Darryl Booth

2008 Year-End Wrap-Up

It’s been an extremely productive, busy, and exciting year.  Below are some of the highlights from the perspective of my desk… What were your highlights from 2008?

My 2008 Highlights

• Completed 12 EnvisionConnect Deployment Projects!
• Booked 21 Iterations of EnvisionConnect
• Delivered over 118 EnvisionConnect Online Training Sessions
• Completed Approximately 1,420 Product Backlog Items
• Delivered 17 New Named Workflows
• Hired Four Talented Folks in Client Services and Three Skilled Team Members in Development
• Implemented Scrum Across All Departments
• Hosted Successful Annual User Training and Conference
• Reviewed/Tuned Technical Support Processes
• Launched EnvisionConnect Resources Wiki (password required)

My 2009 Expectations

• More and More EnvisionConnect Deployment Projects!
• Tuned EnvisionConnect Iteration Schedule
• More EnvisionConnect Killer Features Including Multiple Page Layouts, Tabbed Interfaces, and Awesome Drop-Down Combo Boxes

Have a fantastic holiday season and a great new year!

Invoking Report Builder Reports With Passed Parameters

EnvisionConnect, as you probably know, leverages SQL Server's Reporting Services and Report Builder for its ad hoc reporting. This is a fantastic collaboration since it frees up Decade's teams to focus on our domain expertise (software environmental regulation and public safety) AND it provides a superior interface for casual reporting.

This post is for EnvisionConnect Admins (technical folks) who want to do a little bit more to integrate EnvisionConnect and Report Builder.

I must also acknowledge MSSQLTips and Weld County Environmental Health Services Division for inspiring me to write this post.

Let's say you've created a great Report Builder report that summarizes all the activities (e.g., inspections and other services) related to a Complaint. The report prompts for the Complaint ID, but you want that to come over automatically. You also want to invoke this report from within EnvisionConnect for the complaint you're reviewing.

Step 1 - Isolate the Report URL

As you probably know, Report Builder reports can be accessed through a web browser using Report Manager. This is wonderful since you probably have stakeholders across the enterprise that don't really need to be in EnvisionConnect, but DO need to quickly check a record. My simple report looks like this when displayed in a browser:

The intranet URL for the "Standard" view of the report is as follows:

http://envisionconnect/Reports/Pages/Report.aspx?ItemPath=%2fSummary+of+Complaint+Activities (not a real URL)

Server name: envisionconnect (your server name may be different)

Report name: Summary+of+Complaint+Activities (your report name will be different)

This URL can be shared with anybody who has permissions to the report.

The report can also be "served" up at this alternate URL:

http://envisionconnect/ReportServer?%2fSummary+of+Complaint+Activities&rs:Command=Render (not a real URL)

Server name: envisionconnect (your server name may be different)

Report name: Summary+of+Complaint+Activities (your report name will be different)

It's with this second URL that we can start to do some fancy stuff.

Step 2 - Tweak the URL to Pass Parameters and Commands

According to MSSQLTips we can augment this URL to do our bidding by passing one or more report parameters, hiding the parameter panel, or even rendering the report in a certain format.

To Specify a Report Parameter Add to the URL:

&ParameterName=ParameterValue

So, to pass a particular Complaint ID to the report, the URL would look like this:

http://envisionconnect/ReportServer?%2fSummary+of+Complaint+Activities&rs:Command=Render&ComplaintLogRECORDID=CO0034751

So, how do you get the report's Parameter Name? You can guess it... In my experience it's the Entity Name smashed up against the Field Name. But to be sure, you have to look into the report file.

To look into a report file, use these steps:

- Open the report in Report Builder.

- Choose File > Save as File and save the RDL file to your desktop.

- Open the RDL file in Notepad and search for a section titled <ReportParameters>.

