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Also in this Issue: Q&A: Rocket Purchases TigerLogic’s MV Products Taking the Offensive Automated Testing — Dependencies
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2013 MultiValue features I November/December 2013 6 Industry End-of- Year Recap The year 2013 continued to provide us with Q&A: Rocket Software’s Purchase of TigerLogic’s changing technologies and changing D3 On October 16th, 2013, TigerLogic Corp announced the sale market demands. But the economic 8 of its MultiValue-based databases software to Rocket Software. landscape seemed to improve The purchase of the MultiValue product line from Tigerlogic Corp somewhat. The demand for mobile generated a series of questions in the community. We had a Q&A access to data continued to increase. with Susie Siegesmund (Vice President and General Manager at We asked some of our MultiValue Rocket Software) about the purchase that International Spectrum partners to share with us some of wanted to share with the MultiValue Community. their accomplishments from this last year and what to look for in the next. Business Tech: The Offensive We all know what it feels like 10 when we are the target of untrue statements, misrepresentations, uninformed opinions, back-stabbing politics, and attacks on our competence. If you don’t, you’ve been lucky. Get out of IT and into a safer career, something like jungle warfare mercenary. For those of us for whom it is too late, the author offers some advice
on dealing with the devils. By Charles Barouch
Automated Testing Part 5: Dependencies The Departments 16 previous article looked at techniques for refactoring legacy code to expose individual functional pieces for unit testing. Although unit From the Inside page 4 tests for individual routines is fairly straightforward, putting them all From the Press Room page 12 together and testing the whole can be challenging. The fifth article Clif Notes page 23 in this series examines some of the problems and techniques for
handling these issues. By Brian Leach
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INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM November/December 2013 u 3 International From the SpectrNovemumber/December 2013 Nathan Rector Inside President Clifton Oliver Editor
Happy Holidays to all! With that in mind, we will be offering Tracey Rector Layout It’s the end of the year, time to relax, many opportunities to talk with your enjoy family, give gifts, and time to fellow attendees, both at the confer- start planning for the year 2014. ence and after the conference. Now that 2014 is just around the Since we know there is a lot of mate- corner, it time for me to start talking rial presented at the conference, and about what is coming up. Internation- attendees don’t always get a chance al Spectrum 2014 will be in Phoenix to see all of it, we will be providing on April 7th-10th, 2014. That is less access to recordings of the sessions and access to session downloads. This Learn more about the MultiValue Symbol and see than five months away. what MulitValue Technologies and MultiValue allow conference attendees to review Communities exist to help you support and manage Have you taken a look at the confer- material for sessions they attended, or your business and systems. To find out more visit ence details yet? If not, please do. just review the sessions they missed. http://www.intl-spectrum.com You’ll find a few program changes. This year we created tracks of talks As in previous years, we will be provid- ing the “Group/Company Pass”. The that take users and developers from MISSION STATEMENT International “Start-to-Finish” in how to implement “Group Pass” allows up to 5 people Spectrum magazine’s editorial mission is or use some of the new technologies. from the same organization to attend to be the premier independent source of the conference for an average of $400 useful information for users, developers, Here is how it works. In the past, a person. Since the “Group Pass” gives and resellers of MultiValue database we’ve had a lot of different sessions, you access to the full week, you management systems, open systems covering a lot of different topics. It can have company employees attend business database solutions, and related was up to our attendees to decide a few days, and then send another hardware, software, and peripherals. what would work best for them and group of people for another few days. Published bimonthly, International what they needed to learn. This way you don’t have your whole Spectrum provides comprehensive coverage of the products, companies, The “Start-to-Finish” topics will help IT department gone, and you still get and trends that shape the MultiValue attendees focus on one topic, like the advantage of educating as many as you can. marketplace as well as the computer Desktop Development or Mobile industry at large — helping its readers get Development, and take them from There will be a webinar on Jan 24th the most out of their business computer the planning stages, through develop- that will talk more about what is systems. ing the user interfaces, and on to how going on at the conference this year to actually connect the interfaces to and provide you some information to the database. We will even work with help you discuss the advantages and attendees on how to develop the reasons for joining us at the confer- International Spectrum is published six (6) times per database side of things as well. ence. year at the subscription price of $40.00 U.S. in the U.S.A.; $45.00 U.S. in Canada and Mexico; $50.00 That is not all. Once you have gone To find out more on the 2014 Confer- U.S. for other countries. Single copy rates are $7.00 through the difference steps needed ence, go to the following URL: U.S. in the U.S.A. and Canada, and $9.00 U.S. in all to build your solutions from Start- other countries. International Spectrum is published by International Specturm, Inc., 8956 Fox Drive #102, to-Finish, we are providing you time http://www.intl-spectrum.com/ conference/ Thornton, CO 80260; Tel: 720/259-1356; Fax: 603/250- and access to experienced developer 0664 E-Mail: [email protected]. Copyright 2013 International Spectrum, Inc. All rights reserved. to help you put all that you learned Reproduction in whole or in part, without written per- to use. mission, is prohibited. We have our “Professional Network- Nathan Rector PRINTED IN USA ing” passes as well. I have always been President NEWS RELEASES/UNSOLICITED ARTICLES International Spectrum is eager to print your submissions of a big fan of professional networking International Spectrum up-to- the-minute news and feature stories complementary to the and have always found talking with [email protected] MultiValue marketplace. Black and white or color photographs and diagrams are welcome. Although there is no guarantee a other attendees just as valuable as the submitted article will be published, every article will be con- materials that speakers provide. sidered. Please send your press releases, articles, and queries to: [email protected]. International Spectrum retains all reprint rights.
