Harvasset

File Release Notes and Changelog

Release Name: Harvasset v1.0.0 (windows installer)

Notes:
Harvasset Version 1.0.0


Table Of Contents

Intro
Requirements
Purpose
Short Mission Statement
Long Mission Statement
Technology
License
Known Bugs
Note to wife


Intro
This software was constructed to explore some of the ideas of knowledge management. It should be seen as a work in progress and an excellent means by which to start a conversation about how a total knowledge management solution might work. It is not done and requires work to be enterprise ready. Nonetheless, some the code and most of the ideas upon which it is built are sound. For more information go to http://www.savvyhive.com.

	



Requirements
The application is written in Java. If Java works on your machine than this application should too. For a couple platforms (Windows and Linux) and JRE is provided with the installer. For all others point your browsers and http://www.java.sun.com to download an OS specific JRE. The application will require 5m of diskspace.

Binaries, source (at a zip file), and binaries packaged into an Installanywhere setup.exe are available on at Sourceforge. 


Purpose
Harvasset software captures, organizes and distributes mission critical know-how.

Short Mission Statement
Harvasset's goal is to provide organizations with an easy to use, effective and inexpensive way to capture, collate, and circulate information about the know-how they use to be successful. 

Long Mission Statement
Harvasset software is designed to help manage the know-how organizations daily rely on to achieve their goals. 

This is accomplished by capturing tacit and explicit know-how and packaging it into a highly accessible, extensible and flexible format. 

Organizations possess a wide array of assets. Some of these assets are obvious, like a desk or a computer. However, other assets, such as a ‘best practices’ or an important business contact, while not as evident, also enable organizations to achieve their goals. 

Energy, thinking and dumb luck go into the accumulation and maintenance of many of these assets.  And when these assets are lost, are relearned, or are pilfered by the competition, an organization can suffer.

Harvasset can provide a solution to increase the value and use of know-how within an organization. 
Problem Harvasset Solves
In times of economic turbulence organizations look inward for ways to improve performance without impacting their profitability. 

One way to do this, especially if the resource pool is leveling off or contracting, is to bridge the gap between the resources people already have and how these resources are best utilized. There are factors, however, that impeding any process that would bring the two closer which Harvasset hopes to address.

The capture, management and distribution of asset information and utilization should not be the principal objective of any organization and by extension nor should the budget required for such an undertaking. By some estimates a minimal budget for a corporate knowledge management portal or software solution ranges between $50,000 to $100,000.  

Indeed, search the Internet for knowledge management information and you will be hard pressed to find costs mentioned anywhere on the sites visited. This is the single greatest threat to the knowledge management movement!

Another factor is the learning curve associated with knowledge management. Presently, to search out the appropriate solution on the web requires nothing short of an education in information management systems and an immense glossary of the latest terms, technologies and concepts floating around in the Intranet/Internet industry. 

Harvasset will address this shortcoming in the market by providing a tool that is marketed to, designed for, and used by what can be loosely defined as an intermediate level computer user. 

From a usability standpoint the user will only have to know how to: install software, use industry standard navigation and functionality interfaces, work with an HTML compatible browser, browse their computer or network and work with the idea of organizing information into a tree like hierarchical structure like the kind used by grocery stores.

Another problem is that many organizations operate on a technical foundation that is comprised of a wide array of platforms and applications. Because Harvasset is written in Java and utilizes industry stand formats, it minimizes the problems associated with disparate systems and user expectations.

An organization’s ‘culture’ also possesses a challenge to any knowledge tracking initiative. Harvasset can easily accommodate a wide variety of implementation strategies. At its heart Harvasset is a grass roots approach to knowledge management. 

Finally Harvasset resolves those problems posed by off-site storage of an organization’s mission critical knowledge. Off-site solutions create problems starting with their lack of guarantees about the privacy or security of the off-site data.  Additionally, the possibility that the data will not always be accessible, vis-à-vis the site goes out of business, also makes this solution untenable. Harvasset installs locally  is designed to work locally.

	Harvasset performs three functional tasks:
1. It provides an easy to understand, wizard assisted process for helping the user identify the type(s) of information that is being sought and then further aides them in creating the tool that will be used to collect data. The software includes an extensive supply of prefabricated surveys, questions and answers, information capture methods, and possible organizational structures for their information.

2. Once the knowledge collection tool has been created the software enables its deployment to users in a flexible and easy to understand manner. Targeted respondents install and run the knowledge collection tool.  

3. As each user’s responses are returned to the administrator the software provides a means to view, organize, maintain, annotate, search and distribute the results in a way that is scalable, flexible, secure and easy to operate. 
 
Technology
Currently Harvasset is written in Java, version 1.4.2.  The application is 32 bit and runs on any platform that supports the relevant JRE or the Java Plug-In. At present it also employs the Sun Microsystems Java Cryptography Extension, 1.2. 

The application’s output is in HTML and XML or a Harvasset-native object referred to in the software as a Filing Cabinet.  

If the user has the correct license and permissions in place, the software can store its information in a MySQL database.  

As of the writing of this document there are something like 30 classes already developed with approximatley 50,000 lines of code.

License
Savvyhive currently owns a copyright of the Harvasset prototype application and all the original code used to create the application.  It is also being made available under the GPL through a dual licensing arrangement.   

Some copyrighted code exists within the current executable; however, permission has been granted for redistribution of this material through an inclusion of the relevant credits. Additionally, it is envisioned that this code will be replaced by either original code or a freely distributable extension.

Known Bugs:
1. View on Results tab errors With security violation.

Note to wife
Love ya honey. Big -and I mean really big- kisses!

Changes: