Some preliminary questions

dianab

Hi all,

I have not downloaded the demo but plan to do so soon. I think the demo version is behind the current versions being distributed so I want to make sure I give this a fair shot. Even if some of this will be possible in version 6 I am OK with waiting. I am not asking a for a how to, but want to get a sense of how much custom work this will entail for someone with no programming.

I reviewed the videos and downloaded the user guide and most of this seems possible, however I don’t have a ton of experience so I want to be sure I can pull off creating the application prior to spending my time on something that may never happen. I do not own any database application. I am developing this application for my own business use first then hope to sell and distribute later.

Questions are:

Is this possible?
How complicated is it without programming knowledge?

Background.

I paid a ton of money to have a ZOHO creator application developed. My application is pretty complicated with many interrelated parts. I don’t have any code knowledge However I have the ability to think logically so I was able to outline the application but was not able to write the code or do any of the custom work. I am trying to create a similar application that I can sell to other businesses so some of the attributes like resources will need to be able to be customized by businesses that buy my application.

PARTS:

1. Resource schedule

Rooms and staff that can be booked in 5 min increments
Displays all of the resources to the customer at one time but customer can only see details on their own reservations. This was created using an HTML table. Where user clicks on calendar which brings up a form to select resource, start time, length of appointment.
Resources can be reserved by another process (class scheduling)
Here is a snapshot of the UI

2. Class Schedule

I have training classes that are grouped in sessions that have the same attributes:

Name
Group ID (1 or 2)
Session ID
Description
Price
Trainer
Day of the Week

of students allowed to enroll in each date

The attributes above will be similar but each class created will also have:

many different days and times
may or may not use a resource (room or staff) (reserved by this process)
and follow one 2 rules for the registration form

Group 1….Students can choose any or all dates in the group
Group 2…Students must take all classes in the group

When I create a class I will assign dates to that class. As I assign dates a “container” will be created that will accept registrations for that date each registration will keep track of

Student contact information

Pet
notes
How many are enrolled

I will need 2 registration forms

a staff form that allows a staff member to “ break the rules”
a public “registration form” that displays class information as well as dates that follow some rules.

Rules

Student information is auto filled with a drop down box to select from current pets owned by customer.

Dates must be current or future. (dates in past are not displayed)

If the class is in group 1 …..all dates are displayed with a check-box so the student can select a date the want
When the student selects a date their information is placed under each date

If the class is in group 2 dates are displayed but without a way to select. And their information is placed under every date in the group.

The caveat is I don’t like my classes displayed on a traditional calendar. I created a calendar table that is grouped by weekday and shows availability to register. This table shows classes that are open for enrollment and classes that are in session so the student knows they cannot register and have to wait for the next start date. This application was created using HTML tables. User clicks on add then selects the dates.

I think I am done Thank you for your advice,

Diana 🙂

tford

Diana,

This looks do-able in AwareIM although it will likely take a knowledge of some advanced techniques. I built a scheduling system that allows users to sign-up for 10 different resources across 10 time periods each day. Like your scenario, it does not use a typical calendar display for the UI.

With some time invested in learning AwareIM, you can build very sophisticated and complicated apps without having technical programming or database knowledge. Your description of your case shows that you think very logically which is a "must" using AwareIM.

Hope your project goes well.

dianab

Tom,

Thank you for your reply, it helps.

I think saw the resource portion of your application using VP while I was searching for calendar and appointment info in Aware IM. I was not sure how much outside code you put into the program and how much was Aware IM.

I suppose it is time to take a deep breath and dive into this while I have some time.

Diana

tford

No outside code Diana.

customaware

Diana,

I concur with Tom. Looks all doable. May not be exactly as you have displayed cosmetically but logically should not be a problem.

While you could go down the path of learning Aware while trying to build you app.....I think you would find value in taking a shortcut.

When I started with Aware I had in mind an extremely complex scenario that I wanted to use it for but did not know how to build it quickly in Aware.

I called on the Development Service that AwareSoft offer. That is to build the whole core of your app for $999.

http://awareim.com/application-development/

I was skeptical about what the outcome might be like. I ensured that I scoped out the requirements very carefully as it is always better to provide to much information rather than not enough.

I am pleased to say that I was delighted with the results. It would have taken me weeks if not months to nut it out while learning at the same time.
While I could certainly build it myself now...when I started it was a different matter.

The added benefit is that I was able to learn a lot from what AwareSoft delivered.

I would highly recommend this path.....Once you have all the core app you can expand, modify and tinker with it further knowing that all the foundation is strong.

Hope this helps.

tford

I called on the Development Service that AwareSoft offer. That is to build the whole core of your app for $999.

http://awareim.com/application-development/

I've never seen this page, but based on my many interactions with the AwareIM team over my 7 years of using AwareIM, I would highly recommend this to any new user.

Mark's first hand experience and vote of confidence is icing on the cake.

dianab

Great advice. I will definitely play around with the sample apps too. As of now I am reading viewing and trying to get as much info as I can prior to downloading the demo version.

This does bring up another general question though. Once you create your core application if you have made a mistake how difficult is it to go back and right the wrongs?

Diana

tford

Once you create your core application if you have made a mistake how difficult is it to go back and right the wrongs?

A piece of cake.

BenHayat

Dianab, as someone who is new to Aware (but experienced software developer), I highly recommend spending quality time to watch the last video series (Building an Application) to start with.

This gives you a great high level and general understanding of Aware system.

Aware, isn't just an IDE that you write code, compile and run, meaning you have to build all the framework of your app.
Aware IS a full infrastructure with built in framework for building large Line of Business application that is based on Ruled engine and processes.

There are thousands of routines built in that you use, rather than develop yourself. Learn the Aware system and design it according to Aware's structure.
The suggestions that author gives in those videos are very useful and you must follow them.

I'm now redesigning my previous design (that was made for .Net), under Aware and I'm very happy to adopt to Aware than fight it. And that's the key!

Good luck!

hpl123

Diana,
I can only second the comments in this post. Aware IM is very powerful and can do a lot of things and what you´re after shouldn´t be a problem. I have also created a custom scheduling solution in Aware IM where I use a variation of things (calendar, scheduler, schedule blocks in queries, schedule tempates etc..).