Hi Aware,
I don't doubt the abilities of your program...I never have. I agree that it is a big feat to be able to have an application produce a lot of the application automatically. My biggest concern is being able to have enough control to offer applications that meet the expectations of my users. I had a meeting today with a firm in Cincinnati. They have been reviewing a site called coghead.com which would allow them to have internet access to applications within one environment with security and application control. Being interested in understanding what competition is out there I was quite surprised when I reviewed the coghead site. It is very impressive visually. It does not have anywhere near the capabilities of Aware but it does serve as an example of what I have been saying about users being impressed by looks.
I reviewed the EXT site and I want everything :o)
The addition of Anchored Forms, Grid Grouping, paging and summary, pop-up forms, portal panels, web desktop, Accordion Menus, standard and tabbed forms and grid search would be huge. I think that the most important would be the elimination of having to use Common Controls. An application that appears uniform and clean will be best received by users. I really like the idea of the Web Desktop. It would be HUGE to have an application that used the Web Desktop as its background.
A marketing thought after looking at the coghead site. They allow subscribers to select from a considerable list of pre-designed applications. The user can them select which applications to make available in their space. It would not hurt to offer pre-designed bsv files that were available for download from your site (for a price...obviously). You expand your market to buyers who are not as hands on in the development of an Aware app but want the flexibility of having a web-based system that is easy to modify to their taste. They may be more inclined to purchase your system knowing that they can also purchase a pre-designed Call Center app or Project Management app...etc... You already offer several apps free with the application, why not create more that highlight other features of Aware and provide you with the opportunity at additional revenue.
Another item...since I am discussing features going forward. I always seem to being doing very repetitive tasks when I build apps. Tasks that take a lot of time. An example would be adding created by and modified by users and date/time. I also add auditing to every business object. Rules for tracking users logged into an app, duplicate record checking...etc. These appear to be items that a large number of users also add to their apps. I would like to see this type of task added to the program. Maybe not in the next release but in the future. Adding these items to apps with 30 Business Objects takes a lot of time. I also add the name of the main business object to subsequent tabs within the same object. (eg. Company BO with Address, History, Orders tabs). I would add the company name using the HTML object and tags to the top of the Address, History and Orders tabs so that users know which record they are viewing. This could be solved by breadcrumbs or a form title that is visible on all tabs. Either way...it is something to consider.
