WineryPOS update & new LCBO template coming within days

[Robert Peck]

Folks,

 

If you haven't done your monthly reporting - hold off until I release
another update.  I am currently waiting on the LCBO, as it looks like my
ranting emails are resulting in an imminent template update.  Surprisingly,
I have received the potential template update to provide feedback back to
the LCBO - and it looks to be addressing the major timing issue with the
current reporting template.

 

As some of you may have noticed with the latest winery reporting template
V26.6 (for April reporting)- it is extremely slow to populate the VQA
licensee sheet.

If you don't have VQA wines, it is not an issue, and you wouldn't see this
timing problem.

If you have a reasonable number of VQA wines, and a relatively slow
computer, you will see the report generation spinning - seemingly halted -
during report generation.  Some computers - depending on the operating
system - may actually halt the execution of the POS software - saying that
the POS is hung.

 

The timing issue is beyond my control, as the LCBO controls the templates.
The LCBO introduced a formula change, that takes excel approx 3-5 seconds to
run (depends on your computer), on every cell on the VQA licensee sheet.
You can test this yourself by opening the template, typing in one of the
cells on the VQA page (eg row 21, column A-G) and pressing the tab key to
move to the next cell - it will take 3-5 seconds before the cursor moves to
the next cell.

So, to fill out a single wine on the licensee sheet can take 20-30 seconds
(or 15-30 minutes for the sheet).  As an FYI, normally it would take the POS
software 0.02-0.03 seconds per cell and 3-5 seconds for the entire sheet.
So the formula change introduced a massive timing increase.

 

I have been working on an update to address this issue, by breaking the
report generation up into tiny segments and providing more feedback back to
the POS software so that the operating system will not halt the program.
Although, with the LCBO actually appearing to fix the reporting template,
this work may have been a bit pointless.

 

I have sent a number of emails to the LCBO, with the latest one going up the
LCBO chain of command.  That seems to be the one making things happen this
week.

Recent history of templates:

1.       V26.3 (released  March 2022) - no timing issues.  There are other
issues, but no timing issues.

2.       V26.4 (released Jan 2023).  Major issue.  Wouldn't work unless you
had Microsoft Office 365 subscription with the latest patches installed.

I sent an email in January explaining the issue.  It took the LCBO three
weeks to respond and admit that the template did not work

But, as a result, I knew the email of the person in charge of the templates
at the LCBO

3.       V26.5 (released March 2023) - Major issue.  Every cell on every
sheet took 3-5 seconds.  So, the LCBO introduced a formula change that ran
every time any cell in the workbook changed.

So this template was un-usable.

I sent an email showing the time to populate each cell on template V26.3 vs
V26.5 directly to the person in charge.

Their response was that they thought that the template was a bit slower, but
had no way of analysing their formula changes in terms of timing.

But they thought that they found an issue with the formulas.

4.       V26.6 (released late March 2023) - Major issue.  They fixed all of
the formulas, except the ones on the VQA sheet.

I sent an email showing the new timing analysis, and received a thanks, but
get lost email, expressing that the previous formula changes were just a
courtesy - nothing more, and that the remaining issues were my problem, not
theirs.

I sent another email earlier this week - a bit more assertive - and asked
for manager's and corporate affairs contacts.

That seems to have done the trick.

 

I still have an issue with the LCBO release strategy, as they don't seem to
have any test procedures, or testing capabilities.  Everything seems to be
adhoc, at best - which is worrisome.  I will be sending another email
expressing these concerns once the update is out.

 

Cheers,

Rob

 

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