Inside ASI-AP

A webinar given jointly by MarkLogic, Aberdeen Group (research), and empolis summarized where the industry stands on the move toward offering users dynamic technical content -- dynamic in the sense of filtered for their needs and assembled into useful printables. The dimensions for filtering are the usual suspects: user skill/type, context (such as a specific product), and task type (setup vs. operation vs. troubleshooting). Aberdeen's research on current industry practices (albeit focused on the needs of manufacturers) showed they are being driven by these factors (most to least): speed to market, market segmentation, customizability, precision (need to cut irrelevant doc), and globalization (localization needs). Those organizations found to be "best in class" are pursuing these types of initiatives:

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the customer is using i15, eCM and .net template with web components. they would like to use e-community as well. has anyone installed e-community in this environment yet?

Here’s an interesting project to keep an eye on – a collection of case studies of "how nonprofits and social change makers are using social networks to get the word out and inspire action."

socialmedia4change.pbwiki.com

It's a wiki, so anyone can contribute their examples to the pages. The Frozen Pea Fund is there, as well as a Second Life scavenger hunt for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

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I’ve added a page to IC for recording details of release schedules for software used by iMIS – for example the next versions of Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft Office.

http://www.imiscommunity.com/microsoft_and_other_vendor_software_release...

If you come across any information on release schedules for products that we use or integrate with can you update it here.

customer would like to change the sort order of the display when doing a product search. we are using i15.0.3 and eCM. the current sequence looks random.

i would like to change the left nav bar for the system setup tab on the desktop. i can't find the html file which has it. does anyone know where it might be or is it hidden so it can't be changed.

This STC 2008 session shared the processes and tips used by NetIQ writers, who straddle multiple sprints and products.

Terms:

• Scrum = agile development approach that emphasizes close communication through daily stand-up meetings.
• Scrum master = team member who facilitates scrum meetings, communicates outside the team, and works to solve blocks.
• Iteration = 1-4 week stretch during which a full software development cycle occurs; begins with planning and ends with a demo.
• Backlog = repository for all requirements and wish list items. (tool to manage tasks = Xplanner)
• Capacity = maximum amount of hours a team member can work during one iteration.

No more specs:

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This STC 2008 session by Daniel Wroblewski of SAP Israel introduced writers to API documentation, and he offered this minimalist approach to structuring it:

• Introduction (1 page)
• Who needs this
• What can I do with this API (main use cases)
• How guide is organized
• Quick Tutorial (1-2 pages)
• “I want to see it working”
• How to install or reference
• Concepts (2-3 pages, more if needed)
• Reference
• List of all APIs (e.g., Document! X, Javadocs)
• Other lists (syntax, types of windows, packages …)

Common goals of API users:

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This STC 2008 session by Jane Bozarth offered alternatives to the methods taught in academic settings and techniques for persuading stakeholders to reconsider their demands and assumptions. Here are my key take-aways:

• Needs analysis on a napkin: assign performance problems to four quadrants, axis "wants to" versus axis "knows how to", low and high:
• doesn't want to + doesn't know how to = change job position or fire
• doesn't want to + knows how to = motivation issue
• wants to + knows how to = remove obstacles (bad process, bad management, etc.)
• wants to + doesn't know how to = TRAINING will help here, and nowhere else!
• Task analysis on a napkin: to find the critical 20%, draw a set of 4 concentric rings:
• Outer ring: call it "Everything about the domain"
• Next ring: call it "What we have time to teach"
• Next ring: call it "What learners will be able to recall"
• Inner ring: call it "What learners will be able to use"
• Mark the inner ring as 20% of all possible content, and ask the SME what few things should go in that inner ring.
  

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This STC 2008 session reported findings of an STC-funded study of distance education and a case study for producing online courses from nothing (no materials or experience). The first study (by Rensselaer Polytechnic and New York Life) offered concrete tips for improving distance learning:

• Tag team: Use a course host/MC for every class, to set up, manage chat channels, direct group exercises, and record/archive, offloading the instructor.
• Plan for pain: Expect a third of the problems to be technical (media technology) and another third to be poor use of interactive channels.
• Control eyeballs: Best results come from 100% participation, by preventing/discouraging multi-tasking.
• Be fair: Use round-robin technique to ensure onsite and remote participants are equally involved (fear also heightens attention).
• Use the best: Use media in this order of effectiveness (ease and reliability): conference call (best), video conference, chat, whiteboard.
• Avoid all-in-1: Tools that bundle teleconferencing with video and more prove unreliable; move voice to Skype or similar, and push video to YouTube or similar services.
• Peer power: Seek technology that makes it easy for learners to help each other and interact -- it's effective and they want it.