International Spectrum is a registered trademark and MultiValue twitter.com/intlspectrum intl-spectrum.com/facebook is a trademark of International Spectrum, Inc. All other registered trademarks and trademarks are the property of the respective trademark holders. 4 u intl-spectrum.com Your database development
DESTINYhas yet to be written Invent the future with OpenInsight Software architects need database development tools that evolve with their rapidly changing business landscape. We are Revelation Software, creators of the Open- OpenInsight 9.4 Insight Development Suite, bringing you one of the best browser-based, mobile computing and robust report- ing toolkits on the market. Go to revelation.com and start inventing your next great software solution today. 2013 MultiValue Industry End of Year Recap
Entrinsik Entrinsik hosted another successful In- 1. Informer 5.0 which will be a significant former User Conference (ICON) this year upgrade to the user interface and over- Q: What new features or services did in Myrtle Beach, SC. Our team welcomed all functionality of Informer. Entrinsik introduce in 2013? keynote speaker Mark Pick of Pick Cloud, 2. Expansion of the new Enrole software. In 2013 Entrinsik released Informer ver- Inc. and special presenter Bill Harrison of Emphasis for the complete redesign sion 4.4. This newest version includes Epicom. The conference was well attended has been placed on ease of use, inte- a new set of visualizations for Informer by Informer customers and Partners and gration with third party software, and Dashboards as well as a host of new fea- included breakout sessions with members web-based portals including a dynamic tures including the ability to share reports of the Informer product development shopping cart, instructor and client and Meta tables among organizations us- team, panel discussions on best practices portals, and a barcode scanner check- ing similar databases. We continue to in- and methodologies, and customer-led use in kiosk. vest heavily in research and development cases demonstrating how Informer is suc- in order to respond to the dynamic report- cessfully being deployed by customers. Kore Technologies ing and data analysis needs of the market. Read this recap of ICON on our blog at http://www.entrinsik.com/blog/2013/10/ Q: What new features or services did Entrinsik launched Enrole 1.0 in Novem- reflections-from-icon-2013/. Kore Technologies introduce in 2013? ber 2013. This next generation evolution- ary software for organizations that produce Towards the end of June, Entrinsik moved Kourier Integrator Release 4 was intro- seminars, training sessions, and continuing into expanded new office space in Raleigh, duced, providing many new features and education is completely redesigned utiliz- NC. Our company has been expanding enhancements: ing the latest web-based technology, built steadily and the need for more space had 1. Increased Performance — boosted ultimately for ease of use. been apparent for some time. Along with overall performance by as much as additional office spaces for current em- 20% — 30%. Q: What was the greatest or most excit- ployees and plenty of room for growth, the ing thing that happened to your company product development team was outfitted 2. Multi-Source Capability — Seamlessly or product in 2013? with a communal open-area workspace integrate and consolidate informa- more suited for high level collaboration. tion from external data sources (e.g., MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, Access, Q: What would you like Spectrum read- and text files.) into a SQL data ware- Digital Version ers to watch for in 2014? The Entrinsik house. On-Line product development team will be heads 3. Improved RESTful Web Services — A down working hard on two key develop- Scan Me! simpler and more powerful user inter- ment efforts: face for building RESTful Web Ser- 6 u intl-spectrum.com vices, includes support for Dynamic warehouses and business intelligence sys- rather than introduction of major new Named Parameters with integrated tems from their UniData / UniVerse (U2) features. A few of the more noteworthy of testing and URL generation. databases and other data sources using these are: Kourier Integrator and SQL Accelerator. 4. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 — Na- yy IPV6 networking protocol availability. tive support for Microsoft SQL Server Q: What would you like Spectrum read- This includes direct network connec- 2012 and Integration Services (SSIS) ers to watch for in 2014? tion to QM, incoming and outgoing provides increased performance. socket connections from application Spectrum readers can look for Kore to software, QMClient connections and 5. For our KommerceServer eCommerce continue improving our Kourier Integra- internal processes such as data replica- Suite, we introduced a new lower cost tor and KommerceServer product suites. tion and QMNet. Provision of IPV6 of entry program that allows companies ensures that QM is ready for the antici- to reduce their startup costs for a fully For Kourier Integrator, look for enhance- pated move to this technology over the integrated eCommerce webStoreFront ments that add functionality and ease-of- next few years. and webPortal solution. use features that improve the product’s overall Enterprise Application Integration yy Addition of an External Call Interface KommerceServer saw several key enhance- (EAI) capabilities for integrating various to allow QM applications to call exter- ments as well: ERP applications to popular third-party nal library functions in a secure man- 1. Dealer Locator System — integrated products (e.g., CRM, Sales Force automa- ner that preserves the integrity of the with Google Maps to find and provide tion, scheduling systems, etc.). On the Ex- managed code environment in which directions to the nearest dealer for spe- tract, Transform, Load (ETL) side, look for applications run. These might be stan- cific products. Kourier Integrator to continue extending dard library functions or special func- its architecture to support additional data tions written by the application devel- 2. User-selectable product catalog views sources, while continuing to improve the oper that need capabilities not available — configurable by product class allow product’s ease of use and performance. in QMBasic. the user to determine which layout is most appropriate for their products. For KommercerServer, watch for enhance- yy Extension of the Virtual File System to ments that provide additional support for provide per-user security features simi- 3. New RMA module — provides entry, distribution companies with Business-to- lar to those adopted by the QMNet processing, notification and credit card Business (B2B) features that supplement network file access subsystem. Other payment for RMAs. ERP back office capabilities online (e.g., extensions to the VFS make it easier for quotes, bids, RMAs). As more and more Q: What was the greatest or most excit- application developers to open connec- companies look to extend beyond B2B and ing thing that happened to your company tions to external data stores, improv- into more Business-to-Consumer (B2C) or product in 2013? ing the ability for QM to be part of a online sales, KommerceServer will be there mixed product server network. Kore Technologies is very excited about with features sought by today’s modern y our relocation to new corporate offices, buyer. Look for features that make the y Introduction of exception handling which are bigger and better. We are now online buying experience faster and easier similar in concept to that found in located in the heart of San Diego’s ”Gold- while enhancing the integration to the many other programming languages. en Triangle” technology district. The new back office ERP systems. Combined with several enhancements facilities provide nicer amenities with room to QM’s object orientated program- to grow while giving us a very professional Ladybridge Systems Ltd. ming capabilities, this makes the en- vironment more familiar to developers environment. All of these changes have Q: What new features or services did coming from other systems and allows created an atmosphere that enhances our Ladybridge Systems Ltd. introduce in new applications to adopt a more con- team collaboration, enabling us to focus 2013? on developing new and improved products temporary style. Our OpenQM database continues to grow while providing a higher level of service to yy Exposure of the internal sorting system both in terms of product functionality and our growing list of clients. for use within applications, thus often its user base. We believe that it remains the eliminating the need for use of execut- Also, Kore Technologies is honored to MultiValue product with the lowest total ed select operations that can degrade have been selected for inclusion in the list cost of ownership and it has proved to be application performance. of the Top 100 most important companies highly stable and scalable up to large user in data today. This list salutes this year’s populations. yy Several connectivity enhancements top companies in data and enterprise in- including significant extensions to the Development effort this year has mostly formation management tackling Big Data. QMClient Java API and the ability to been directed to a large number of small Kore Technologies has a long track record use QMClient on iOS or Android de- enhancements requested by our users of helping companies build enterprise data Continues on page 15 INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM November/December 2013 u 7 Q & A
