Scripting

Expect to be wading into the scripting waters soon. Have a client with probably a dozen UDF files that they've been updating manually as they enter orders. This has worked well until they finally realize that much of the checking and rules for the UDF files are too complex for people to remember in the day to day hustle and bustle of data entry. Phase one will be to try streamlining data entry so when an item # is inserted a number of selections are made for UDF file values. If they can do this then phase two will be EDI. Even better if they can do this I think it adds that higher level ""special sauce"" that I believe we must add in the coming years as consultants. A level of service that cannot easily be duplicated by Sage help desk support or the pushing of a higher level support plan...

I am sure one of our scripting experts can do this. It sounds like scripting is a good fit here.

Imho capturing those ""rules"" as a living document and getting their verification of them each time their logic changes is key.

I am about to start one too relating to a similar task. I am going to create a smart description field based on the concatenation of number of short description fields.

I agree with Dan's comment. A major part of our value that we can add to clients is perhaps simple documentation of their system and organizing what's been done to it. My hero in this regard is Jon Reiter. I remember dealing with Jon on numerous occasions regarding enhancements that clients have asked for. Jon never charges into a burning building without a detailed plan (description of what's to be done) and he's not ashamed to charge appropriately for it and tell you the cost in advance. That's the model we need to adopt.

Hey Jim how about we do a couple regularly scheduled screen casts to mutually support each other? Wouldn't it be cool to have a maximum 30 minute semi-regular group session on this type of thing? I know not everyone is thinking this far ahead but there have to be at least 1/2 dozen believers.

I wonder if we'd convince someone like Steve Malgrem to host it if there was just a quick 15 to 20 minute demo and we did not get waded down in specific Q&A (which I think is what could really sink a group meeting unless it's a very small number of people).

I'm totally in.

What would you ask Steve to present that he hasn't already done in the videos he has crated? What I would like to see is a list of all the scripts everyone has written with a one or two liner that descripts what it does. As with many things I do the hardest problem that I face is explaining what can be done. I could start the list with Steve's samples and expand on that with my own. Perhaps Dawn would add hers too.

@DanBurleson You're right. It would only make sense to involve Steve if we had something specific. As of now I'm thinking that any scripting group would be setup on a share and share alike basis. If someone is not sharing with the group they can have an option to either step it up or we'll review that specific group membership. I'm not comfortable with the idea of just having a common pool of shared scripts because I really feel like the 80/20 rule kicks in with this group and why should 20% of the members be working for the 80% that do nothing except lurk?