You'll see the name of your parameter in this section. For my example, it looked like this:

<ReportParameters>
  <ReportParameter Name="ComplaintLogRECORDID">
    <DataType>String</DataType>
    <Nullable>true</Nullable>
    <DefaultValue>
      <Values>
        <Value>="CO0034751"</Value>
      </Values>
    </DefaultValue>
    <Prompt>Complaint Log RECORD ID</Prompt>
  </ReportParameter>
</ReportParameters>

To Hide the Parameter Panel Add to the URL:

&rc:Parameters=false

To Open in a Specific Format Add to the URL:

&rs:Format=PDF or &rs:Format=Excel

Step 3 - Configure an EnvisionConnect System Tool to Launch Your Report

From within EnvisionConnect, users and administrators can configure "System Tools." This feature adds a link to external resources such as web sites, scripts, and executables. In addition, the System Tools can reference parameters from the EnvisionConnect screen. In our example, we'll scrape the Complaint Record ID off the Enter Complaint Details page to customize the URL and get the report we want.

To configure a System Tool that invokes our custom report:

- Launch Manage System Tools from the System Administration Center.

- Click Add a System Tool to see the Enter System Tools Details page. Using the URL from the example above, my system tool configuration looks like this:

- Don't forget to replace the actual Complaint Record ID ("CO0034751") with the linking placeholder {RecordId} so the system will do the replacement for you on the fly.

After the configuration, your users should be able to see Summary of Complaint Activity under the tools.

In Conclusion

I know this was a rather technical post... but I'm pretty excited about the potential for tying Report Builder Reports and EnvisionConnect System Tools in ways that make your life easier. Enjoy!

Annual Conference Season

Summer is nearly over and, to me, the coming fall season represents change. The 2008 Decade User Group and Conference is right around the corner. At this all-user event I get to meet new people and renew old friendships. This is where I get to see how the work done inside our office impacts those who use the system outside the office. The enthusiasm is engaging. It recharges my batteries and resets my reality.

This is my twelfth Decade User Group and Conference meeting.

"For the first time ever in North America, Envision for Windows!"

At that first all-user conference at the Piccadilly Shaw in 1997 I had the honor of showing Envision for Windows to our users for the very first time.

In my best radio voice I exclaimed, "For the first time ever in North America, Envision for Windows!" With that, I launched Envision and started the presentation. Folks were ready for a Windows version of Envision.

Even change for the better (replacing Envision for DOS for Envision for Windows) is still change and can still be disruptive.

EnvisionConnect Upgrades

Now, flash ahead more than a decade (no pun intended), we're deep into EnvisionConnect upgrades and it's quite fulfilling to point out features that were prompted by that same user community. You guys are awesome!

I anticipate that this month's conference will be characterized by the same energy and enthusiasm we enjoy each year. I know the Decade staff have been working diligently to prepare meaningful presentations.

So, mark your calendars and be sure to seek me out. I'll be the one presenting the class on Report Builder.

A Bug's Life

Decade Software Company makes big investments in testing prior to each release.

However, when a bug is uncovered in EnvisionConnect, I'm often asked by clients and staff to predict when that bug will be fixed.

I'm please to say that bugs are addressed very rapidly and with good predictability.

Below is a countdown of how a long a documented bug can live in EnvisionConnect.

Bugs, Critical Bugs, Normal Releases, and Emergency Fixes

Our developers work in 30-work-day sprints.

All known bugs on the first day of a sprint will be fixed by the end of that sprint.

Therefore, a non-critical bug can live between 30 and 60 days. In the worst case (bug discovered on the first day of a new sprint) it lives 60 work days. In the best case (bug discovered on the day before a new sprint) it lives 30 work days.

Obviously, it’s in our interest to document bugs as soon as possible.

A truly critical defect that impacts data integrity or prevents basic operations may be escalated for an emergency release.

A body of work (e.g., bug fixes) may be released to the user community earlier if the Product Owner (me in this case) prioritizes a mid-sprint release. This is not the norm.

Our normal release schedule is every 30 (business) days.