Rocket Software’s Purchase of TigerLogic‘s D3
n October 16th, 2013, Tiger- Susie: The products purchased from I will also head this new busi- Logic Corp announced the sale ness unit. John Bramley and Janet Cioffi- of its MultiValue-based data- TigerLogic Corp are D3, mvBase, Kennedy will report directly to me. basesO software to Rocket Software. The mvEnterprise and the connectiv- Customers and partners will continue to purchase of the MultiValue product line have the same relationship they currently from Tigerlogic Corp generated a series of ity products such as OpenDB, have with sales, development, and support questions in the community. MVS Toolkit, .NET and JAVA teams. We had a Q&A with Susie Siegesmund API’s, etc. (Vice President and General Manager at Spectrum: Has there been a long term plan for combining tools for cross Rocket Software) about the purchase that Spectrum: Is D3/mvBase/mvEn- database access? For example, UniOb- International Spectrum wanted to share terprise going to be placed under the jects, U2 Web DE, BDT, Flashconnect, with the MultiValue Community: Rocket U2 heading, or will it be a sepa- etc. rate division? Spectrum: What products did Susie: There has been no long-term Rocket Software purchase from Tiger- Susie: The Rocket D3 product fam- plan, as the acquisition is just completed. Logic Corp? ily will be a separate product family, man- We will be doing a technical deep-dive to aged by me as Rocket Vice President and Susie: The products purchased from determine what Rocket products can be General Manager, with its own P&L. It TigerLogic Corp are D3, mvBase, mvEn- integrated with the D3 databases, includ- will not become part of the Rocket U2 terprise and the connectivity products ing CorVu, Aldon, NetCure as well as the business. such as OpenDB, MVS Toolkit, .NET U2 Tools products. and JAVA API’s, etc. In short, all of the Spectrum: What will Rocket Spectrum: What is the short MultiValue business of TigerLogic Corp. software call this new division? term plans for the D3 product line? Spectrum: Is the TigerLogic Susie: The new division will be Susie: We intend to grow this busi- XDMS going to be included in the pur- called Rocket D3, which will include all ness. To accomplish this we will bring new chase? the products included in the purchase. features to the D3 databases in order to Susie: No. That product remains Spectrum: What personnel can enable our partners and end user custom- with TigerLogic Corp. we expect to move from TigerLogic Corp ers to meet their future technology needs. to Rocket D3 division? We will focus in areas of the greatest need. Spectrum: Are any of the Rapid From the few conversations I’ve had to Application Development tools such as Susie: The team that has developed, date with D3 customers, we will likely Omnis included? supported and sold these products is join- focus on business intelligence and mobile ing Rocket to continue in these roles. John Susie: No — these products remain access in the short term. Bramley will be the Business Area Execu- with TigerLogic Corp, as they are part of tive for the D3 Lab, and Janet Cioffi-Ken- Spectrum: Will the develop- their future strategic product offerings. nedy will be the Business Area Executive ment, support, and engineering depart- Digital Version for the D3 Channel. ments stay in Irvine, or will the person- nel be consolidated in Denver? On-Line Spectrum: What will the man- agement structure look like? Susie: The Rocket D3 team will re- Scan Me! main in Irvine, California.
8 u intl-spectrum.com Spectrum: What do you see as the advantages of this purchase?
Susie: Rocket has grown the U2 Busi- IT audits have you jumping through hoops? ness since acquiring it four years ago. We intend to grow the D3 business. We have PRC can help you meet your compliance requirements and make IT more agile and productive. No extra domain expertise in MultiValue technolo- work, nothing to remember, nothing to fall through gy and can offer other enterprise technolo- the cracks. Our software development lifecycle gies to this customer base. With a stronger tool automatically prevents or detects change according to your criteria. You can deploy, position in this market, Rocket will pro- rollback, test and report quickly, automatically and mote MultiValue technology and seek to with confidence. Let PRC protect your company’s encourage its use by new developers. valuable U2 data and software assets.
Spectrum: Who started the dia- SJ+ Systems Associates • [email protected] • http://sjplus.com log for the D3 purchase?
