Mountain Software Newsletter - May 3, 2026
Home Cookin 9.96 Update Released
- Database Management Fixed - I haven't made any changes to the core database functions since at least 2015. So I was surprised when I accidentally discovered a major bug that was crashing the program and corrupting the data file. What I thought was a simple problem quickly turned into a complete rewrite of the functions that save and load recipes to the recipe data file.
- New Cleanup Function - After finding and fixing the data saving problems above, I discovered the cleanup feature needed updating also as it relied on the same flawed code. So I completely rewrote the Cleanup feature to better recover corrupted data files.
- Fixed "Failure Ending the Upload" - This error seemed to appear at random when uploading recipes to the cloud. After a lot of testing I finally tracked it down to the web server requesting data to be resent. I'm not sure why the server does this, but Home Cookin will now resend data properly if the server requests it.
- Cloud Upload Logging - In the process of fixing the upload error, I also improved the error logging when uploading to the cloud. Hopefully this will help me track down issues that may occur in the future.
- Old User ID's Blocked - I changed the way the Home Cookin cloud worked in the last update. Since the old cloud features were no longer available, I added code to block old user ID's on the cloud server.
- Accented Characters in Spell Checker - I added support for accented ANSI characters in the spell-checker as requested by a user. I don't think many people use the spell checker, and even fewer need accented characters, but I hope this helps. :)
- Improved conversion from old versions - There aren't many people still using versions of Home Cookin that were built around the Recipe34.dat file structure (prior to 2015). However, a user recently ran into issues when trying to upgrade from a really old version of Home Cookin. So I completely rewrote the Recipe34 to Recipe860 conversion functions. I also fixed the conversion of old grocery and meal data to the latest file formats.
- Extended Beta Timeout - I always placed a time limit on beta versions so testers would eventually need to install the final release version when it was ready. When I was working full time I set this to three months as I could easily release the official version within that time frame. However, it takes me a lot longer to release updates now that I am retired, so I have extended the beta timeout to six months going forward. I don't know how many beta versions I will release in the future, but if you end up being a test person you'll have more time to experiment. :)
The Busy Retired Life
In case you didn't hear it earlier, I retired in February 2026 and
closed my business Mountain Software. You can read more about that on
the About Page.
I didn't think I would do much programming once I retired, but several issues showed up in Home Cookin shortly after retiring. It always amazes me how serious bugs can go unnoticed for many years before the right set of circumstances exposes them. While I would like to think my programs are bullet proof, I know other issues will likely occur in the future also. So let me know when you run across something odd. I can't promise to fix every problem, but I'll do my best when time allows.
A few days ago we officially passed the three year mark of my wife's retirement. It's hard to believe that much time has passed already. Both of our mom's have been needing increasing care, which takes up a lot of our time. My wife was also in a car accident several weeks ago, so it took some time to find her a new vehicle and we're still dealing with insurance. She has been busy with doctor appointments since the accident, but is slowly improving. It could have been much worse, so I'm thankful she is okay.
I'm trying to plan a road trip to Arizona and New Mexico later this summer, but the extent of that trip will depend on her recovery and my own aches and pains. We may have to scale back on some of the activities I have planned if we don't improve. It's no fun getting old... :)
Other than that trip we don't really have much planned this year. I've been doing a little landscaping work around the house, some minor car repairs, and I might be doing a woodworking project for my wife if time allows. I have a backlog of videos to edit and photos to scan. So much to do, so little time. Retirement is too busy to be boring. :)
I guess that's all for now. Take care, and best wishes to you all.
Anthony Watson
Contact Me
I didn't think I would do much programming once I retired, but several issues showed up in Home Cookin shortly after retiring. It always amazes me how serious bugs can go unnoticed for many years before the right set of circumstances exposes them. While I would like to think my programs are bullet proof, I know other issues will likely occur in the future also. So let me know when you run across something odd. I can't promise to fix every problem, but I'll do my best when time allows.
A few days ago we officially passed the three year mark of my wife's retirement. It's hard to believe that much time has passed already. Both of our mom's have been needing increasing care, which takes up a lot of our time. My wife was also in a car accident several weeks ago, so it took some time to find her a new vehicle and we're still dealing with insurance. She has been busy with doctor appointments since the accident, but is slowly improving. It could have been much worse, so I'm thankful she is okay.
I'm trying to plan a road trip to Arizona and New Mexico later this summer, but the extent of that trip will depend on her recovery and my own aches and pains. We may have to scale back on some of the activities I have planned if we don't improve. It's no fun getting old... :)
Other than that trip we don't really have much planned this year. I've been doing a little landscaping work around the house, some minor car repairs, and I might be doing a woodworking project for my wife if time allows. I have a backlog of videos to edit and photos to scan. So much to do, so little time. Retirement is too busy to be boring. :)
I guess that's all for now. Take care, and best wishes to you all.
Anthony Watson
Contact Me