minibits-general — A mailing list for general discussion of MiniBits

[Minibits-general] FASD project: Online survey launched

[<ben...@id...>]

Dear Open Source developer

I am doing a research project on "Fun and Software Development" in which I kindly invite you to participate.
You will find the online survey under http://fasd.ethz.ch/qsf/. The questionnaire consists of 53 questions and you will need about 15 minutes to complete it.

With the FASD project (Fun and Software Development) we want to define the motivational significance of fun when software developers decide to engage in Open Source projects. What is special about our research project is that a similar survey is planned with software developers in commercial firms. This procedure allows the immediate comparison between the involved individuals and the conditions of production of these two development models. Thus we hope to obtain substantial new insights to the phenomenon of Open Source Development.


With many thanks for your participation,
Benno Luthiger


PS:
The results of the survey will be published under http://www.isu.unizh.ch/fuehrung/blprojects/FASD/.
We have set up the mailing list fa...@we... for this study. Please see http://fasd.ethz.ch/qsf/mailinglist_en.html for registration to this mailing list.

_______________________________________________________________________

Benno Luthiger
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
8092 Zurich

Mail: benno.luthiger(at)id.ethz.ch
_______________________________________________________________________

[Minibits-general] Recent Developments

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

Hi,
You may all remember I sent an email to each of the "programmer" developers
back in November.
Unfortunately there was little response.

In late November I started to experiment with creating some MiniBits forms
in C#.
This went rather well, and allowed me to consolidate a lot of forms into 4
or 5 template forms, a clear advantage for code reusability.
I have left the "original" MiniBits source code in CVS in the old module,
with new source code in MiniBitsC
As for the direction from here, this depends on the input from the rest of
the development team.

It would be interesting to know the take on this that you all have.
Cheers
Rob

[Minibits-general] Developers, Source Code and Users

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

Hi all,
Right, a word or two about the current status.
Sheena has decided, following a trial period, that she doesn't feel able to
work on the documentation, because she doesn't feel she can provide the
input needed.
So I'm going to re-advertise the position of document manager.
In the mean time I have been putting together some documentation - have a
look and let me know what you think.
If anyone knows of anyone who may like to take on the doc manager role, let
me know. I'm loath to keep the document creation within the developers as I
think we need to concentrate more on the coding than the docs.

I'm also pretty encouraged, and I think we all should be, by the download
stats. We only have a database on the file release system yet it's already
had some downloads. Thus, someone, somewhere out there must be interested in
what we're doing.
With this in mind I want to release a source code zip file ASAP as a
starting marker, so to speak.
So wherever possible all focus at the moment is going to be on the code we
have rather than adding additional functionality.

Finally we now have a new mailing list minibits-users to provide an
interface between ourselves and end users/potential end users. If you know
of anyone who may be interested in using the software, please do encourage
them to join this list.
Hope you're all keeping well
Rob

[Minibits-general] Project Team, Documentation, To Do's

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

Hi all,
A few developments of late:
1) Our developers have been added to in number: Shailendra Desai has been
added to the team.

2) We now have a documentation manager, Sheena Chachere. Owing to the large
amount of documentation needed for the project it made sense to bring in
someone whose sole focus is documentation, rather than to take developers
away from what they do best. I shall work with Sheena to get the existing
functionality documented. I would expect that with new functionality, the
developer(s) concerned with adding the functionality would email notes on
the change/addition, and appropriate screenshots to allow the docs to be
updated. This is not as yet finalised and so I'll probably be able to give
you all more info once some of the docs are in place.

3) Unless we find ourselves particularly short in a particular area, or
someone emails with a burning desire to join us, I will not be considering
any additional members of the team. The team, as it stands, I think has a
good range of skills and backgrounds, and adding any further members would
increase the admin overheads. Sometime soon I hope to go back to more coding
than admin, rather than the other way round!!! We may, however, in the not
too distant future find ourselves in need of testers, as the only current
operational end user is myself.

4) I continue to add development activities to the project as I think of
useful additions and find fresh bugs. I grade the activities according to
how immediate the activity is, and the dependencies. I also refer back to a
feature request or bug tracker item. I've been trying out over the last week
or so methods of working with tasks, and I find the development activities
tracker a useful way of working. Any views/criticisms/suggestions, let me
know. Should anyone feel the addition of a feature would be valuable, feel
free to add it to the feature request tracker. Also if a task you complete
requires another task to be completed, please feel free to add a development
activity. Note: Activities relating to configuration or the project file
default to d, activities relating to the database default to me.

5) The project is in dire need of a certain amount of data validation and
error handling, to be incorporated in preexisting code. Should anyone feel
they would like to take speccing out this area on, email me and we can
discuss it further.

Rob

[Minibits-general] general stats and information

[d <par...@co...>]

minibits devs;

hi all.  sorry i've been out of the loop for a little while as i was 
dealing with the fall-out from that power failure.  on top of that my 
little mail server which sits in the corner and doesn't complain (even 
when it's hard drive is full) stopped accepting new messages.  i cleared 
the drive but may have missed some of the updates over the past couple 
days.  i'll have to try and catch up on the tracker.  also, next week 
i'll be unavailable from saturday through friday. (my once-a-year 
vacation)  please send me any requests for frmMainMenu or APPMOD so i 
can take care of them before i leave.