Susie: TigerLogic Corp decided to Susie: Spectrum: divest their MultiValue business and, as November 18, 2013 was day Is there is anything a publicly traded company, sold it on the one for our new Rocket employees. We else you would like to include? have already provided them with new open market. There were other bidders be- Susie: Rocket Software acquires busi- computers, new phones, and email ad- sides Rocket Software interested in acquir- nesses with characteristics we know well dresses, and staged a Rocketized website as ing this business. and works to grow them, investing in new an interim to moving this content into the product features in order to deliver out- Spectrum: What is the expected main rocketsoftware.com. The transition standing results for our customers, part- timeline for the consolidation of people of all the employees joining the Rocket D3 ners, and employees. I am looking forward and assets? When do you think the merg- devision has taken place prior to Novem- to working with my new Rocket D3 team ing of personnel , offices, etc would be ber 18th. and with all the loyal D3 customers to complete? achieve this goal. is
INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM November/December 2013 u 9 Business Tech The Offensive
By Charles Barouch
Scheduling delays have made me postpone the Years later, I had the same sort situation One guy seemed to specialize in second part of my Glass article. When you do in a different company. Oddly, the new a piece on how you developed a new bit of publicly complaining to me about Sniper — not a boss, but a coworker this software, it helps if you actually get the time time — had the same real first name as me. Because I didn’t take the bait, to finish developing the software. Live and the original. Having already experienced learn. other people on the team found this once, I recognized the situation rather quickly. I finally managed to help the new Rage feels good, in the moment. We’ve themselves defending me. Sniper steer clear of his Whisperer. all been in that spot, right? Someone does something wildly offensive, or off-handed- were hired without my involvement, even Result: I had someone watching my back ly creates a ton of work with a careless act, though I traditionally did all of the depart- on a recent project instead of having a and we find ourselves gleefully wondering ment’s tech interviews. Nothing big, at Sniper behind me. Second bonus: When if a jury would forgive us for doing what first, just unsettling. the new Whisperer saw us working to- we so much want to do. I think that IT gether and realized nothing bad came of work offers us more than our share of these It gradually grew into a job-threatening it, Whisperer stopped having an issue with situations. level of pain. I wasn’t being heard on top- me. ics where I had years of experience. My ac- Lately, I’ve been reaping the benefits of tions were undergoing new scrutiny even You Know What Your Problem not giving in to the impulse. Anyone who though I’d given him no cause. I wracked Is… knows me knows it isn’t my Pollyanna na- my brain trying to figure out what I had I just finished a project with a very big ture making me restrain myself. My reasons done to set him off. team. One guy seemed to specialize in come from real experiences in the business publicly complaining to me about me. Be- After I left the company — not for that and technology sectors. Read along and see cause I didn’t take the bait, other people reason — I got called by Sniper to do a if you don’t have some similar stories. on the team found themselves defending quick consulting project. You could have me. It turned into a wonderful bonding Unreasoning Anger knocked me over with a feather after I got exercise. The funny thing is, so long as that call. I had a boss, several years back, who left the it didn’t hurt morale, I wasn’t offended. company on little notice. His replacement As I’m finishing up, he waves me into his His jabs made me examine my actions. I — let’s call him Sniper — just seemed to office and closes the door. Turns out, he did things more consciously because he dislike me. It came out in small ways at liked me when we first met. However, became my personal Jiminy Cricket. Like first. My project list seemed to be growing there was a person who felt threatened by in the previous example, I got a learning a bit faster than usual. Some meetings sud- our getting along. So, Scaredy Cat started opportunity, instead of the five minutes of denly didn’t include me. Certain people whispering lies to Sniper about me. Once I pleasure that rage might have provided. was gone, the Scaredy Cat dropped the act, And, to be fair, some of his points were Digital Version and suddenly the light dawned. It was too valid. I genuinely think I’m better for the On-Line late to spare me the pain I went through, experience. Best of all, now that it’s over, but at least we cleared the air and parted I’ve caught him saying nice things about Scan Me! as friends. me in public. Besides, I got even with him
10 u intl-spectrum.com — he’s the only example who didn’t rate a nickname in this article.
Hindenburg To give you the other side of the coin, I re- cently had someone help me for the wrong reasons. I’m doing this project and I get a volunteer — let’s call him Happy — who starts putting in time with us. Happy is just that: a guy who is always smiling. Easy to work with; just plain friendly. As we neared the deadline and it was clear we were going to finish on time and on bud- get, Happy tells me why he’s been helping and why he’s been smiling. It seems, when he heard the scope and scale of the project, he decided that it was going to and, I quote, “blow up like the Hindenburg.” Happy just wanted a front row seat for the fireworks. He started out smiling in anticipation of the train wreck. He finished up with a smile because he had accidentally attached himself to a success- ful project. I don’t know how to break it to him, but his help was a small part of why it didn’t fail. I’ll leave you to draw your own lessons from that.
