>.Resources.Notice_Pass, GetDisplayName(Table))<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.UpdateStatus(s.ToString)<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/span>Table.SpeakPass(Seat)<\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>End<\/span> If<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

        <\/span>Return<\/span> rv<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

    <\/span>End<\/span> Function<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, for testing \u2013 well, it\u2019s kind of brute force because (as noted above) I didn\u2019t have the foresight to add a mechanism for testing different states.  <\/span> However, t<\/span>o test this case specifically, I can go into the code and temporarily make my partner always go it alone when I\u2019m the dealer, when they get the option to do so.  Otherwise, I play the game for a while and make sure nothing else got messed up with this change. <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Fixing the Euchre Game:  <\/span>Getting the Fix out to Customers (i.e., Family)<\/font><\/h2>\n

Now, I need to package up my new code and send it to my dad.  <\/span>I\u2019ll right-click the project in the Solution Explorer and bring up its properties.  <\/span>Now, I\u2019ll click \u201cAssembly Information\u2026\u201d on the Application tab and, in the resulting dialog, change the assembly version to 2.1 instead of 2.0.  <\/span>I\u2019ll click OK to apply the changes. Now, that\u2019s just revved the version on the application \u2013 I also need to fix up the installer.  <\/span>Selecting the Installer in the Solution Explorer, I can see its properties in the property grid.  <\/span>I\u2019ll change the \u201cVersion\u201d property to \u201c2.1.0\u201d.  <\/span>I will then be prompted to change the ProductCode once I commit that change \u2013 I\u2019ll select \u201cYes.\u201d  <\/span>(I need to do this to give it an identifier that will make it unique from the previous version.  <\/span>The \u201cUpgradeCode,\u201d on the other hand, shouldn\u2019t change, so that they installers realize that they are different version of the same thing and can upgrade freely.)  <\/span>Finally, I\u2019ll set \u201cRemovePreviousVersion\u201d to True, and I\u2019m all done.  <\/span>I can build the solution, burn the resulting setup to disk, and send it to Dad along with his Christmas card.  <\/span>When he installs it, it\u2019ll replace the old version with the new one automatically.  Whew!  Geek cred restored.<\/font><\/p>\n

Making mistakes in coding is always a given, and you always need a plan to service your releases.  <\/span>Fortunately, Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 make this quite easy!<\/font><\/p>\n

\u2018Til next time\u2026<\/font><\/p>\n

–Matt–*<\/font><\/p>\n

VBEuchre21.zip<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s really embarrassing when a bug gets out the door in a product.  In particular, it\u2019s hard for me to just sit and take it (however well deserved the criticism is) when a Microsoft product gets nailed in the press for a bad error.  It\u2019s much worse when a friend or relative is the one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":8818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,195],"tags":[101,165,166],"class_list":["post-5013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-matt-gertz","category-visual-basic","tag-matt-gertz","tag-vb2005","tag-vb2008"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"

It\u2019s really embarrassing when a bug gets out the door in a product.  In particular, it\u2019s hard for me to just sit and take it (however well deserved the criticism is) when a Microsoft product gets nailed in the press for a bad error.  It\u2019s much worse when a friend or relative is the one […]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/vbteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/vbteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/vbteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/vbteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/258"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/vbteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/vbteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/vbteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/vbteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/vbteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/vbteam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}