Recipes for Windows Media Center

[CogZog]

Weird,

I've checked permissions and it all seems to be OK? Still the exact same errors reported. I am sure that I have registered each time with a username and password because it won't allow me to retain the username if I uninstall then reinstall the program, I have to use a different one each time. I have now tried installing the setup.exe onto another PC but this doesn't work either?

Am I using the correct db file? The only one I have found is as you say in ProgramData\Talfourdjones\myrecipes but is there a media centre db file also because I never find that one.

There is also 3 setup files in the download. On the media centre I installed RecipesMediaCentre.msi first and then Setup.exe. But then what is RecipesSetup.msi for? have I installed it all arse about face?

[Mogulbasher]

Nope what you did is good. You only have 2 databases if you are installing the windows app on one machine and the media center app on another.

can you run the recipes app as an admin so I can eliminate permissions as the source of the problem

[CogZog]

OK, I have set all permissions as far as I can see correctly so I don't think that is the problem maybe? I have run the app as administrator to no avail either.

I have uninstalled everything again and started from scratch. I have only installed the mediacentre app on my Windows 7 x64 machine. On my second machine (Windows XP SP3) in the kitchen, I have installed the setup.exe. On the kitchen machine I have entered the first run registration details (a new username required every time, you can't keep the same name!) and pointed the app to the recipes.sdf on the media centre machine.

If I try to run the app on the kitchen xp machine, it loads up fine but if I try to do anything i.e. Download recipes or videos, the program just closes with no error or messages. If I try to load the app from within 7MC, it never actually loads at all, just the error "MyRecipes has stopped working ad will be closed".

That's about where I am at. Any further information I can give, just ask away!

[Mogulbasher]

I found out when helping a friend with this that when we installed VS2010 to debug why it was crashing it stops crashing and runs. So Something installed by VS2010 is required to run this thing and I dont know what it is. I have run depends and cant figure it out

[CogZog]

Interesting, so if I install VS2010 it might make it work on my machine too? Worth a shot I think!

As for the actual problem itself, could it be a .NET framework issue? Does it need to be a specific one i.e. 3.5 or 4.0?

[CogZog]

Wow, almost 7.5 GB for a full install of VS2010 trial Ultimate version! Maybe installing VS2010 isn't the best plan after all, but hey ho who cares, it's only a computer.

[Mogulbasher]

ok new version fixes the problems people were having. The problem was that SqlServer Compact Edition was not being installed. I have now added the dll needed to do this to the installer. Also a couple of other fixes

Andrew

[CogZog]

Well, the new updated beta .2 has fixed the standalone program but the media centre plugin will not run with the same error as before "This program has stopped working and you will be returned to Media centre" etc. This is weird as the program works fine if I start it manually.

I have added My Recipes to 7MC manually through Advents Media Centre Studio which works, but obviously I would prefer it to work via the official plugin. Otherwise, it looks very good indeed, I am so impressed and once I have it running as it should I am sure it will meet the WAF!

How do I run a video from the program itself? I can edit a video, but I can't see where to actually play them? Will there be a feature to import recipes?

Great job so far, I love it

[Mogulbasher]

Sorry not following... Can you enlarge upon "This is weird as the program works fine if I start it manually?

Are you saying the media center app crashes.. .I did not do anything to that, will get that out today in the zip

[Mogulbasher]

ok hopefully final beta zip file uploaded. No changes to the link and no changes to the windows app but I have now got the media center app running on a vanilla Win7 64bit machine. Instructions file updated.

Andrew

[CogZog]

Yes! That's done the trick.

it still crashes on occasions but I don't know why? Maybe it doesn't like certain characters? I haven't looked into this in great detail so far.

In use I have found some things I would like to mention;

1. When adding a recipe, In the Ingredients section can we have the capability to enter fractions i.e. 3/4 oz instead of 0.75 oz? Also, if a recipe has different parts i.e. pastry, filling then glaze, then we need to be able to separate these with a heading for each part because the same ingredient could appear 3 times in this instance.

2. When adding a recipe, it would be helpful and less time consuming to be able to add an image from the same page instead of navigating to Edit Images tab beforehand, or worse still after adding the recipe?

3. When entering a recipe details description or notes there is no enter (page break) or tab facility to make the list easier to read. it would also help if it was possible to enter headings in bold type, for example,

Method

How to prepare the pastry
Sieve the flour into a large bowl. Cut the margarine into small pieces and rub into the flour. Add the sugar and blend well. Moisten with the aniseed liqueur and orange-blossom water. Allow to stand for some 30 minutes.

Filling the pies

Place all the ingredients of the filling into a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally. Allow to simmer until the whole mixture becomes creamy.

How to make the Imqaret

Roll out the pastry into a 10cm wide strip over a floured surface. Moisten the edges of the pastry and put the date mixture down the middle of the long strip of pastry, fold over to enclose the date filling. Press the edges together tightly. With a sharp knife, cut diagonally across the pastry into 5 cms long diamond-shaped little pies.

The imqaret are now ready for frying. Deep fry them in boiling oil until golden brown. Drain thoroughly from the oil and serve hot.

That's it so far, otherwise this is absolutely superb and looks great in 7MC! I have added a few recipes and will add a few more recipes soon. Oh, nearly forgot, how do I add a video?