Is That an Apple? No, a Lemon I bought a bad PC. It has happened to many of us. We buy a lot of equipment and sometimes things that should not have passed QA end up on a store shelf . So far, I have spent over fifty hours on the phone with tech support. Did I finally lose my cool when they asked me to do the same steps which crashed my computer the last time? Did I yell at the guy who started the call with, “I assure you I can help you,” and ended it with, “You can speak to my supervisor but it won’t do you any good?” Let’s just say… nobody’s perfect. is
Charles Barouch is the CTO of HDWP, $2.99 Inc. He can be contacted at www.hdwp.com on Kindle, Nook, & Kobo
INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM November/December 2013 u 11 Fr o m t h e Pr e s s Ro o m
customize, and integrate state- sands around the world. To get Developers, VARs and end us- of-the-art CRM systems and has started on a free trial visit http:// ers alike can benefit from a low partnered with Entrinsik to pro- www2.entrinsik.com/informer- cost alternative to costly per vide organizations with the abil- sugarcrm. For additional details seat database license pricing, ity to perform multidimensional or a personalized DEMO, con- while at the same time taking The Linux reporting and advanced data tact Sales at sales@entrinsik. advantage of a worry free en- analysis in order to better track, comor call 888-703-0016. vironment says Mark Pick, CEO Foundation understand and manage their and founder of Pick Cloud, Inc. For more information about Epi- Integrates SugarCRM data with Informer. Now they can focus on their com Corporation, visit www.epi- business, not their IT.” Entrinsik “Informer’s foundation is rock com.com, email info@epicom. solid,” said Mike Woster, COO comor call (512) 481-9000. “We are proud to partner with Informer for & Vice President, Business De- Mark and his company, says End-to-End velopment, at The Linux Foun- Martin Phillips, Technical Di- dation. “The underlying technol- rector of Ladybridge Systems, Marketing ogy of Informer is very robust, Ltd. His dad was a MultiValue and Business allowing the mash-up of mul- pioneer and Mark is following Development tiple data sources as well as the in his footsteps. At Ladybridge generation of any number of our motto is taking MultiValue Analytics complicated reports that involve where it has never been before, multiple unions and joins.” PICK Cloud, Inc. and we believe with this offering Entrinsik, Inc. (www.entrinsik. and Ladybridge we are.” com), developer of Informer ag- Informer integrates with all li- ile reporting and business intelli- censed versions of SugarCRM Systems, LTD. For more information please gence (BI) software, announced and Sugar Community Edition; Announce contact [email protected] the completion of a new case data in Sugar is pushed into In- or call 949-415-7778 or go to study featuring The Linux Foun- former in real-time. Informer’s MultiValue the Pick Cloud, Inc. website at dation’s recent implementation intuitive, web-based interface is DBaaS For $15 www.mypickcloud.com. of Informer reporting and BI easy to navigate, enabling users software. The Linux Foundation to create and customize their Per Seat Per About Pick Cloud, Inc. is a nonprofit consortium dedi- own reports and dashboards. Month cated to fostering the growth of Pick Cloud Inc., located in New- Linux and collaborative software The integration of SugarCRM Pick Cloud, Inc. and Ladybridge port Beach, CA and founded development. with Informer gives The Linux Systems Ltd. are proud to an- by Mark Pick (son of Dick Pick), Foundation instant visibility into nounce the first true MultiValue provides a cost effective, worry The Linux Foundation was using their marketing and business Database as a Service (DBaaS). free, secure, environment while SugarCRM Professional’s out-of- development metrics from mul- You can now purchase a fully at the same time preserving and the-box reporting module, but tiple perspectives. They can managed hosted OpenQM li- rejuvenating MultiValue applica- realized that the user interface now more effectively interact cense starting at as low as $15 tions through smarter processes was under-performing based on with and analyze data to un- per seat, per month. With it, and more efficient technology. their needs. They were not able cover critical insights and make you get a fully functioning copy More information about Pick to generate complex reports data-driven decisions to drive of OpenQM, AccuTerm 7 and Cloud, Inc.’s products and ser- and visualizations and needed foundation operations. more — all in a worry free, host- vices can be found at www.myp- more advanced reporting, data ed environment. No more pur- ickcloud.com. Read the full case study at analysis, and dashboarding chasing hardware! The benefits www2.entrinsik.com/Informer- capabilities. The Foundation of DBaaS are paramount in to- About Ladybridge LinuxFoundation chose to implement Informer day’s increasingly cloud based Systems, Ltd. at the recommendation of their About Entrinsik business landscape. Ladybridge Systems was found- mutual business partner, Epicom ed in 1992 by former Prime Entrinsik Informer is an innova- Corporation. “Pick Cloud, Inc. and Ladybridge Computer personnel and is tive, award-winning agile report- Systems are delivering a true headquartered in Hardingstone, Epicom helps companies like ing and business intelligence MultiValue DBaaS. To date that Northampton, England. To date, The Linux Foundation deploy, solution used by tens of thou- hasn’t been a reality. It is now. Ladybridge Systems provides
