August 2008
As many of you know, MissionBase itself began twelve years ago as a Microsoft Access based product called Mission Southwest. It has gone through numerous upgrades and facelifts during its existence. Some of these have been minor, and some have been major, such as our change of the underlying database product and our recent Addressing upgrade (see Bill’s article for the latest on this). One of the things that has occurred over the years relates to special needs and requests. These have sometimes resulted in the development of customized code within the MissionBase program. And while we have always tried to broaden enhancements whenever possible so everyone can benefit from them; there have been some requests that relate only to a specific customer. This may be the result of specific annual conference legislation affecting formulae or unique ministry programs.
Customized code is always more costly and troublesome to maintain than generic code. It is more costly because it is specific to one customer, and we are unable to pass the development costs of special requests on to all customers. They are paid by the customer needing the development, and to the best of our ability any maintenance on that code over time is also billed back to that customer. There is also a cost in staff time, since we do not have enough customization requests to hire someone for this purpose alone and therefore we must extend development schedules in order to address the customization requests.
Given these factors, as we redevelop MissionBase and UMCData.com using a new programming language and platform (see my May EE article), we will be addressing areas of customized code by attempting to create flexible, configurable options whenever we can. This will allow us, and you, to set options within the program to create the same result as the current customized program. One specific area which we see as a candidate for this approach is in the setting of billing premiums within the Benefits module.
While we aim to reduce our level of single instances of customization in our future software, we are very aware this approach will not be applicable in some areas, such as the CRSP formulae. These are too varied and specific for configurable options to do the job right, and will need to remain within the realm of customized code.
Moving forward, please be assured that our mission is to always provide you with the software you need for an efficient operation. With this in mind, we will always try to keep your best interests in mind by carefully evaluating customization requests with you and assisting in weighing the long-term costs to you of embedding customized coding into our product. In many cases the solutions to your needs may be met without resorting to customized coding, and we will work with you to identify those when applicable.
Do let me know if you have questions regarding our future direction in relation to customization, as I welcome the opportunity to discuss them with you. I also welcome your insights into this sometimes tricky area.
- Al Fifhause
For more information on any of these modules, contact lori@greatspirit.com
For your convenience, these are the dates GSS staff are "out of the office" and/or unavailable.
| Al Fifhause: | Sept. 9-10 | Bill Johnson: | Sept. 17-22 |
| Lori Smith: | Sept. 1-7, 10-11 |
| Jacob Fifhause: | Sept. 15 |
| Lyndzie Fifhause: | Sept. 9-10 |
Many of you have had questions about the new addressing schema. We have scheduled on-line training sessions to assist with this. Please refer to the GoToMeeting section of this newsletter.
There are six phases to the entire addressing project. The rollout of the new schema was Phase 5. The last, and final, phase of the project is to bring addressing certification on-line within MissionBase. Address “certification” means that addresses will be certified according to the United States Postal Service (USPS) database and standards. This phase of the project will include:
The single address certification will begin to rollout to you at the end of August or early September. The CASS certification and pre-sort function will be available to those who choose it, also in late August or early September. The NCOA process will be operational in late September to mid-October. Please contact Al Fifhause for pricing information on the CASS, presort, and NCOA modules.
Regardless of whether you purchase the additional CASS, presort and NCOA modules, everyone who uses your database will benefit from fewer return mail pieces and the fees that sometimes accompany those returns.
Last month I promised some tips for cleaning up your addressing lists following the conversion. As I began to try to put this together, and have received numerous calls related to addressing, I realized there is a lot more to learn on this new addressing form than I can adequately relate in this article (unless you are looking for a new novel for bedtime reading.) So, instead, we have decided to offer several training sessions on the new Contact Information form (screen) at no cost.
Many times it is clear how to "click around" and find your way through a form, but some changes on this new form may not be so easy to understand. In the scheduled GoToMeetings, (listed elsewhere in this newsletter), Lyndzie and I will demonstrate how to clean up the numerous addresses present, which are duplicated in many instances; how to link and unlink addresses; when to delete an address from the database and when not to; and several other pointers about addresses, phones, and emails. We will also try to answer any questions and concerns that you, our users, might have about the new contact information form.
Primary Key error
I would also like to make you aware of a recent issue you may encounter.
Unfortunately, with our latest upgrade in the addressing module we stumbled
into a weakness of SQL Server regarding synchronized tables. Shortly after
implementation some of you began reporting the following error when entering
a new address:
Violation of PRIMARY KEY constraint “PK
Addr”. Cannot insert duplicate key in object 'Addr’. |
(ContactInfo.PutAddr; System Error= -2147217873) |
The blogging world has been around for quite some time and has significantly grown and evolved over that time. Blogs have always been a nice place to easily share things with others across the Internet, whether you want to share photos, stories about life, or other thoughts and information. More recently I have been noticing the growing wealth of information and knowledge that can be gleaned from blogs.
In the software development world I often find answers to questions and solutions to problems posted on blogs of experts in the concepts I am working with. What I really love is the open dialogue that happens on these blogs and how much I and others, even the blog owner can gain from this type of interaction.
In the near future we will be launching a GSS blog; a place for tips, common issues and answers to frequent questions. As we go through the process of redeveloping our software onto the Adobe platform of products, the blog will be a place where we can post our ideas, demos and samples so that you, our customers, can review them and give us feedback. This will give us the ability to have an open design dialogue and receive ideas from a variety of perspectives, thus helping to make our new product better meet the needs of all those perspectives and provide an excellent user experience.
It is with great pleasure that I have the opportunity to announce the addition of WonderDesk, a web-based help desk application for GSS, available in September. This is an excellent alternative to the existing support call structure for MissionBase users and UMCData.com administration users. WonderDesk will eliminate any guesswork on your behalf in regards to who should receive your questions at GSS. This application will provide you with the ability to select a category relevant to your question, enter a description of the situation, and attach a file.
Please watch for an announcement on or about September 8th for the opening of WonderDesk. In the meantime, here is a brief glimpse of how new support requests will be made.
