Indirect relationships and de-learning mysql way of thinking

joselv

I have a situation that is stretching my brain and am stuck how to proceed.

I have it working just fine with my current setup in MySQL and a competing product, but moving over to AIM and getting away from MySQL is proving difficult.

I have the following setup that I want to do in AIM:

I need to keep tabs on several different pieces of oilfield equipment. Each piece of equipment is different and has a table setup for keeping related data - operating limits, serial number, etc.. other technical operating data.

I also have a separate table called 'facility' that contains the name of the equipment, type of equipment, latitude and longitude, and owner. This data is mapped to the related equipment in a one-to-one relationship - each piece of equipment can only belong to one facility.

For each piece of equipment I need to have the ability to store a history of work performed on it. My current setup allows me to create what is called an AFE (authorization for expenditure) to perform work on the equipment. Once that is done, work can be logged in to a daily work log for that AFE.

When I browse to a BO for a specific piece of equipment, I want to be able to see all the related work history for that equipment.

What I am having trouble with is that when I create a BO called ‘Compressor’, for example, which would be one of the pieces of equipment I am keeping tabs on, I am not able to see the related work history because it is not directly related. The work history is attached to the facility BO. How can I get the indirectly related work history to show up on a form with the selected equipment?

The reason why I need to have a facility object is because when I create a new AFE, it must allow me to create one for any piece of equipment. See pics for example of how I have it currently working. I want to do the same in AIM.

What am I doing wrong?

I've attached a snapshot of the relation diagram showing relationship between facility and its related equipment (compressor in this case). Hope this helps to understand what I want to do.

Relation Diagram

Thanks!

Current Setup in other product

Form to add AFE

Form to view equipment

Tab showing related work history

Expanding history to see daily log

Powerm

You can do the same work with AwareIM and even more. As it is MySql base you can transpose your app structure to the bsv and create the appropriate relationships.

joselv

powerm,

That is my hope but so far I am running into difficulties doing so. This forum is not very active and the documentation only goes so far. The videos are nice but still don't offer enough examples.

I'm quite concerned about investing in AIM and being stuck with something I don't know how to use, have limited support in terms of forum activity and documentation that covers more in-depth examples than the run of the mill features.

I see lots of posts on this forum that never get answered. I'm on the trial and at this point it does not look promising. I see no point in spending money on something that does more or less the same thing as what I currently have.

Support - I like the product but it doesn't have any value to me if I can't leverage it easily and quickly. I'm racing against the 30 day trial and that's my cutoff. If I cant replicate my existing application within that time frame I will just keep what I have. I also think you should encourage or participate more in the forms. Nothing is scarier than lonely forum communities. My 2 cents

hpl123

joselv,
I agree the forum activity could be a lot more active and I/we have been working on trying to build a community with things like for example DevNet (www.awareim-devnet.com) and also by trying to share a lot of things in the forum but it´s so far been a tough upward walk (doing these kinds of things like working on building a "new" community are never easy). Hopefully we all can continue working on this trying to make the community better for all of us Aware IM developers. I have had other priorities and not had time to focus on DevNet but have all intentions on continuing the work.

Regarding your experience with AwareIM so far. I don´t know MySQL and other RAD platforms so can´t really compare to anything but I know 1 thing and that is that AwareIM is extremely powerful and my conviction is that it´s possible to do almost anything in terms of application development (Take note thought, I might be somewhat biased because a) I´m the biggest AwareIM fan you´ll ever meet 🙂 , and , 2) Limited experience with development). When it comes to your comments about replicating your current application in the 30 day trial period, sorry but I think you have to take more time to learn AwareIM and even the most inexperienced "developer" (like me who has worked with IT-coordination etc. for many years but never development) can learn Aware IM and become a poweruser with the currently existing documentation, forum knowledge etc. but it takes some time.

If you´re project is a business critical project and you need to get the "base" application up within a set timeframe, one alternative is asking Awaresoft to create the base application for you (see awareim.com supportsection) and then you can get a working/functional application up and running and then learn as you go along. Using Awaresoft for supporttickets is also another good way to learn specific things (at a cost I know but it is what it is and if you want to learn "quicker" you might have to make some (financial) sacrifices).

Hope you stick around 🙂.

joselv

Henrik,

I agree that AIM seems to be quite powerful but I'm uneasy about having to invest in something that will take so long to get up and running. Perhaps the trial should be stretched to 60 or 90 days? What is the risk for AIM? 30 days really is not enough time to test it out and I'd rather err on the side of caution than blow $1600 on something I end up not using. I've already been burned once that way, which is why I am searching for a replacement, and I have no intention of making that mistake again.

If AIM does not work out I will look at some PaaS offerings that can get me up and running quickly.

It is not a business critical project but one that I want to do sooner than later. I don't see the point in buying a tool to turn around and pay someone to use it for me. For that I'd rather just pay someone outright to build it and maintain it from the beginning.

Still hoping I can get something working in AIM before trial ends but so far no luck. 🙁

aware_support

We can extend your trial if need be. Send us an email at the end of the trial
The things that you want seem to be quite standard for Aware IM (without going into the details of your diagrams)
We can go through all your issues together during a paid one-hour session with screen sharing (the cost of it is $100) - using Skype, Team Viewer or any other technology. We can answer ANY questions you like - both about Aware IM in general and about your specific application/requirements. This session is worth the money...

Powerm

Do't worry about the forum activity, it is active and visited daily by developers like me and newbies. Some questions are not answered because people have not used the search options or they are asking things needing professional support 🙂 I can only say that you can invest monies and time in AwareIM, unlike other apps I have tested you won't have to invest again because your project needs a significant upgrade. This is a new product for you and nobody likes changes and be a newbie again... :lol:

joselv

Support,

Thanks for that offer to extend the trial - I will definitely want to do that. Are the 1 hour paid sessions always $100 or will they increase afterwards? I expect I may have to do more and want to know that costs will not change.

Also, if I use paid support, I would want to share the results with the community. I assume there will be no problem doing so correct?

Powerm,

Yes, becoming a newbie and asking lots of questions (easy and hard ones) again is no fun. 🙁

Rennur

Unless the forum post is newbie question, about a new feature rolled out or by a potential new recruit, apart from a couple of regulars, it sadly doesn't generate as much interest response wise as most would like.

aware_support

The cost of one hour sessions doesn't change. Feel free to share anything you like with the community (as long as you don't abuse us 🙂)

Once again, the forum is primarily for the community - not for the official support from us. We may or may not reply to your questions (just like any other member of the community).

If you do want committed support from us (and it's usually a very good one) you need to purchase it separately (support is not included when you buy a license).

joselv

Thanks Support,

I promise not to abuse! 🙂

I just wanted to make sure that if I go with the paid sessions/support that I can share with the community so others with similar challenges can learn as well.

I will contact you off channel to see about possibly extending the trial. It would be a great help and give me more time to evaluate. I have no doubt AIM is a strong product. I just want to feel comfortable with the learning curve and resources to use it efficiently.

hpl123

joselv wrote
I just wanted to make sure that if I go with the paid sessions/support that I can share with the community so others with similar challenges can learn as well.

Great stuff!!! 🙂