12 u intl-spectrum.com training, consultancy, develop- invoices. The Data is extracted fourth calendar quarter of 2013, ecutive responsible for manag- ment, and maintenance services and passed as an EDI file which and is subject to satisfaction of ing the development and evolu- to MultiValue databases in the then can be sent to your Line of customary closing conditions. tion of D3.” UK and worldwide. Ladybridge Business (LOB) application or “TigerLogic has evolved rapidly Systems remains a small pri- Enterprise Resource Planning “This is a good and not surpris- over the last 12 months, and has vately owned company, offering (ERP) application. This allows ing move for TigerLogic, as it al- taken actions designed to cap- a personal level of service to cli- you to accurately post details lows them to concentrate their ture the fast-growing demand ents around the world. Working to your application’s Accounts energy and resources on the for cloud platforms enabling with a team of associates with Payable Register. core, strategic components of mobile and social solutions. specialist skills they are able to their business in order to drive Using, the UnForm Image Man- The sale of the MDMS business offer the resources of a large further innovation and growth,” ager to extract the data, the is a further step toward our fo- company while still maintaining said Scott Smith, General Part- processing of these documents cus on extending the growth the direct, friendly approach of a ner, Viant Group, Investment becomes less time consuming and reach of the Postano and small business. This also allows Advisor to TigerLogic in this and the data posted is more ac- Omnis platforms,” said Richard Ladybridge Systems to operate transaction. curate. UnForm Document Man- Koe, President and CEO of Ti- with very low overhead and offer agement Solution adds value to gerLogic. “The closing of this high-value services to organiza- your application and saves you transaction will allow TigerLogic tions at much lower charges. both time and money. to concentrate on initiatives that support our vision of enabling brands and companies to inte- grate curated mobile and social solutions across multiple digital environments. Moreover, the INGESCO divestiture of the MDMS assets Sistemas Synergetic will provide additional resources TigerLogic to support stronger sales growth Informáticos Data Systems, Announces and further development of our Migrates Inc. (SDSI) social and mobile businesses.” Definitive Distribution Announces a “This is a logical next step for Agreement System New Feature our business and a strategic to Divest Its decision that should enable the Application to of the UnForm D3 business to flourish as well,” D3 MVDBMS the OpenQM Image Manager continued Koe. “TigerLogic se- Business for lected Rocket Software because MultiValue Synergetic Data Systems, Inc. of its knowledge of the MDMS Database (SDSI) announces a new fea- Approximately space, and its deep commitment ture of the UnForm Image $22 Million to support our D3 partners and INGESCO Sistemas Informáti- cos based in Asturias, Spain Manager (scanning and index- to Rocket customers. Rocket Software is ing tool). Using OCR (Optical known for its strong operational have migrated a distribution sys- Character Recognition) the Im- Software expertise, particularly in cor- tem application to the OpenQM age Manager can now preform porate divestitures that require multivalue database. Previously TigerLogic Corporation, an- “Extraction of Line Item Detail” seamless transfers of significant running on D3, this applica- nounced the signing of a de- from documents such as Ac- business operations, which is an tion covers all business tasks finitive agreement to divest its counts Payable invoices. The imperative for our D3 partners (accounting, logistics, business Multidimensional Database invoices are scanned using the and customers. To that end, we management, etc.) and is used Management Systems (“MDMS” UnForm Image Manager which also announce today that John by 120 users in 25 centres of or “D3”) business to Rocket Soft- processes the documents. The Bramley, TigerLogic’s Vice Pres- Saint-Gobain Saniplast S.L.. The ware, Inc. (“Rocket Software”) for Image Manager can be trained ident, Operations, agreed to join entire application resides on a gross proceeds of approximate- to recognize “Fields or Zones” Rocket Software, effective upon single Windows 2008 server ly $22 million in cash. The sale on incoming Accounts Payable the closing, as the business ex- is expected to close within the Continues on page 14
INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM November/December 2013 u 13 Fr o m t h e Pr e s s Ro o m
