reverse .exe file in access

[shutzy]

firstly some of you guys may find this unethical but i am going to persist with it anyway.

i have a salon software that i have built but i am missing some aspects to make it truely user friendly. i am missing a complex diary system to display appointments. and before anybody throws up any suggestions on how to create the diary i am sorry but that has been and gone. i ahev started many posts on the forum asking that exact question and even offered some member money for doing it as i really do not have the know how.

i have found a software that is free but not quite what i want. there is some aspects within the application that i do want especially the diary. the only problem is that it is in a .exe file. it has been built using access and it says i need access runtime to tun it but i have the full access 2010 obviously. now i want to extract parts of this and see how they have done it so i can make some leaps forward in creating my own.

so the question is how do i 'reverse' the .exe file that has been created by access?

thank you

 

[jdraw]

The software was provided as an exe so people wouldn't be changing it. Since it is free, as you said, were there any instructions or samples of program logic? Have you considered contacting the person who supplied the software?

Failing the above, you may want to tell us what features you're looking for, and see what responses you get.

 

[shutzy]

the answer to your fist 2 questions is no.

is there a way of undoing the .exe file. i do appreciate all responses given to threads but i really do find it annoying if the actual questions is not answered.

the features i want in my diary are mainly visual. i would like intervals of 15mins. i would like to be able toassign a colour to the different stages of the individual appointments. ie. the client has arived(blue) the client has paid and departed(green) the client has not arrived nor did the client arrive(default/ grey). i would like the appointment to span the allocated time. ie. if the client is booked in for 1 hour of treatments then the block would run from say 13:00 to 13:45 inclusive. that would mean that the next appointment available would be 14:00. i would like to have different columns for different staff members. also display the staff members start and finish times. if the appointment book started at 09:00 and a staff member did not start work until 10:00 then the diary for that column would be 'blocked out' until 10:00. i would like to be able to dbl click the appointment and go to the details of that appointment. i already have a form set up for this. if there is no appointment then go to a form to create another one.

i have already got a basic diary view that mr. b helped me with but it kind of got left there. it is very functunal but not quite user friendly. i know how to use it but it is very easy to make mistakes and i feel that my vision is a great move forward.

any ideas?

 

[jdraw]

Well to offer a blunt response to your specific question, there is no reverse.exe. For those exe files that people try to reverse engineer to gain insight into the internal workings of a "program", many people will try de-compile and other machinations.

With many software products there is an acceptance agreement for your use of the software in which specific terms are listed -- one of which is you will not attempt to reverse engineer/de-compile/....

Mr B is a frequent poster with many satisfied "customers", and I'm sure he responded to the question as he understood it. Perhaps he will read your post above and respond.

You could post a copy of your current database, and a list of "would like to have" features.

 

[Mr. B]

Shutzy,

My offering to you was simply that, just one option for doing something like you were proposing.

With that said, I would me more than gald to take a look at what you have in mind and see if there is something that we can do to make things work as you would like for them to work. I am always open to hearing what ideas other may have as to how something can be made better.

If you would like to share your ideas with me I will be glad to take a look.

 

[G37Sam]

Funny you mention that, I am currently developing a DB solution for a beauty salon. They're still doing things like my grandfather did in his grocery store back in the 50's: super large book (they must have a name for them) and a drawer with crumbled bank notes.

Share that .exe perhaps we can help re-create something along the lines?

 

[NigelShaw]

Hi,

I too have extensive knowledge in Salon Software having built a systems for my wifes Salon & 2 other salon besides. On top of this, i worked along side another developer Company and provided new features for them to add to their software.

There you go, 3 good offers of help. No need to reverse engineer and on -one would reverse it anyway, its unethical which ever way you look at it

On the other hand, you could go for a 1 stop solution. SalonIris is the best salon software currently


Chars


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[Galaxiom]

They're still doing things like my grandfather did in his grocery store back in the 50's: super large book (they must have a name for them) and a drawer with crumbled bank notes.

Double Entry Ledger.

 

[shutzy]

thanks to all of your replies. i am really quite overwhelmed as i really did not expect any responses to create a diary view from scratch.

firstly mr. b. im sorry if you think i have rubbished your help for me, i rally do not mean it that way and if you remember i did communicate with you my ideas through email. you did suggest that i may need a list view box and that was something you were not really sure about.

g37 sam: i will gladly share my own database with you. i would love this database that has really been built on here to be passed around and developed much much further. ive built it in access 2010 and there are some aspects in it that need to be in 2010 but most of it can be saved in other formats. ill send you a link for you to download as i think it may be too big to upload fully. if you let me know what access version you have ill make sure it works and let you know which bis have been left out.

nigel shaw: salon iris is one of about 100 salon software out there that are good to start with. we have had 2 salons for just over 4 years and we have had 2 salon software's. first one was forrest. its an irish company and i think they do things a littl different there as they kept my credit card details and started taking money from it that they weren't supposed to, so we fell out. second was and still using is premier spa. this is a great software. unfortunately you dont really know what you need from software until you start using one. things like reports, premier has about 100 different reports, some of them work, some of them dont. there is reports i would like to run that are not there. the add-ons are massively over priced. the gift voucher tracker for instance, £495. i have created a gift voucher tracking in my database. it needs a few tricks but it works, and it aint that much work. certainly not £495 worth. what i think i am getting at is they are a lot of money for and untailored solution. they take suggestions that they may put into the next version. the versions got further and further apart and the promises where never kept. i wanted something like bulk emails for loyalty points. i wanted to send every client that had loyalty points and an email address a statement every month. i started doing this manually. editing a template and sending to each client. for me this would be a simple addition for someone that is doing this day in day out but they never happen. with my own database if i want something i can do it.

 

[shutzy]

i have uploaded a spread sheet visually showing what i am wanting to achieve.

if any of you guys have any questions, please just ask.

thanks

 

[NigelShaw]

Hi,

like this?

Question:

how will you manage the customer changing the appointment by half hour, day in the calendar whilst on the phone looking for availability?


cheers

 

[shutzy]

the image looks great. im not even looking for anything that complex. salon iris allocates a coolour based on what the treatment is, is that correct? i am meerly looking for 3 and possibly 4 colours at the very most.

your 2nd question. im not sure if i got the meaning. do you mean drag 'n' drop to move the appointment half an hour. on the software we have at present, premier software. it has a neat facility that you can put the appointment into a clipboard, drag 'n' drop. then cycle through the dates and then drag it to the new time. this is a very good feature that i would like but i do feel that it is not totally neccessary. i am trying to put onto a screen what you would have on paper with a couple of short cuts.