Author Topic: New application: equipment tab  (Read 12564 times)

tryxter

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New application: equipment tab
« on: January 06, 2010, 12:08:21 pm »
Hello,

I'm trying to develop a new application for Feng Office. My company needs a new tab on it to manage our equipment.

I thought it would be somehow easy to develop a new tab, so I've read all about the Helloworld application and studied a little bit about MVC programming (I'm programming PHP for some years, but I don't consider myself a skilled PHP programmer. I just love to learn.)

I've started to read (and hack) the Message Manager javascript, and had this has a starting point.

The idea is to have some kind of a table (use a grid or something) to have equipment lists. A long-term idea is to apply user permissions to have only the assigned person to edit these lists.

Can someone give me a better starting point or some tips? I'll be glad to help document Feng Office too, because there's no documentation on how to build a new "tab" similar to the other Feng Office tabs (using the ExtJS layouts and that kind of stuff).

Thank you in advance

Pet

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2010, 04:45:26 am »
There are a couple of posts on how to make new tabs, you just have to search around. Also check the Docs link, there may be something in there
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tryxter

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2010, 11:08:31 am »
Hello again,

Making tabs is not the problem.
The biggest problem is to build Feng Office style grids and read/write from the database with the current Feng Office methods.

Without an API and without documentation it's somehow difficult to do this.

I've been following the current code, searching the existing functions and trying to understand how they work.
I've based my code on the webpage tab code, since it's the simpliest one and easier to understand.

There's still some functions I can't understand what they really do:
ajx_current()
ajx_replace()
ajx_extra_data()

Can someone help me with this?

I've already built the grid, without a toolbar but with the standard pagination, following some ExtJS examples. I've used another database to get the data from, so I don't mess up the Feng Office database.
The code is working, the proxy returns the info I want but I don't seem to be able to put it on the grid.
The code shows the grid without data or (changing some lines of code) show the JSON output of the data, but no grid.

I'll upload my current code, if someone can take a look at it. Just tell me.

I'll be glad to help the wiki with a simple tutorial to build these grids, if I can put up this code.

Thank you one more time

tryxter

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2010, 12:09:42 pm »
Hi again,

I found out why the table wasn't showing up. I was sending to the store the data in JSON format, while Feng Office uses just a simple array. Changed the format and it works now.

I don't seem to be able to sort columns and that kind of stuff. The bottom bar (pagination) shows up but it isn't working too, since I haven't implemented the pagination thing yet.

Trying to find out how the sort thing works.

I used the functions I've mentioned before, but I still don't understand what they really do (it's just a basic copy-paste from the webpage manager code).

emjay

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #4 on: May 06, 2010, 05:44:26 am »
Hi,

this application would be a excellent addon for our needs too.
What is the state of your work?

emjay

cabeza

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2010, 12:45:38 pm »
I hadn't noticed this thread till now. It would be great to have some documentation on what you did. We can post it in the wiki as an example.

Best

pedja

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2010, 05:10:04 am »
It would be much beetter if one of development stuff writes simple tutorial about creating simple application. There is next to none documentation about API.

cabeza

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #7 on: May 25, 2010, 09:58:26 am »
It would be much beetter if one of development stuff writes simple tutorial about creating simple application. There is next to none documentation about API.

It's off topic, but take a look here.

I am working with volunteers in documentation, if you would  like to help just contact me.

pedja

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #8 on: May 25, 2010, 11:11:07 am »


It is dead right on topic. Read again, what this fellow asked. Nothing but basics, he cannot figure out. And what you do. Sending him to read something he probebly read even before he decided to try to write application.


Forum is full of references to that Wiki you are sending us to, but, it is not useful. Example shown there does not work. It is related to some old version of Feng Office, and in latest versions it does not work that way at all, because all system is changed.

I do not know how many volunteers you have, but I guess none, if that page is the only product of volunteer work.

Sure, I would like to help, but I cannot. Althrough I am an experienced developer, I cannot do anything without some documentation. I am not willing to guess things out. I expect you to provide some useful API docs (or at least working examples) so I can learn how to use it and then I would be able to contribute to make that documentation better.

What you are expecting is that users should hack around and investigate code to find out how things work and then to write documentation for you. That does not go that way.

I am sure, one of your developres can, in very short time, write simple but enough documentation about basics of developing for FengOffice that would realu make things going on.

What I can see is that this problem with documentation is not from yesterday, but goes on for years back. It is like you are deliberately denying request for documetnation so you can earn more money form sponsorships. It loks like you are forcing people to sponsor even basic options they need jsut because tehy cannot do changes on their own, simply because there si no documentation.

Here is plastic example. soemtime ago, I needed option. The only responce on my question was comment that I actually do not need that option. And, when I managed to hack around  workable soltion, i got no responce for several request for help to do it properly, so it can be reused by others. I got not one simple clue how to do what I need, althrough I did show will to do learn and do it  it by myself, and share my knowledge.

So, what kind of volunteering you ask for when you are not willing to help with bassic stuff people ask. This forum is full of unanswered questions, especialy when development is subject.