'till later,
d

[Minibits-general] Tasks & Version Control

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

Hi all
I've been busy most of today loading development activities for the whole
part-sales segment of the code.
I've been reasonably brief in my descriptions. If any of you want to take
any of the tasks on, feel free. If any of my notes are unclear, apologies.
Feel free to ask what I mean or what I'm trying to get at.

To keep a list of overall revisions of the project I've added some details
to readme.txt which is held in CVS.  Whenever you commit code containing any
new functionality/a response to a development activity etc, add a version
number. Alongside the version number give details of the change (usu similar
to the log item when committing). Such info should include the number of the
development activity, which is so useful for backtracking where changes came
from. I also increment the version and make a note when the database is
updated.

Cheers
Rob

Re: [Minibits-general] CVS Usage, Skills, Etc

[<cls...@ya...>]

Hi all,

I have been having problems with the ADSL provider,
now everything is fine, but now I broke my laptop
screen so now the development goes slow... anyway in
about 5 days i'll be up again (i hope), still im
working on reusable classes that can create forms from
a given Tables, and also can manage and already given
form in diferent modes: edit, add, remove, view. This
to help to reduce the number of forms (currently more
the 100 is just too much). About my skills, well here
we go:

* VB Programing 8 years
* C Programing 1 years
* Assembly (x86) 2 year
* SQL.
* Multimedia Programing 4 years
* Database Programing 6 years
* Linux Admin 1 year
* Linux Programing
* blah, blah, things not needed here.

Anyway my strenght is VB, though most of the time now
i use linux and program in C (see my other project),
after years of not working in database project i find
that now the are more complex ;-)

My role in the project:
  * Programer
  * UI Design (yes i'm working on that, the menu is
ugly confusing)
  * Ideas, ideas...

Also i can help with bugs, currently i'm just looking
at the innards of the project to see what can i rework
to make better if i can or at least reduce the amount
of of work to mantain it, Reusability is Good.

Cheers
Carlos Daniel Ruvalcaba Valenzuela

_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
La mejor conexión a internet y 25MB extra a tu correo por $100 al mes. http://net.yahoo.com.mx

[Minibits-general] spell check

[d <par...@co...>]

sorry,  the last one started as "hey minders," which was a spell checker 
  thing. (most of 'em will change inet to inept too, ironic)
supposed to be mini-devs

later,
d

Re: [Minibits-general] CVS Usage, Skills, Etc

[d <par...@co...>]

hey minders;

first, i've posted new code and due to a minor problem with the cvs 
mailing list nobody received the notice.  fixed now but check the cvs 
change log for more details.  if you can't find it let me know and i'll 
fwd the returned notices to the minibits-general list.

i too have an icq and would rather email the number directly to you than 
post it in the list.  sorry, i'm a little paranoid when it comes to 
exposing my info for spammers, etc.  i'll send that soon.

my skills;
	VB Programming (goes way back to BASICA) -- 10yrs
	SQL (of various flavors) -- 5yrs
	Access DB development -- 7yrs
	PHP -- 2yrs
	Web Authoring/Admin -- 8yrs
	Network/System Admin -- 7yrs (pro)
	Shell Scripting/Automation (UNIX / Windows) -- 6 yrs
	Numerous envs that are now dead
	etc, etc, etc,... (don't want to go all out)

what i do for minibits;
i've worked extensively, and against my will, on m$ code standards and 
compliance.  yep, pretty familiar with the way ol' bill does things and 
i'm sure it doesn't reflect in my coding style.  i'd like to start by 
working on this area with the application.  i see software compliance as 
very important to compatibility, usability, coordinated group 
development, etc.  After that i'd like to move to the db dev side as 
that's where i've been professionally in the recent years.

now the fun stuff;  (sorry for the epic)

Command Line Arguments -- about to be committed to cvs.  right now it's 
not very proficient on detailed arguments with options but can take 
simple /ARGs.  i don't want to add detailed arguments cause i don't see 
them being used in the app.  best to think of them as simple switches, 
no options.  i.e /DEBUG:MODE=2 is not supported but /DEBUG is.  if you 
have an argument that you need called tell me the switch name and it's 
basic operating principle.  i.e. the /DEBUG option simply sets a global 
variable DEBUG_MODE to true.  i'm trying not to over complicate this.

frmMainMenu/vbp Project file -- if you have any modifications to the 
frmMain or need something set in the VB project itself, such as an 
additional form, just add the new frm and mod files to the cvs.  then 
create a new tracker item under the dev activities section, include 
details then assign it to me.  that way we're all informed when it's 
completed and operational.

ok, that's all the emailin` i can take now.  'till later,
d.




