You can do all that in the timeframe described, AHunter3, including the off-line linking ability AND middleware that connects to no less than four different other applications? If so, I’m very impressed with FileMaker!
My thoughts were that the basic app - a contact management DB - was not that difficult. The off-line links, though, are sure to be a business rule problem. Nobody thinks through the logic on this before they decide they want it - it’s only after the software is written that they find the conflicts. So that will take a bit to design before development can even start.
Then add in middleware to no less than four different apps. If they want something extremely simple, this might not be too hard. However, when I see ‘Enterprise Level’, I think thousands of users, and some pretty heavy duty integration with the other apps.
Oh, do the “four other applications” already exist? I thought they were part of the project!
Off-line linking would be pretty easy if the flow is one-way. If you need two-way synchronization, that can range from mildly more complicated (new records from either direction go to the other side; newly modified records replace older records on either side) to downright messy (individual fields modified more recently replace older field values on other other side, while for other fields in the same record the flow is the other direction because those fields were modified more recently in the other data set), but nothing tooth-pullingly difficult.
Interacting with the four other apps – if they already exist (and are not written in FileMaker) you’d have to have an exchange medium, e.g. XML or ODBC. Frankly, FileMaker’s ODBC capabilities aren’t much to brag about. JDBC is better but still not great. XML better yet but still not as good as what you can do with a connection to another FmPro database. You might be right–middleware might be necessary. If I were going to connect FileMaker to four other applications, ideally I’d want to go with WiTango, which can speak SQL and can communicate with FileMaker and creates a web front end. (Got I hate coding in HTML and related languages, though!)
I’d rather write the whole system in FileMaker, frankly. That would definitely take until Friday and it would be a work-in-progress even at that point.
Just to clarify a few things, this is, at least, a small company. Right now, for any given part of it, I shouldn’t have to worry about more than 10 concurrent users. The understanding with deadlines is what gets hit, gets hit, and what gets missed gets missed. I actually may get the off-line portion finished today, if all goes well. Next week, I take a much needed vacation! As you might have guessed, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. I’m not kidding when I say purchasing 3rd party software, even development tools, is out. OTOH, it’s given me a chance to build my own calendar add-in.
The person driving this project does know exactly what they’re asking, and is sympathetic. What amuses me is she’ll ask me about a capacity, we’ll start bouncing ideas off each other, and the next thing I know, we’ve added a capacity or figured out another way to link sections. Of all the people I’ve worked with over the year’s, she’s probably the best, despite the insanity of this project, and that’s not just because she’s been known to ply with me with chocolate and Red Rose tea.
As to why I’m doing this, I’m doing is because I can. And because every section of it makes logical sense, and I like knowing I’ve designed a beautiful, efficient, easy-to-use tool which makes people’s lives easier. There have been days when the logic’s going so smoothly and the design is going so beautiful it’s like dancing on ice. Then again, there are days like Wednesday when it’s like slogging through slush.
CJ
“Ease of Use and Ease of Programming are inversely proportional.”
CJ’s Law
Ten users makes it a LOT easier. I guess I saw “Enterprise level” and thought 1000 users and all the associated headaches! I take back my time estimate - it does seem as if it would be at least possible to get something up and running in the time frame you describe, especially if people are sympathetic about bugs and stuff.
Watch out for the feature creep you describe. Although, in a small project with one coder, it’s not as bad as a large project.
Cj, I’m going to bring up a personal subject that’s only tangently related to the OP…how much money do you make? Depending on location, given the scale of the project you gave, it would be reasonable for somebody making $100,000/year to get at least the framework done in the timeframe mentioned, and have time to flesh it out as you go.
But if it’s really cost effective for the company to have you work on it for a month or so instead of buying third-party, I don’t imagine you’re making that much. If you come close, and you’re making less than $70K, then you’re likely underpaid. (Definitely in the old economy, not sure about the new economy.)
As you might have guessed, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. I’m not kidding when I say purchasing 3rd party software, even development tools, is out. OTOH, it’s given me a chance to build my own calendar add-in.