[Coco] gray hair syndrome

[Robert Gault]

Roger Taylor wrote:

> Pull one hair, and 2 more grow back.  This is what happened when I 
> started fixing a few bugs in Portal-9 that only crashed some people's 
> machines.
> 
> When I debug, I don't quit until something works.  So I ended up 
> discovering a bug in Windows 98 instead of Portal-9.
> 
> Here is the line:
> 
> SendMessage(hWnd_Tabs, TCM_GETROWCOUNT, 0, 0);
> 
> It is that exact line and only that line that causes a memory access 
> violation on some Win98 machines.  What's happening?  Some versions of 
> Windows 98 cannot handle the MULTILINE tab control style.  This is the 
> style that spreads the tabs downwards like a stack of folders instead of 
> the annoying horizontal-only style which you have to scroll through.
> 
> For some reason, their config/version of Windows 98 cannot process the 
> TCM_GETROWCOUNT message.  This is two machines, so I assume others have 
> the same problem.  After I changed the tab control style to SINGLELINE 
> and did away with checking how many rows of tabs are present (and 
> assuming only 1), Portal-9 did not crash on those Win98 machines.  *My* 
> old-as-dirt copy of Windows 98SE has no probem with multi-line tab 
> controls nor the call for returning how many rows of tabs are present.  
> Go figure!
> 
> So, I have no choice but to use the single-line tab control format for 
> now until I figure out a way to get the "stubborn?" 98 machines to work 
> with it without crashing.
> 
> It's nothing major, but you'll be able to see the difference in tab 
> styles when you open a large project like Projector-3.
> 
> Those who are expecting a CD package in the mail will still get it, but 
> it will probably be a week.  It might take a night or two more to make 
> sure everything is back in order.
> 
> ----------
> Roger Taylor
> 
> 
> 
> 
If this bug is only on Win98 and not Win98SE, perhaps there is a Win98 
update from Microsoft which will correct this function. If so, you could 
include an update packet with Portal-9.