Rob Walters wrote:

> Hi all,
> A number of developments since last I emailed.
> To aid communication it would help immensely if we could use some common 
> form of instant messaging. It is sometimes very slow to get info by 
> email. I suggest ICQ. For the benefit of this, my number is 231229701.
>  
> I think we also need to develop a better ide of what each of us see 
> their role within the project as being, and also skills. This will 
> aid me to work out what skill areas we need to strengthen to allow the 
> project to grow. I'll kick this off:
> My skills:     VB programming for 4 years or so
>                    Database experience in Access
>                    Experience in Java (6 months) and C/C++ (1 yr).
>                    Business experience mainly from a Repair & Overhaul 
> point of view
>                    Experience in web authoring (3 years)
>                    Training in software engineering
>                    UML (2 yrs)
>  
> My role within the project: Primarily as a coder
>                                       Providing ideas for direction
>                                       Administration of the project
>                                       Design
>  
> Following neatly on from this, I think we need someone to take care of 
> the website and documentation side of things, to allow the coders to 
> code, so to speak. So I shall be trying to find someone over the next 
> few days.
>  
> d and I have been discussing some of the settings. Some 
> implementation-specific settings will be kept in the database, 
> workstation-specific settings will be kept in the registry.
>  
> It has been agreed that it is necessary to develop some usage methods 
> for the CVS. d will be putting together some notes, but in brief, it is 
> necessary to limit developer changes to frmMainMenu and MiniBits.vbp. 
> This is because the code is frequently changing for these forms. All 
> changes required for these forms should take place through d. I'll leave 
> it to him to notify you of how such changes should be communicated.
>  
> It is also necessary to maintain a list of versions of MiniBits. I will 
> add a file to CVS over the next few days. The revision number should be 
> incremented whenever a change is made to the source code that will 
> either remove a bug or provide an improvement. It will be within the 
> MiniBits module, named Version.txt.
>  
> Any thoughts, reply to the list.
> Rob

[Minibits-general] CVS Usage, Skills, Etc

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

Hi all,
A number of developments since last I emailed.
To aid communication it would help immensely if we could use some common
form of instant messaging. It is sometimes very slow to get info by email. I
suggest ICQ. For the benefit of this, my number is 231229701.

I think we also need to develop a better ide of what each of us see their
role within the project as being, and also skills. This will aid me to work
out what skill areas we need to strengthen to allow the project to grow.
I'll kick this off:
My skills:     VB programming for 4 years or so
                   Database experience in Access
                   Experience in Java (6 months) and C/C++ (1 yr).
                   Business experience mainly from a Repair & Overhaul point
of view
                   Experience in web authoring (3 years)
                   Training in software engineering
                   UML (2 yrs)

My role within the project: Primarily as a coder
                                      Providing ideas for direction
                                      Administration of the project
                                      Design

Following neatly on from this, I think we need someone to take care of the
website and documentation side of things, to allow the coders to code, so to
speak. So I shall be trying to find someone over the next few days.

d and I have been discussing some of the settings. Some
implementation-specific settings will be kept in the database,
workstation-specific settings will be kept in the registry.

It has been agreed that it is necessary to develop some usage methods for
the CVS. d will be putting together some notes, but in brief, it is
necessary to limit developer changes to frmMainMenu and MiniBits.vbp. This
is because the code is frequently changing for these forms. All changes
required for these forms should take place through d. I'll leave it to him
to notify you of how such changes should be communicated.

It is also necessary to maintain a list of versions of MiniBits. I will add
a file to CVS over the next few days. The revision number should be
incremented whenever a change is made to the source code that will either
remove a bug or provide an improvement. It will be within the MiniBits
module, named Version.txt.

Any thoughts, reply to the list.
Rob

[Minibits-general] [Fwd: program parameters and other base improvements]]

[d <par...@co...>]

i sent this last night but for some reason was returned.  trying again.
----------------------------------

hey all;

i've been working on the settings and configuration panel for the
program and stumbled on a couple things that some of you may find of
interest.   here they are:

1 - project/program start-up.  i think it would be a really good idea to
replace the startup frmMainMenu with startup SubMain().  not replacing
the main menu or even changing it.  just using the SubMain to call the
frmMainMenu after some procedures take place.  item #2 has a initial
suggestion for that.  i would also like to use the SubMain to set the
app icon, etc before the form is displayed.

2 - debug mode.  would anyone else find it useful to add a DEBUG
parameter that can be specified as a cmd line switch (/DEBUG) when
launching the compiled code?  if in API mode then DEBUG would/could be
assumed.  for example, in property sheet i'd like add an additional tab
for debugging purposes which shows the current minibits key, subkeys and
values in the registry.  when run by the end user, this is hidden.  but
simply declare a global variable that can allow your code to determine
this mode.

3 - i'm pretty much done with the basic settings form.  it uses the
registry and the key; HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MiniBits.  there are
subkeys such as \Settings which will contain module specific data.  i'll
develop a layout map and post it shortly.  in the trnCNFDEF, which the
name will be changed, you'll see a huge comment section at the top where
i'll describe how to call and set parameters for Minibits.  it'll be
documented in greater detail once i get that task going. (referring to
the user/dev documentation task) i will not store any settings in the
database itself unless someone absolutely requires it.