An Ounce of Prevention...

I twisted my ankle good last weekend playing tennis with my five-year-old son. We were just hitting balls against the wall at the local high school, Andrew learning how to use his new Spongebob racket, and me showing him a proper forehand.

During one of those, "See how I swing level and always watch the ba.....OUCH!" I stepped on a loose ball and fell to the ground.

OK, bad form on my part allowing loose balls on the court. I know better.

A Systems Perspective?

Later in the day with ice, swelling, and elevation, I started thinking about the pain I was enduring and how it could have been prevented. The answer is obvious... I should have not proceeded with the lesson while the court was littered with loose tennis balls. I should have checked then stopped to clean up the balls before proceeding. User error.... and I had all the tools to prevent it.

EnvisionConnect Financial Wizards?

EnvisionConnect's billing and aging wizards has a check-before-you-proceed page for just this reason.

The system shows you the anticipated outcome of the wizard before the wizard posts the results. For example, when billing for annual permits or hourly services, the system displays each of all the charges it thinks should be posted to the financial system based on your configuration and how you used the wizard.

This wizard page is designed to encourage the user to stop, print reports, and validate the anticip0ated outcome before proceeding with the "Post and Continue" button.

Taking these few extra moments certainly will prevent the pain of an incorrect billing run.

Ubiquitous Database Services

Amazon.com announced SimpleDB this week building upon its existing web/data services known as S3.

In short, Amazon.com is offering to be your database provider by exposing their massive data processing and storage capacity to anybody with an account and a willingness to pay a modest portion of the expenses.

Having worked in the past on assuring reliability, scalability, and proper licensing, this is a very intriguing idea.

What would it mean to regulators to house their EnvisionConnect data with Amazon.com?

Fastest Inspector Roundtrip Route

I found another cool use for Google Maps on the web this week. The Google Maps Fastest Round Trip Planner will take a set of addresses then plan a round trip that covers the shortest possible distance.

You can also build a single URL (say from an application like EnvisionConnect) that grabs all the addresses in one request. For example, here's the fastest route to all the Taco Bells in Boulder County.

I did this by going to the Boulder County Web Site for restaurant inspections an searching for "Taco Bell".

How'd He Do That?

Next I manually created the URL by starting with...

http://gebweb.net/optimap/index.php?loc0=

...then added each address until I had one long web address that included all the sites I wanted.

It turned out like this (skip ahead if you're squeamish about this kind of stuff):

http://gebweb.net/optimap/index.php?loc0=3210%20ARAPAHOE%20RD,%20boulder,%20co&loc1=2450%20BASELINE%20RD,%20boulder,%20co&loc2=3255%2028TH%20ST,%20boulder,%20co&loc3=2220%20MAIN%20ST,%20longmont,%20co&loc4=2010%20S%20KEN%20PRATT%20BLVD,%20longmont,%20co&loc5=450%20SOUTH%20BOULDER%20RD,%20longmont,%20co

The "%20" means a space. The "&loc1=" is the divider for the second address, an so on.

Sure this looks like a mess, but it's very easy to create URLs like this from within a report or web app.

This is not a commercial solution, just a demonstration. Here's the technical stuff if you want to read more.

GIS Network Analysis

There is a huge future in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and it's a lot more than just drawing maps.

GIS Network Analysis is one area that's just starting to pop. The folks over at ESRI probably explain it best. In short, it's how to get from here to there quickly and efficiently.

Did you see where routing systems at UPS seek to avoid left turns (left turns typically take longer) and saved 3 million gallons of gas?

I'm excited about applying the UPS model to inspectors in the field. Why not?

Dear Browser-Based Applications, "It's not you, it's me..."

I have to break up with my browser... but I swear I want to stay friends.

Oh sure, I'll keep Firefox's number handy for those brain-dead moments when I just want to review the Evolution of Dance or check the latest nerdy tech news at Slashdot.

But that's it. No more serious business applications in a browser. It's over.