On first sight, FengOffice loks like dead project. There is no active user base. Forum is almost dead, documentation does not exist, almost every qestion ends up with your direct or indirect requests for sponsorship, and most of the questions stay not just unanswered, but without any response.

So, when you are providing so little to your userbase, how come you expect so much from them?

------

So, instead asking us to do your work, why dont you for change, at least try to help this fellow by answering questions he asked, becuase what he asks interests all of us, and that is not written in any documentation you provided.

cabeza

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #9 on: May 25, 2010, 12:34:29 pm »
Hi pedja,

I would have started a new thread to talk about the need of documentation, because it's a very valid concern. The title "New application: equipment tab" does not help. However, you are right: it has to do with what tryxter was requesting.

Attempting to adress some of your concerns:

* Contributors are two, helping on their free time and got started a short time ago. We are very happy to have them on our team and appreciate their work (which is mostly not public yet).

* You can help, it's a matter of wanting to. And you don't have to guess things out (unless you want to). Investigating and defining documentation standards, or documentation requirements does not need any guessing around. Once we solve that, other parts become a lot easier.

* You can find a couple of working plugins on Sourceforge and in the forums. Some made by us, some by the community.

* You must be aware that full time qualified resources are expensive. Again you can help, with time or money. If you are willing to sponsor this, that's great news for the Feng documentation project. We need actions, by only complaining we won't get documentation, and we won't get an API either.
I'm working on documentation ... would you like to join us? Just send me a personal message.

* I wish we had the time to answer all questions and have everybody happy, but we don't. Community forums are for community answers.
Good news is we have support plans for people that wish to have all their questions answered when they want them to be answered.

* Trust me on this one: Feng Office is not dead :)

Summing up, do you really think that developing, maintaining and improving Feng Office Community Edition free of charge is providing "so little" to the community?

I must tell you we appreciate your posts and your contributions to the forums. It makes me sad to think you don't appreciate ours.

pedja

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #10 on: May 26, 2010, 05:41:15 am »
You are turning this upside down, as each time someone puts on the table such issues. Each time someone complains for lack of documentation you make him look bad, wanting everything for fee and promptly, not willing to contribute, hatting you or at least does not appreciate your work, and similar. That is wrong way, that is bad Public Relations.

I am not asking your prompt and free answers to all questions. I am asking you to cover basics. We, as developers, have nothing to start up with, except to hack through code and try to figure out things on our own. I am sure you would agree that Feng Office is not simple application and it is not easy to understand without previuos basic info about it.

Sure, I am willing to contribute, but I cannot do that until I learn something about FengOffice and get some experience. Trouble is there are no sources to learn from.

I will again go back to issue I mentioned already: I did some coding, I posted all off it to forum and asked for some help about stuff I cannot figure out by myself. Not that I got no help, I did not even get any response. So, who is not willing here?

About working examples: I would like if you can point me to those examples You are talking about. I read this forum and wiki all way around and I was unable to find anything like that. Reason I reacted here was exactly that user asked question and he was pointed out to wiki article which not that does not answer his question, but also is not working. If other examples you mentioned are the same, then you and I differently consider what is working example.

I am pretty sure that writing decent basic working example, that actually works and explains what developer has to know to be able to start working does not take more than several hours. That does not cost much, and asking us to pay for such work is ridiculous as that is something that you should provide if  you really mean to be serious about developers. You have to give us something to start with or we cannot code for Feng Office.

I am developer myself, and working for free is my common style, and this is the first time I meet policy that does not require developer to write documentation about what he coded, and requiring users to create such documentation or to pay for it to be written.

Writing documentation is part of coding. Until documentation is done, code is not done. That is basic of development, regardless it is payed for or not. I certainly would not pay developer I hire if he do not provide documentation about code he is hired to write.

cabeza

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #11 on: May 26, 2010, 10:46:31 am »
I don't agree with lots of your points. But that's OK, we see things differently.

I do agree on some, so -thinking on the positive side- I see great potential of you joining us in the documentation and API project.

We don't have much developer documentation since the start of the project, and it looks like you have good ideas to help us improve this. You can plan documentation, define documentation procedures, standards or at least ask the correct questions which you need to get solved.

You will realize it is not a matter of a couple of hours of work, and it is not an easy task. However, the more we are, the faster we'll get visible results.

And no, you don't need Feng Office skills; you need some documentation skills, general knowledge, a bit of experience and time.

Justik

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #12 on: July 31, 2022, 11:31:24 pm »
How do you calculate the pricing of your software product? Can you give us some advice, we already have a pre-production application. But still no price has been set.

lucity

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Re: New application: equipment tab
« Reply #13 on: July 31, 2022, 11:32:41 pm »
Much depends exactly on what approach to pricing you'd like to apply. Below see the article that explains the value-based and needs-based software pricing https://softwarepricing.com/blog/whats-the-difference-between-value-based-software-pricing-and-needs-based-software-pricing/. I think it's better to apply the user value based pricing. So the price will be justified, and users will understand what benefits this application will bring to them. After that you may increase the price.