This program is gold now and although the core of the program was functional within 2 weeks, the overall code took around a year to complete. This was due to changes in program direction and a complete rewrite to fix the resultant spaghetti code. The program has been sold to Gorman-Rupp Inc. and is used to give a clean and friendly user-interface to their pump controls. The software gives the user the ability to D/L settings and run time data from the SMS unit and display it on a PC. These settings can then either be saved as records or altered and U/L'd back to the SMS unit. Several security options exist and a history is kept to record when changes were made and who made them. These transfers are done serially either through a null modem cable or utilizing a modem.
These two screen shots show the run time data portion of the program. The data can be represented either in a graphical (bar & line) format or in a numerical format. Export filters have been added to allow the data to be ported to many popular spreadsheet, database, or word processor software packages.
The next screen shots depict the some of the settings options in the software. After several iterations (trial & error) I finally decided that tabbed pages offered the highest density of controls while still maintaining some sense of neatness. Drop-down lists and check boxes are used whenever possible to reduce user input errors. Several checks are made when possible to verify that the current settings make sense before a save or U/L is initiated.
The last two images show a view of the Communication Wizard and the Wet Well Wizard. The Communication Wizard steps the user through all the phases of the serial transfer. From connecting the cables to executing the actual transfer, the wizard checks for all error states and reports progress. The Wet Well Wizard assists the user initially calculate wet well dimensions so the SMS flow calculations can be as accurate as possible.
The program has been written for Win32 and Win16 systems. The InstallShield installer, which I have also written, detects either 16-bit or 32-bit operating systems and then chooses the appropriate version of the code. There is also a fully functional uninstaller which removes all traces of the program after it is no longer required on the PC.