I admire those solemn developer-soldiers who toil trying to build browser-based business applications. Their job is impossible and it's not their fault. My expectations are probably too high.

Consider the browser's poor marks on the following fronts:

• Spell Check (if available, implemented in a herky jerky kind of way)
• Keyboard Shortcuts (try pressing Ctrl+S for save some time)
• Performance (I'm tired of postbacks)
• Security Restrictions (more yellow bars prompting me to trust)
• Reporting Tools (uh... was that important?)
• Browser Compatibility

As a business community, we've come to accept these limitations as satisfactory trade-offs. Perhaps it was originally to avoid the disruption of installing an actual application on each desktop. Perhaps it was during the giddy dot-com carnival where everything was going to be done in a browser.

Considering that knowledge workers' continued productivity increases are key in most industries, why do we tend to tend shackle our best producers with sub-standard tools at the desktop?

Now, a quick side-trip for the inevitable AJAX discussion. Google Docs, for example, has done things previously thought impossible by using AJAX. Kudos! In my experience, this can be a fragile development environment and just isn't my first choice. I'm not convinced that this is the future of Internet-based applications.

As for me, I'll bounce back. I have a date with ClickOnce.

My Planning Hangover

For some reason, our planning activities for September washed over me this week like a tidal wave. You know that feeling when you know you need a breath, but there's another wave coming... so you'd better just hold on?

In one (short) week, we held Sprint Reviews, Sprint Retrospectives, and Sprint Planning meetings for three Scrum teams.

For the Product Owner, there's a lot of pressure to set the right priorities for the coming Sprint and to respond positively to the wrap-up of the just-completed Sprint.

Planning

Setting the right priorities means locking-in the efforts of three teams for the coming month (Sprint).

We definitely wanted to optimize our efforts in favor of our Annual User Conference. But to do so meant, navigating those murky waters where somebody else's interests were deferred.

Reviewing

I also learned this month about the purpose and implications of the Sprint Goal, a theme for the Sprint that allows the self-organizing and self-managing teams to align their day-to-day decisions without having to go to the Product Owner (or anybody else) for guidance.

I learned that instead of counting off the completed tasks during the Sprint Review meeting, the Product Owner needs to focus on the Sprint Goal and appreciate the extent to which the team rallied around that goal. Said another way, Sprint results may not appear exactly the way the Product Owner envisioned them a month earlier, but the goal or theme was reflected in everybody's actions and choices.

This is what happened. And for that I'm thankful.

Two Aspirin Later...

I think we emerged from this week without too much damage... with credit to the individual teams who ran with the priorities to make it work. Thanks guys!

The Devil is in the Details

Peter Lucas, Decade's lead technical writer, recently announced an update to the EnvisionConnect Style Guide.

The EnvisionConnect Style Guide is our internal reference document (a PDF actually) that "puts in stone" all the seemingly inconsequential decisions that go into a consistent and well-thought-out user interface. An author might be more familiar with the term Manual of Style.

Here are some examples of the questions answered definitively by the EnvisionConnect Style Guide:

• The font, style, color, size, and case (e.g., title case, sentence case, or all caps) for all text areas in the system
• The alignment (e.g., left-justified, right-justified, or centered) of data and column headings in a list
• How to select the default action (what happens when you just press Enter) for each page
• Standard terms that shall be used to reference/brand unique elements in the interface (e.g., A grid showing search results shall be referenced as a "Lists")

Designers, developers, and users are passionate folks. The EnvisionConnect Style Guide is a constructive conduit for that passion. Here's why.

The debates on these small matters can quickly reach a religious fervor. Seriously, I'd rather debate the merits of death penalty with Mother Teresa before I suit up for another argument about whether labels for checkboxes should be aligned on the left or right of the checkbox. It turns out that the label belongs on the right. This debate is now dead.

Commissioning a style guide is one of those lessons hard learned. Now it's one of the first requirements of every new project.