4 - i guess this ties into item 1 but is a separate task.  command line
parser.  something that can take the Command() in the SubMain() and
parse the switches and options from it.  then process them.


well, it's time for a smog break and some caffeine.  i'll be interested
to see what you all think.  thanks


d
par...@us...

RE: [Minibits-general] program parameters and other base improvements

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

hi all,
1) SubMain - Sounds like a good plan. Feel free to load it as a feature
request and then a development activity. Just in case I haven't explained
this before, Feature Requests are intended to be a top-level view of what
we're planning to do, to give an end user or prospective developer an idea
of where the project is going. Development Activities are designed to be the
in-depth info needed for developers to make the changes.

2) This sounds like a useful addition - ditto above.

3) What can I say??? Sounds like d's been busy, I look forward to running
the code.

4) I think ditto 1 & 2.

Not much to say to this really. All seems great. Any other thoughts
anyone???
Rob

[Minibits-general] Mailing Lists

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

Hi all
Mailing lists have now been set up to give details of project CVS and
development activity updates.
Both lists are accessible from www.sourceforge.net/projects/minibits.
Be warned however - the lists could post hundreds of times per day, so
digest is probably a good idea unless your passion for info and your inbox
are both large (like mine!!)
Rob

[Minibits-general] program parameters and other base improvements]

[d <par...@co...>]

hey all;

i've been working on the settings and configuration panel for the
program and stumbled on a couple things that some of you may find of
interest.   here they are:

1 - project/program start-up.  i think it would be a really good idea to
replace the startup frmMainMenu with startup SubMain().  not replacing
the main menu or even changing it.  just using the SubMain to call the
frmMainMenu after some procedures take place.  item #2 has a initial
suggestion for that.  i would also like to use the SubMain to set the
app icon, etc before the form is displayed.

2 - debug mode.  would anyone else find it useful to add a DEBUG
parameter that can be specified as a cmd line switch (/DEBUG) when
launching the compiled code?  if in API mode then DEBUG would/could be
assumed.  for example, in property sheet i'd like add an additional tab
for debugging purposes which shows the current minibits key, subkeys and
values in the registry.  when run by the end user, this is hidden.  but
simply declare a global variable that can allow your code to determine
this mode.

3 - i'm pretty much done with the basic settings form.  it uses the
registry and the key; HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MiniBits.  there are
subkeys such as \Settings which will contain module specific data.  i'll
develop a layout map and post it shortly.  in the trnCNFDEF, which the
name will be changed, you'll see a huge comment section at the top where
i'll describe how to call and set parameters for Minibits.  it'll be
documented in greater detail once i get that task going. (referring to
the user/dev documentation task) i will not store any settings in the
database itself unless someone absolutely requires it.

4 - i guess this ties into item 1 but is a separate task.  command line
parser.  something that can take the Command() in the SubMain() and
parse the switches and options from it.  then process them.


well, it's time for a smog break and some caffeine.  i'll be interested
to see what you all think.  thanks


d
par...@us...

[Minibits-general] Development Activities

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

Hi all - me again!
I've just found out that the "Tasks" interface on SourceForge is more
suitable for maintaining a list of things to do, so I'm going to migrate the
Development Activities tracker to Tasks and group it into subprojects etc.
So over the next few days expect to see some movement - apologies for the
inconvenience.
As well as a mailing list for CVS updates, I can also set one up for task
updates, should you feel this to be useful - probably best to set to digest
tho!!
Rob

[Minibits-general] Tracker Access, Emails and Mailing Lists

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

Hi all,
You all now have admin access to the "Development Activities" tracker. You
should now be able to assign yourselves tracker items, alter priorities etc.

Also - over the last few days I've replied to emails to the mailing list
when the original was sent to me... In these cases it was probably more
appropriate as the emails, and responses, were of general interest. my mail
system sorts all email containing "MiniBits-General", and files it as coming
through the mailing list, so if you don't want me to reply to the mailing
list, remove that text from the subject line, and also let me know somewhere
in the body.
Generally, if an answer I have to give is of interest to everyone, I'll
reply to the mailing list. If you prefer me not to reply to the mailing
list, I'll either post to the list in general terms, or reply individually,
depending.

I'm also thinking of using scripting to provide notification of CVS commits,
adds etc. Would anyone else find this useful??? If so, I'll link it into a
mailing list, if not, I'll direct it to myself. Just in case I do direct it
to a mailing list, sourceforge warns me to let the other developers know to
create log comments accordingly, so thus this note.

I now own minibits.net: minibits.com and .co.uk were taken, and of the rest
minibits.net seemed most appropriate. I'm keeping it dormant for now but I
will probably set diversion up later on. But it's useful to have the domain
none the less.

In terms of the project in general, how is everyone doing???

