Blogs

The design of the new 64-bits version

28 February 2020

Why a new version? Since some time, there are two versions of CHEAQS Next available on the website, the regular version and a ‘research version’. Let me tell you why I decided to write a new version.
A few years ago, I realized that the version I was working on would sooner or later be outdated, because it was a 32-bits program. Upgrading the source to 64-bits was not as straightforward as it might look, because the compiler I used (Powerbasic) is not available in a 64-bits version and may never be. So I had to re-write or convert the program anyway. I took that opportunity to think about features I had not implemented yet. Then I made a list of new functionalities I wanted the new program to have. Let me share this list with you. First of all, some technical issues.

The program should be 64 bits.
The program should be entirely written in Unicode and be able to handle Unicode strings and folder paths.
The program should be good looking also at high DPI-values (dots per inch).

For the calculation options I formulated the following requirements.

The program should be able to handle different temperatures.
The program should have an additional method for computing conditional constants at high ionic strength.
An option had to be included to automatically adjust the charge balance in order to achieve an electrically neutral solution.
A better or at least additional adsorption had to be implemented.
The new version should have a larger database including citrate, DTPA and twenty amino acids.
The program should have a mechanism to handle different databases.
The program should have a real print preview.
There should be an option to view two or more datasets at the same time to compare them.
A check had to be made for additional ways to improve calculation speed.
The program should have a mechanism for multi-language support.

Finally, a new interface for the main menu was needed.

With this wish list I started the design and planning of the new version, in 2017. Since then, I worked on building the new version and implementing these features. I am not there yet but I make progress.