Regards,
Cog.

[CogZog]

I can't add a video? I think I am doing it right, I can add a chef, then when I click to add video to the chef it says cannot create a thumbnail for this video then the whole program closes down with no error message. Any help appreciated thanks!

[Mogulbasher]

ok some good points and I will work on them. On the fractions versus decimals to allow fractions like that the field will have to be text. I do not know if you noticed this feature but when viewing a recipe you can change the servings and it changes all the quantities for you automatically. This feature (requested by my wife) would be much harder if text was entered

The uploads and downloads all use JSON and there are many characters that will cause the JSON to crash the program. I have tried to catch them all but may have missed some. If you can tell me exactly what you were doing when it crashed it will help me

[Mogulbasher]

I now have a version that supports all text formatting in the instructions field. I have also added the ability to categorize the ingredients by section, you can add sections and then assign ingredients to them in edit recipes. Later on I will figure out how to change the media center application to recognize this. I will let you know when I have a new version. I have had to change data types to support this.

[CogZog]

Wow, quick work indeed! I didn't know that changing the the number of servings automatically changed the quantities of the ingredients, that's actually quite cool to know and a really useful feature.

Regarding the adding a video feature, I'm not sure where the problem lies. I added a & into the chef field although it looks like that is accepted as it shows in the existing chefs field. It is shown as Monica & Jacinta Cannataci who are also known as Twins Kitchen, 2 upcoming and very good chefs who are twin sisters funnily enough! So, I think it might be the video file itself as it is when I try to add he video, it asks for the location of the video and then closes when I select it. The video is titled as Twins Kitchen - Imqaret.wmv

I will try changing the title to remove the - and also the & from the chefs names and see if that helps? I will let you know what happens then.

Regards,
Cog.

EDIT: OK, I have removed the & from the chefs names and also the - from the video title to no avail. The program still closes immediately after selecting the video file to add to the selected chefs. I will now try to reduce the size of the video as it is over 60 Mb and the others appear to be about 25 Mb each?

EDIT 2: OK, that didn't work either. I have now tried to use 2 different videos from other chefs but that also doesn't work, so I am assuming that this feature to add videos doesn't work at this moment in time.

EDIT 3: OK, I have seen an error message twice now about not being able to create a thumbnail image from the video or something so maybe that has something to do with the sudden closing after selecting the video?

[Mogulbasher]

That error basically means it did not create a thumbnail automatically for you which if it can it places in the videos folder. However, that should not cause the program to crash. Even if that works you still have to go in and assign the created thumbnail to the video, which I did in case the thumbnailer did not work, so it is crashing on something else. All it does after that is to open the file and make a copy of the file to the videos folder (I think when I moved all the data at the last minute I forgot to change the location it saves in to the program data folder, so it may be failing because it cant access the save location which I think was \mydocument\talfourdjones\myrecipes\data\videos Can you create that folder and then see if it works. After that it creates a name for the video from the filename so definately dont want any funky chars in there(it drops the .wmv) and then adds the video to the database. So I am guessing it is either the app does not have access to the selected video file or does not have access to the save location. I will put a try catch around that in the new version

[Mogulbasher]

Here is an idea of what I am working on.

The following screenshot shows (Edit Recipes):
1 - The ability to select for each ingredient in the recipe a section to add it to.
2 - The ability to use formatting on the recipe description.
3 - The ability on the edit recipe page to add new ingredients, sections and measurements by typing them into the combobox rather than selecting the existing items



The following screenshot shows (View Recipes):
1 - Displaying the ingredients grouped by the type of section used in edit recipes
2 - The text formatting


The following screenshot shows (Download Recipes):
1 - The text formatting showing up even in the download recipes



I also want to add a shopping list feature as well as the ability to edit recipes previously uploaded. People who uploaded the recipe will be able to edit any elements of it.

[Mogulbasher]

oh and while I was futzing around I added the ability to watch the videos saved in the video folder within the Windows Application

[CogZog]

I think you are right about the program losing the ability to add a movie to the correct location. I checked that I have a video folder which on my install is in the location as thus: c:\program data\talfourdjones\myrecipes\data\videos. Is this correct as you state "\mydocument\talfourdjones\myrecipes\data\videos" which is not as it is on my pc? I have just tried again to add a video and came across this error report:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: CLR20r3
Problem Signature 01: wpfrecipes.exe
Problem Signature 02: 1.2.1.0
Problem Signature 03: 4e6e4320
Problem Signature 04: mscorlib
Problem Signature 05: 4.0.0.0
Problem Signature 06: 4da3fe76
Problem Signature 07: 3fd1
Problem Signature 08: 105
Problem Signature 09: System.IO.DirectoryNotFound
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 2057
Additional Information 1: 0a9e
Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
Additional Information 3: 0a9e
Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

I think the line: Problem Signature 09: System.IO.DirectoryNotFound points to the particular problem?

I love the new additions to the program, it's looking really good and can't wait for the next release! Will it possible to add an image from the add recipe page? I love the idea of the shopping list idea too, that would be a nice touch indeed.

Regards,
Cog

[Mogulbasher]

Add image from recipe page complete