Rob

[Minibits-general] OO, Database Migration

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

Carlos,
I'm very much in favour of using classes in the system.
I think that in order to implement this the best way to go would be to do
the following...
When I first went in for re-usable code I started to move some code from
forms to modules.
The most complete example of this is trnWIPADD.
Have a look at the class diagram on the project homepage, which may give you
a good overview of the potential objects ofthe system (this will be added to
over the next few days.)
Then have a look at trnWIPADD and see how it interacts with its form,
frmWIPADD (very simply).
If we were to add the other functions involving the same form to a generic
module trnWO then we may have laid ourselves a good foundation to move to a
more oo way of working. By having one works order class in trnWO to cover
adding, changing, deleting, etc., we would give ourselves great advantages I
think.
My big questions tho, are these....
We would I think gain significant benefit from moving ALL processing for a
table to a single module. But how would we then treat that processing to
gain maximum benefit??? Are you thinking, as I am, of having a class for
each table, with add, delete, change and retrieve methods??? A number of
forms use multiple tables also, so we may be better having a 3-tier system:
1) The top tier handles the GUI processing.
2) The 2nd tier handles the transactions as MiniBits functions.
3) The 3rd tier handles the class/recordset interaction.

Thus for a transaction such as INVMOV:
1) STKDTL, STKLOC, STKSIT, INVMOV generate a call to trnINVMOV in the second
tier.
2a) trnINVMOV generates a call to cStock to validate the data
3a) cStock returns appropriate data
2b) trnINVMOV generates a call to cStock to add a data item
3b) cStock returns success
2c) trnINVMOV generates a call to cStock to delete a data item as necessary
3b) cStock returns success
2d) trnINVMOV generates a call to cHistory to add a data item
3b) cHistory returns success

I would suggest this to avoid a system for compound transactions where
object calls another etc.
Any comments on my musings???


In terms of the db, that's just what we need.

Cheers
Rob

-----Original Message-----
From: Carlos Daniel Ruvalcaba Valenzuela [mailto:cls...@ya...]
Sent: 10 August 2003 17:40
To: Rob Walters
Subject: Re: [Minibits-general] MiniBits Developer Settings


Rob, i'm looking foward for a more reusable way of
doing things, like using Classes, we can create
classes to create interfaces based on the fields of a
table (this is an easy thing), and have capabilities
depending on settings. Though i'm seeing that it may
be posible to start almost from scratch.

About the database, i was considering to create a tool
to help to create the MiniBits database (on the fly),
it can be added the ability to customize the tables,
migrate data, etc.

By the way, i'm having problems with my ADSL provider,
because of this is wasn't able to comunicate sooner.

Comments, ideas, flames?
Carlos Daniel Ruvalcaba Valenzuela

_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
La mejor conexión a internet y 25MB extra a tu correo por $100 al mes.
http://net.yahoo.com.mx

[Minibits-general] MiniBits Developer Settings

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

All,
1) d's comments are very true - it doesn't work. Currently I'm a tracker
admin/technician with all others set as technicians.
As we're still relatively small I'll make all developers tracker admins - in
the future if we grow we may be best limiting ourselves to 2 or 3 admins.
2) Options/Parameters - Registry definitely. Putting settings in the db was
a quick-and-dirty method of allowing the front-end to get sorted - but I'm
perfectly happy with going straight to having the data in the registry - a
much more long-term method.

My additions to the ongoing debate:
For database changes it would be helpful to work out some form of change
management.
When I make db changes, I make the changes in my live db, and copy it to
another version which I upload. I can't do it the other way around because
if I overwrite my tblSuppliers with the new tblSuppliers, it's byebye
suppliers.
For an end user, they don't want to a) migrate their data to the new db
version b) add in the new features to the old db. They need it automating.
Or even if they don't, I do!!!!
With a database change, I would say we need either an access macro or an
external program to add forms or add fields to forms. Also if a new field is
to be added to a form it would help if each row of the new field was
initialised to "-" as blank fields cause errors under some conditions.
Does anyone know of any good pre-existing resources to aid in this, or are
we looking to have to create from scratch??? At the moment the only end user
is me, but as the project grows, as I hope it will, this will become more
important.

As ever, all input gratefully r'cvd
Rob

-----Original Message-----
From: min...@li...
[mailto:min...@li...]On Behalf Of d
Sent: 10 August 2003 10:29
To: Minibits-General
Subject: [Minibits-general] Re: FW: [minibits - Developers] Ref 785770
-- Program Options


rob and all;
a couple things,

1)  i can't assign myself tasks from the tracker.  either i can't see a
link or it's not there (or i may be blind).  i always used the
project/task section which i thought was one in the same. hmmmmmm.  any
suggestions?

the rest is relative to the text included at the bottom of this email;

2)  for options/parameters, do we want to keep these stored in the db or
copy/move to an ini file (hopefully not, just an option) or the registy?


