ERPBusinessObjectService - M2k SOA

Entry for October 09, 2006

Manage 2000 7.2 sp0 is "in the can". Most of the preparations for Perspectives have been finished. And now the development team is settling into a pleasant lull after the long hard summer. There remain the perennial small projects to occupy us until the beta sites start feeding us the work which will make 7.2 "sea-worthy".

I am happy with amount of "cool stuff" which made it into 7.2. And yet, in each major project, I can see another level to climb up to.

The ERPBusinessObjectService, in particular, has some very important new features. Unfortunately there is no session planned for it as Perspectives. But maybe I can sneak in some attention to it.

There is the beginnings of legitmate interest in web services among clients, and 7.2 ERPBusinessObjectService provides new useful methods:

* ValidateRecordKey - for validating parts and customers without having to export and refresh Manage 2000 file contents to SQL tables
* CallUdtSub - for running UniBasic subroutines across SOAP. A Unibasic programmer can write a routine and a web developer can instantly make use of it.
* UniQuerySelect, GetKeysFromCookie, and GetItemsAsXML provide the foundation for running UniQuery processes returning XML content.

Product Configurator Challenge

Entry for April 18, 2006

The long nights of winter have passed. The garden is uncovered. Most of the spring pruning is complete and life is bursting out to greet the strong sunshine.

FRx deployment has been passed along to Lane. The PageView Filter system has been completed. The web Product Configurator is undergoing testing and revision. Some version of rule support will definitely make the 7.2 cut. Trying to run Unibasic prompt after subs in the middle of a web page will not make the cut. Although it does make my head hurt.

"The World Is Flat" continues to resonate with increasing numbers of 7.1 Manage 2000 sites. We have work to do.

FRx Interuptions

Wimpy Winter Weather here in Minneapolis this year. The side roads are finally died white after todays not so rush hour dusting. Like one who grew up with the white trunks of a birch forest there is an unconscious expectation of color reversal which surprises me when it goes missing.

Round II of PageViewFilters and completion of the CTO Interpreter have languished while I help with field support for the FRx interface to the GltInquiry web function.

All of my relections lately are colored by Thomas Friedman's "The World Is Flat". I wonder about the shift of emphasis from internal development in Manage 2000 to building the myriad of interfaces onto complimentary products available with 7.1. I wonder how the 7.1 web function capabiliy will help customers cope with the flattening world. How fast is the game changing. How much time do business have to adjust, deploy, invent.