How Microsoft annoyed me this week
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So, our app plays videos. We use the WMP control in WPF as the built in one can't handle high res videos. The WMP control, as anyone who uses it knows, sends messages to say when it's play state changes. We use this message to show the video when it starts ( this avoids flicker ) and to go between the video, and a static frame screenshot, so you can draw on that, and so that it appears in screenshots. MS pushes out updates on Thursdays. I was working on our Mac version, and comparing videos, b/c some would not play in Mac, so I wanted to see if the videos themselves were OK. I should mention that I'd sent off the master files for the PC installers the day before. As of this update, the WMP control no longer sends any playstatechanged messages. I found others with the same issue online, so it's not just me. So, I had to furiously change code, abandon a feature, and generally panic, although I AM glad we fixed it before we got these new versions mastered. How could they break that and not notice ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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So, our app plays videos. We use the WMP control in WPF as the built in one can't handle high res videos. The WMP control, as anyone who uses it knows, sends messages to say when it's play state changes. We use this message to show the video when it starts ( this avoids flicker ) and to go between the video, and a static frame screenshot, so you can draw on that, and so that it appears in screenshots. MS pushes out updates on Thursdays. I was working on our Mac version, and comparing videos, b/c some would not play in Mac, so I wanted to see if the videos themselves were OK. I should mention that I'd sent off the master files for the PC installers the day before. As of this update, the WMP control no longer sends any playstatechanged messages. I found others with the same issue online, so it's not just me. So, I had to furiously change code, abandon a feature, and generally panic, although I AM glad we fixed it before we got these new versions mastered. How could they break that and not notice ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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So, our app plays videos. We use the WMP control in WPF as the built in one can't handle high res videos. The WMP control, as anyone who uses it knows, sends messages to say when it's play state changes. We use this message to show the video when it starts ( this avoids flicker ) and to go between the video, and a static frame screenshot, so you can draw on that, and so that it appears in screenshots. MS pushes out updates on Thursdays. I was working on our Mac version, and comparing videos, b/c some would not play in Mac, so I wanted to see if the videos themselves were OK. I should mention that I'd sent off the master files for the PC installers the day before. As of this update, the WMP control no longer sends any playstatechanged messages. I found others with the same issue online, so it's not just me. So, I had to furiously change code, abandon a feature, and generally panic, although I AM glad we fixed it before we got these new versions mastered. How could they break that and not notice ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Christian Graus wrote:
How could they break that and not notice ?
Sure? I think it was just observing one minute of silence for the Windows 7 phone. :rolleyes:
If the Lord God Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I would have recommended something simpler. -- Alfonso the Wise, 13th Century King of Castile.
This is going on my arrogant assumptions. You may have a superb reason why I'm completely wrong. -- Iain Clarke
[My articles] -
So, our app plays videos. We use the WMP control in WPF as the built in one can't handle high res videos. The WMP control, as anyone who uses it knows, sends messages to say when it's play state changes. We use this message to show the video when it starts ( this avoids flicker ) and to go between the video, and a static frame screenshot, so you can draw on that, and so that it appears in screenshots. MS pushes out updates on Thursdays. I was working on our Mac version, and comparing videos, b/c some would not play in Mac, so I wanted to see if the videos themselves were OK. I should mention that I'd sent off the master files for the PC installers the day before. As of this update, the WMP control no longer sends any playstatechanged messages. I found others with the same issue online, so it's not just me. So, I had to furiously change code, abandon a feature, and generally panic, although I AM glad we fixed it before we got these new versions mastered. How could they break that and not notice ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Next week they'll fix the breakage and your fix will break making you have to de-fix your previous fix :)
It's an OO world.
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Next week they'll fix the breakage and your fix will break making you have to de-fix your previous fix :)
It's an OO world.