Rob -- i looked into the trackers you mentioned and have a good idea of
what you want.  i'll put that together and then we can discuss the
location of the stored settings.


that's it for now,
d

Rob Walters wrote:

> d,
> Got your forum post.
> OK in terms of the config settings.... The ones I had in mind to be held
in
> frmMainMenu were the implementation-specific details. The ones I listed
were
> ref'd in tracker item D785761 (now closed), text below.
> This may be a starting point - if you want any more adding in let me know
> and I'll put them in the db.
> Also of interest may be D785766, CNFCHG, where the config settings held by
> frmMainMenu would be loaded initially. The 3 tasks draw on the same area.
> Sorry if the way I loaded the tasks was a little confusing - I'm still
> trying to find the best way to coordinate...
> Any opinions let me know.
> In terms of the config, as I say, let me know what you think of my
settings
> so far.
> As the software grows I think the config will grow, but it was my
suggestion
> of a starting point...
> Rob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SourceForge.net [mailto:no...@so...]
> Sent: 10 August 2003 09:06
> To: no...@so...
> Subject: [minibits - Developers] Ref 785770 -- Program Options
>
>
>
> Read and respond to this message at:
> https://sourceforge.net/forum/message.php?msg_id=2143810
> By: paracyte
>
> minibits developers,  i'm working on the settings code for the frmMainMenu
> from task 785770.  it would
> help a lot if you could send me/the group a listing of any program
settings
> that you stumble on.  this way i can make sure they're all included in
> the loadsettings on the main menu.  they'll also be included in the dev
> docs/notes
> when i complete them.  for documentation purposes the
> name/variable/description/module info would be appreciated.
>   thanks, d
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> You are receiving this email because you elected to monitor this forum.
> To stop monitoring this forum, login to SourceForge.net and visit:
> https://sourceforge.net/forum/unmonitor.php?forum_id=296223
>





-------------------------------------------------------
This SF.Net email sponsored by: Free pre-built ASP.NET sites including
Data Reports, E-commerce, Portals, and Forums are available now.
Download today and enter to win an XBOX or Visual Studio .NET.
http://aspnet.click-url.com/go/psa00100003ave/direct;at.aspnet_072303_01/01
_______________________________________________
Minibits-general mailing list
Min...@li...
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/minibits-general

[Minibits-general] Re: FW: [minibits - Developers] Ref 785770 -- Program Options

[d <par...@co...>]

rob and all;
a couple things,

1)  i can't assign myself tasks from the tracker.  either i can't see a
link or it's not there (or i may be blind).  i always used the
project/task section which i thought was one in the same. hmmmmmm.  any
suggestions?

the rest is relative to the text included at the bottom of this email;

2)  for options/parameters, do we want to keep these stored in the db or
copy/move to an ini file (hopefully not, just an option) or the registy?


Rob -- i looked into the trackers you mentioned and have a good idea of
what you want.  i'll put that together and then we can discuss the
location of the stored settings.


that's it for now,
d

Rob Walters wrote:

> d,
> Got your forum post.
> OK in terms of the config settings.... The ones I had in mind to be held in
> frmMainMenu were the implementation-specific details. The ones I listed were
> ref'd in tracker item D785761 (now closed), text below.
> This may be a starting point - if you want any more adding in let me know
> and I'll put them in the db.
> Also of interest may be D785766, CNFCHG, where the config settings held by
> frmMainMenu would be loaded initially. The 3 tasks draw on the same area.
> Sorry if the way I loaded the tasks was a little confusing - I'm still
> trying to find the best way to coordinate...
> Any opinions let me know.
> In terms of the config, as I say, let me know what you think of my settings
> so far.
> As the software grows I think the config will grow, but it was my suggestion
> of a starting point...
> Rob
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SourceForge.net [mailto:no...@so...]
> Sent: 10 August 2003 09:06
> To: no...@so...
> Subject: [minibits - Developers] Ref 785770 -- Program Options
> 
> 
> 
> Read and respond to this message at:
> https://sourceforge.net/forum/message.php?msg_id=2143810
> By: paracyte
> 
> minibits developers,  i'm working on the settings code for the frmMainMenu
> from task 785770.  it would
> help a lot if you could send me/the group a listing of any program settings
> that you stumble on.  this way i can make sure they're all included in
> the loadsettings on the main menu.  they'll also be included in the dev
> docs/notes
> when i complete them.  for documentation purposes the
> name/variable/description/module info would be appreciated.
>   thanks, d
> 
> ______________________________________________________________________
> You are receiving this email because you elected to monitor this forum.
> To stop monitoring this forum, login to SourceForge.net and visit:
> https://sourceforge.net/forum/unmonitor.php?forum_id=296223
> 

RE: [Minibits-general] DB Changes

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

Hi d,
I believe you can assign yourself tasks - try it and see is probably the
best way.

In terms of posting the document, I guess the docs section would be best as
the infrastructure is there already. I was originally thinking of having
some docs on the project homepage but that's probably a waste of webspace
when the doc manager is as accessible. We'll probably also distribute the
docs as a file release with the source code, when we have more to release.