The case study shows how Credence System jumped into remote learning, to meet customer demands for training when and where they need it. They tackled it with risk-management in the driver's seat:

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Mike Wethington posted Martin Fowler's article on lessons learned in doing agile with overseas teams. Many of the points struck me as relevant for the problem of telecommuting teams as well:

• Bring distributed developers onsite for critical first iterations of new projects, to get going
• Expect to need more documents than with a collocated team: it's the price of being virtual 
• Extend conference calls with video, especially for project background lectures 
• Extend instant messaging to group-based messaging, such as with Campfire

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I found this here - it is pretty useful

http://weblogs.asp.net/bradleyb/archive/2005/12/09/432802.aspx

This is how to add a command to the shell to open a folder as a web site in Visual Studio 2005 or 2008.

Visual Studio 2005/2008 does not support this by default but you can enable the scenario by writing a macro.

To do this, create a new macro either in an existing module or in a new module. For this example I’m going to add a module call Website to the MyMacros project.

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We are working on uprgrading to iMIS 15 and have a dedicated iMIS 15 test DB server. We want our end users to test the iMIS 15 Client but when we install the cilent software on a workstation that has iMIS 10 Client software, the iMIS 10 software no longer works with a "Page cannot be found" error. Re-installing the iMIS 10 software brings that software back to a working state but the 15 software does not work. ASI support indicates this is not supported. Has anybody figured out how to get the 2 software versions to co-exist on the same workstation?

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Passing this exam gives you MCTS – SQL Server 2005 certification. It’s a prerequisite for the MCITP: DBAdmin cert, but it’s not an elective for MCPD (unlike the 70-229 SQL 2000 exam for MCSD).

The Transcender test is available on DEVEXAM, and it’s helpful. It includes simulations that work like the ones on the actual test. I also used the ExamCram book by Thomas Moore, which had good test-specific material. I’ll pass it on to Mark D. for the Dev library.

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I recently attended a Microsoft MSDN Roadshow. The slides for the presentations are here:

http://www.msdnroadshow.co.uk/

It covered
* ADO.NEXT – Entity Framework & Data Services
* ASP.NEXT – The ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions
* Building Rich Internet UI with Silverlight 2
* Getting the most from the Visual Studio Team Suite Toolbox

Probably the most interesting area was all the tools that are now available in Visual Studio Team System for unit testing, SQL refactoring and schema versioning.

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I just passed my first in the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 series of exams, MCTS 70-528 "Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Web-Based Client Develoment". This is one of the two tests required for MCTS .NET Framework 2.0 Web Applications certification. The other test required for this cert is MCTS 70-536 "Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Application Development Foundation", which I'm planning to take sometime soon.

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I have just discovered that with the upgrade to iMIS 15.0. ASI has decided to drop the IQA Business Object of 'Contact' and replaced it with 'NetContact'. After about 1 hour looking through IQA for this object (an object that I have been using since 10.4) I finally gave up.

Like a good boy I went through the http://docs.imis.com to see what I should be using and what happened to 'Contact'. No such luck.

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Our family made a road trip to west Texas for the Open Source Symposium, held on Saturday April 26 at Angelo State University, in San Angelo. Its mission is to introduce open source to those working in college environments, which was why UT Austin was pleased to have my husband, Adam attend and report back to them. STC Austin's own Janet Swisher presented on how to participate in OS projects.

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A group of Austin-based ASIers volunteered at the Special Olympics Texas offices to do data entry to ensure a quality and fair competition for the athletes, as well as to verify athlete medical information for safety purposes. Eight of us came for a four hour shift, and we started out at the computers, entering the names and birth dates for athletes in training. Greg found the oldest athlete at age 70, and age 6 was our youngest athlete. Kids are allowed to start training at age 6, even though they don’t compete until age 8. As a baby name buff, I enjoyed seeing the names – from Amiracle to Blaze.

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Has anyone successfully integrated iMIS email address updates to Constant Contact? I have a client who is very happy with Constant Contact and is interested in an integration from iMIS to their data at Constant Contact.