Although Web-D-Zine( WDZ ) only reached the market place in 2024, the core code of WDZ has been used in hundreds of projects and for a huge variety of customers prior to that.
The core code for WDZ was first written in 1986 when Beverley came across a report writing program for IBM mid range computers. You supplied a few pieces of information to the program and it would write all the code required to write the report. Beverley developed the idea and wrote a program that took information in and the program would then write all the core code needed to interact with the database. The code resided on a floppy disk( A 3½" 1.44mB double sided floppy made by IMATION, Yes the core code for WDZ is that old) She then took her program, with her as she worked along the high street for such names as Burton's the tailors, Iceland Frozen Foods, Budget rent-a-car and a host of other names that are still on the high street today.
She always received the big bucks for her work, simply because she could write code far faster than any one else. The fact that a computer program wrote all the core code was a little secret that is at last being released with the publication of WDZ.
Even in the early days, the program produced three main programs:-
- The base class - This deals with all the interactions associated with the database insert, add, delete etc
- The user class - This is a blank program that extends the base class. The advantage of separating the base class from the user class is that if you need to generate the base class again then you can do so without it affecting the user class
- The display panel - This is the basis of how the user interacts with the data and consists of two main sections, the list, which simply lists the information contained in the database and the forms, which allows the user to update the data base.
After working up and down the country, she decided to work closer to home and her two children, so the code written on the 3½" disk was re-engineered to create web applications. At the time the code was nick named QAD which stands for Quick and Dirty as it would write everything needed to produce a back end system in the afternoon, leaving plenty of time to put in all the finishing touches. QAD went through several distinct iterations as the system requirements of the systems written expanded. One iteration was caused by a web site that needed to work in several countries so adding code to deal with different languages was incorporated. The original code for that particular feature was written in 2012 and the only change that has been made since then is the correction of a spelling mistake from Infomation to Information. Another iteration was the encryption of personal data, which means that encryption is one of the features offered in WDZ. QAD powered a small software company called GemBiz for several years, but once Beverley's two children reached 20, she decided to go sailing. She was joined by her friend and business partner Gaynor and their fun and games are documented in the blog Salty Lass.
With the start of COVID in March 2020 and a disruption to sailing, Gaynor decided to take the code written for QAD and convert it from an in-house product and make it a universal tool, so that other people can benefit from the program. It was at that time she decided to market the product under Web-D-Zine, using a domain name that the pair first purchased in 2008.