Rob

-----Original Message-----
From: d [mailto:par...@ih...]
Sent: 10 August 2003 06:48
To: Rob Walters
Subject: Re: [Minibits-general] DB Changes


hey rob,

dumb question but can we assign or take tasks in the tracker or do you
(admin) have to assign them?  if you can,  i'll take request #785749 for
the documentation as i said i would.

also, do you want me to just post the txt in the docs section of the
sourceforge project or should we use another mechanism?


thanks,
d

Rob Walters wrote:
> Hi all,
> Database changes have now been made to allow the addition of some of the
> new features.
> Development activities for these features are now on the Development
> Activities tracker.
> Would anyone particularly like to take any of these activities on???
> If so, please feel free to assign an activity to yourself. Also, the
> updated DB version is now available on the website.
> Another set of DB changes is likely to be made over the next few days,
> to allow for the retail features - I'll notify you of this when it
happens.
>
> How is everyone getting on with getting used to the code??? If there's
> any problems give me a shout.
> Rob

[Minibits-general] DB Changes

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

Hi all,
Database changes have now been made to allow the addition of some of the new
features.
Development activities for these features are now on the Development
Activities tracker.
Would anyone particularly like to take any of these activities on???
If so, please feel free to assign an activity to yourself. Also, the updated
DB version is now available on the website.
Another set of DB changes is likely to be made over the next few days, to
allow for the retail features - I'll notify you of this when it happens.

How is everyone getting on with getting used to the code??? If there's any
problems give me a shout.
Rob

[Minibits-general] Functions

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

All,
Please find below a full list of MiniBits functions.
Rob

BOMADD  Add a part to both scheme and part BOM's
BOMRAD  Add a number of parts to a scheme and part BOM.
CCDADD  Add a raw material colour code.
CCDLST  Display a list of colour codes.
CIDADD  Add a control ID
CIDLST  Display a list of control ID's
CLSLST  Display a list of closed works orders.
COLLST  Display a list of colours used in raw material colour codes
INVCNT  Count stock
INVHIS  Display the history of a part
INVISS  Issue stock to requirement
INVMOV  Move stock
INVRCP  Receive new stock (without purchase order)
INVSEP  Separate a part into its component parts (eg a kit)
LOCADD  Add a location
LOCCHG  Change a location
LOCLST  Display a list of locations
MDMADD  Add a range of raw material dimensions
MDMLST  Display a list of raw material dimensions
MMTADD  Add a material
MMTLST  Display a list of materials
MSCADD  Add a raw material section
MSCLST  Display a list of raw material sections
MSGADD  Add a message to be displayed to a user or group of users at startup
MSGDSP  Display user messages. Displayed only at startup.
MSTDTL  Display a list of material section stock.
MSTRCP  Receipt raw material stock.
OFCLST  Display a list of closed system issues
OFIADD  Add a system issue
OFIASN  Assign a system issue to an administrator
OFICLS  Close a system issue
OFILST  Display a list of system issues.
ORDCLS  Close a works order
ORDOPN  Reopen a works order
PBMADD  Add a part to a part BOM
PBMMLI  Display a multi-level "where used" list for a part
PBMMLX  Display a multi-level BOM explosion
PBMRAD  Add a number of parts to the same part BOM
PBMSLI  Display a single-level "where used" list for a part
PBMSLX  Display a single-level BOM
PICADD  Add a picture
PICCHG  Change a picture
PICDSP  Display a picture
PICLST  Display a list of pictures
PLIADD  Add a PO line
PLNADD  Add part planning data
PLNCHG  Change part planning data
PLNDSP  Display part planning data
PORADD  Add a PO
PORADJ  Adjust a PO's data
PORDSP  Confirm placing an order
PORDTL  Display order detail
PORLST  Display a list of PO's
PORORD  No purpose!
PORRCP  Confirm receipting an order
PPORCP  Confirm partial receipt of an order
PRTADD  Add a part
PRTCHG  Change a part
PRTLST  Display a list of parts
PSUADD  Add a part-supplier relationship
PSUCHG  Change a part-supplier relationship
PSUDTL  Display a part-supplier relationship
RFRLST  Displaya list of ready-for-release parts
RFRRUN  Temporary form to find RFR parts
RQTADD  Add a requirement to a works order
RQTDEL  Delete a requirement from a works order
RSNADD  Add a reason code
RSNLST  Display a list of reason codes
RTRADD  Add random trace ID
RWKCMP  Complete rework (making a used part serviceable)
RWKSCP  Scrap off a used part
SBMADD  Add a part to a work scheme BOM
SBMCHG  Change a scheme BOM item
SBMRAD  Add a number of parts to the same work scheme BOM
SBMSLI  Display a single-level "where used" list for a part
SBMSLX  Display a single-level BOM
SCHADD  Add work scheme
SCHCHG  Change work scheme
SCHLST  Display a list of work schemes.
SCIADD  Add a work scheme instruction
SCICHG  Change a work scheme instruction
SCIDSP  Display work scheme instructions
STCADD  Add a stock code
STCLST  Display a list of stock codes
STKDTL  Display all current stock of a part
STKLBL  Holds labels awaiting printing until a full sheet is ready, or the
user    prints
STKLOC  Display the stock in a location
STKSIT  Display the stock in a site
SUPADD  Add a supplier
SUPCHG  Change a supplier's details
SUPLST  Display a list of suppliers
TCTADD  Add a tool category
TCTLST  Display a list of tool categories
TECADD  Add technical articles
TECCHG  Change technical article details
TECLST  Display a list of technical articles
TLCADD  Add tool location
TLCLST  Display a tool location list
TNOADD  Add a tool number
TNOCHG  Change a tool number's details
TNOLST  Display a list of tool numbers
TRCADD  Add a trace ID
TRCDTL  Display a list of trace IDs for a part
TRCLST  Display a list of trace IDs
TSKADD  Add a generic task
TSKLST  Display a list of generic tasks
TSTADD  Add tool stock
TSTCAT  Display a list of tool stock for a category
TSTCHG  Change an item of tool stock
TSTCNT  Count tool stock
TSTDTL  Display a list of tool stock for a tool number
TSTLOC  Display a list of tool stock for a location
TSTLST  Display a list of tool stock
TSTMOV  Move an item of tool stock
UNSRCP  Receipt an item of unserviceable stock
UNTADD  Add a measurement unit
UNTLST  Display a list of units
USRADD  Add a user
WIPADD  Add a works order
WIPDTL  Display the details of a works order
WIPLST  Display a list of works orders
WIZARD  Allows the user to choose a functional wizard
ZSBMADD  Wizard version of SBMADD
ZSCHADD  Wizard version of SCHADD
ZSCIADD  Wizard version of SCIADD