No, I thought of that. When WMP is not broken, everything will work. When it is, videos will play without the editing functionality.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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No, I thought of that. When WMP is not broken, everything will work. When it is, videos will play without the editing functionality.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Good thinking! :thumbsup: I wish all my software worked irrespectively if it worked or not :laugh:
It's an OO world.
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So, our app plays videos. We use the WMP control in WPF as the built in one can't handle high res videos. The WMP control, as anyone who uses it knows, sends messages to say when it's play state changes. We use this message to show the video when it starts ( this avoids flicker ) and to go between the video, and a static frame screenshot, so you can draw on that, and so that it appears in screenshots. MS pushes out updates on Thursdays. I was working on our Mac version, and comparing videos, b/c some would not play in Mac, so I wanted to see if the videos themselves were OK. I should mention that I'd sent off the master files for the PC installers the day before. As of this update, the WMP control no longer sends any playstatechanged messages. I found others with the same issue online, so it's not just me. So, I had to furiously change code, abandon a feature, and generally panic, although I AM glad we fixed it before we got these new versions mastered. How could they break that and not notice ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Christian Graus wrote:
How could they break that and not notice care?
FTFY
Best wishes, Hans
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So, our app plays videos. We use the WMP control in WPF as the built in one can't handle high res videos. The WMP control, as anyone who uses it knows, sends messages to say when it's play state changes. We use this message to show the video when it starts ( this avoids flicker ) and to go between the video, and a static frame screenshot, so you can draw on that, and so that it appears in screenshots. MS pushes out updates on Thursdays. I was working on our Mac version, and comparing videos, b/c some would not play in Mac, so I wanted to see if the videos themselves were OK. I should mention that I'd sent off the master files for the PC installers the day before. As of this update, the WMP control no longer sends any playstatechanged messages. I found others with the same issue online, so it's not just me. So, I had to furiously change code, abandon a feature, and generally panic, although I AM glad we fixed it before we got these new versions mastered. How could they break that and not notice ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Christian Graus wrote:
How could they break that and not notice ?
It's not difficult, really. They have an excellent system for keeping the bug count down. If you don't test it, you don't find any bugs. It's an inspired plan, really. I'm sure some PHB s writing a white paper on it even as we speak.
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer Watch Bad Programmer! - Premieres May, 2011
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So, our app plays videos. We use the WMP control in WPF as the built in one can't handle high res videos. The WMP control, as anyone who uses it knows, sends messages to say when it's play state changes. We use this message to show the video when it starts ( this avoids flicker ) and to go between the video, and a static frame screenshot, so you can draw on that, and so that it appears in screenshots. MS pushes out updates on Thursdays. I was working on our Mac version, and comparing videos, b/c some would not play in Mac, so I wanted to see if the videos themselves were OK. I should mention that I'd sent off the master files for the PC installers the day before. As of this update, the WMP control no longer sends any playstatechanged messages. I found others with the same issue online, so it's not just me. So, I had to furiously change code, abandon a feature, and generally panic, although I AM glad we fixed it before we got these new versions mastered. How could they break that and not notice ?
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Christian, When I was on the Technical Beta Team with Microsoft I found a major issue in one of the OS builds with SCSI adapters. I bugged it and gave them repro steps. Nothing. Five builds later I bugged it again. Not reproducable. RC release and it still didn't work. I got bitched at for consistently recording a bug that did not exist. RELEASE DAY: it hit the news within a week that the OS had issues with certain SCSI adapters. :doh:
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Christian, When I was on the Technical Beta Team with Microsoft I found a major issue in one of the OS builds with SCSI adapters. I bugged it and gave them repro steps. Nothing. Five builds later I bugged it again. Not reproducable. RC release and it still didn't work. I got bitched at for consistently recording a bug that did not exist. RELEASE DAY: it hit the news within a week that the OS had issues with certain SCSI adapters. :doh:
ROTFL - I found a major bug in WPF pre release, I had to submit it 3 times before they could see my demo app showed it. Still not fixed.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