[Minibits-general] Developer Notes, Trackers, Form Design, Security, Configuration

[Rob W. <ro...@na...>]

d has sent me some comments by email and I think that the answers I would
send him are going to be of interest to everyone, so I'm forwarding them to
the list.

He asks about the presence of developer notes:
In short there are none.
In terms of how to get the code to work:
1) In order to get the dsn source, download the MiniBits.mdb database from
the downloads section of the project homepage, and set a data source in
windows to point to it, named dsnMiniBits.
http://minibits.sourceforge.net/Downloads/index.html
2) You will also need bolt.ico (which is in CVS) and this will need to be in
the same folder as the code/executable.
3) References are as follows:
	Visual Basic for Applications
	Visual Basic Runtime Objects and Procedures
	Visual Basic Objects and Procedures
	OLE Automation
	Microsoft Data Environment 1.0
	Microsoft Data Environment Instance 1.0
	Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Library 2.0
	Microsoft DAO 3.51 Object Library
4) Components are as follows:
	Microsoft Common Dialog Control 6.0 (SP3)
	Microsoft FlexGrid Control 6.0
5) Properties:
	Startup form is frmSplash.

A list of MiniBits functions will follow.

d also volunteers assistance in creating the notes - gratefully accepted!


This is a good point to suggest the following...
On the project website are 4 trackers... bugs, support, feature requests,
patches.
I intend to add a fifth, named "Development Activities".
The way I envisage them being used is as follows...
1) A user or developer adds a feature request, bug or support request.
2) A developer then reviews the original item and works out what development
activity is necessary and adds this activity (or if more appropriate, a
developer adds a development activity directly.
3) The development activity references an original feature request
(F000000), bug (B000000) or support request (S000000). Each original
artifact may have one or more development activities.
4) Developers assign development activities to themselves, complete
(referencing the development activity in the CVS log) and close.
5) When all activities are complete, a developer closes the original
artifact.


d also adds the following:

	Initial Suggestions/Notes;

	Form Design - Would it be a good idea to make it look like more of an
	application than a tool?  i.e. use an mdi interface or just clean-up the
	forms and ad some GUI toys.  There's substantial function to the app
	itself so maybe it's time for a shiny interface.

	Security - Let's add some encryption to the password fields and other
	possibly sensitive data. (haven't been too far with this one yet.  don't
	know if there's anything else worth encrypting)

My thoughts:
Form design - the interface does need tidying up quite a lot. Flexibilty is
key, and it would be best to have facility for users to structure their own
layouts etc. With the system, no 2 users will have the same needs,
particularly as the system grows. Thus my suggestion was that we have a
number of new objects: users, groups, permissions (user and group) and menu
items (user and group). Groups of users have common permissions and menus,
which can be tailored to a user's needs. For the menu, I suggested a 3 tier
structure: 2 tiers of folders with functions placed in tiers 1-3. The aspect
of how we display this is another matter altogether!! I suggest we divide
this particular task into 2 areas of activity, and assign a user to look
into the GUI side, and another user or users to create the functions to add,
change and remove users, groups, permissions and menu folders and items.

Security - Yes we need to do some security work. The only truly sensitive
stuff is the password, although to a business, all data may be considered
sensitive. It may work to set account priveliges to the database and to
encrypt it using the access functions. This is something else that needs to
be looked into.

Configuration - We need configuration settings for the system. Any thoughts
on what, how stored, configuration settings would be appreciated.

OK this has turned out to be rather a long email.
Any thoughts would be gratefully appreciated - please send to the list.
Rob