Continued from page 13 party tools. OpenQM was launched in 2001 needs of each client. INGESCO • Reboot and shutdown is after several years of develop- is based in Asturias, Spain and and utilises PHP to support Web quick and easy. ment as an embedded database is specialized in multivalue envi- applications for PDAs. • Communication between for use in bespoke applications. ronments. It has a group of pro- Available for platforms rang- fessionals with extensive experi- The application is stable and two QM systems is easy with QMNet. ing from single user devices ence in these environments. there has been a better overall through to large corporate serv- • Ability to generate reports in response. The client is devel- ers, OpenQM has the lowest About Saint-Gobain CSV or XML. oping new .NET applications to total cost of ownership in the Saniplast (www. • Very simple and easy saniplast.es) improve the user interface. The multivalue market. A high de- upgrade. Formed in 1981, Saint-Gobain QMClient API is helpful in this. gree of compatibility with other Saniplast is a service company The main reason for migration About Ladybridge multivalue products simplifies specialising in the distribution was the stability of QM and Systems and migration and offers a way to OpenQM (www. of materials for Civil Works and price. QM has reduced the cost reduce costs. openqm.com) Building supplying all sectors of adding new users. Formed in 1992, Ladybridge About INGESCO of civil engineering through a Other benefits reported by IN- Systems are best known as the (www.ingesco.es) comprehensive network of 25 GESCO: developers of the OpenQM Mul- Formed in 1993, INGESCO marketing and distribution cen- tiValue database product but Sistemas Informáticos develops tres throughout Spain. Saniplast • VERY GOOD documentation also provide training, consultan- and supports multivalue soft- is the first company in Spain and EXCELLENT technical cy and development services for ware applications for providing to distribution of materials for support. the other multivalue systems. comprehensive business man- pipes and Civil Works. • Ease of backup using third agement solutions to meetthe
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14 u intl-spectrum.com 2013 MultiValue Industry we’ll be exploring a number of those ideas provements to indexing and a new desktop End of Year Recap in the coming year, like warehouse opera- Form Designer. We are planning to release Continued from page 7 tions using phones, tablets, and other per- OI 10.0 in Q4 2014. vasive devices. SJ+ Systems Associates vices to allow native applications to ac- Revelation Software cess data on a QM server. Q: What new features or services did SJ+ Q: What new features or services did Systems Associates introduce in 2013? Q: What would you like Spectrum read- Revelation Software introduce in 2013? ers to watch for in 2014? SJ+ Systems Associates is excited to have In June of this year we released Open- spent some of 2013 working with Design Looking forward to 2014, we expect key Insight Development Suite 9.4 which Bais — the very smart people and the very developments to include several web re- included dramatic improvements to our smart product. lated components including an integrated OEngineServer as well as OpenInsight for PRC is an IT Governance/Source control/ web server for incoming web services ap- Web (O4W) version 1.5. plications, an equivalent outgoing web Life cycle management solution that has services connector with advanced support The Revelation Software OEngineServer been available on MultiValue databases for multi-dimensional data objects, and is a java application designed to listen for for many years. Now PRC can be used to a number of new connectivity enhance- requests from various client applications; manage Design Bais development itself ments. start up, manage, and terminate the data- and this also opens up many other de- base engines for OpenInsight (OEngines); velopment environments for PRC use, as We are also expecting to see QM launched and route requests and responses from the well.Of course,PRC is still a powerful so- in a Software as a Service role early in 2014 clients to the OEngines. OI 9.4 has in- lution for those who are using Rocket U2 or maybe even late in 2013. This exciting creased OEngineServer stability and has tools such as SB+, SB/XA and BDT, plus a venture has the prospect of opening up a also added support for UTF8 mode. number of 3rd party editing tools. major new market in which new or estab- lished applications can be provided in a OpenInsight for Web (O4W) is a web de- PRC is a complete life-cycle management secure, low cost and flexible manner. velopment toolkit designed for multivalue tool. This means that it will automatically developers. This toolkit can be utilized on track changes made to software and data Precision Solutions a variety of databases including OpenIn- files (as designated), keeping backups of sight, Universe, Unidata, D3, mvBase, all types that are easily viewed and man- Q: What new features or services did QM, SQL, MySQL. aged. Rollout (deployment) and rollback Precision Solutions introduce in 2013? to test and live environments is a simple In 2013 we rolled out version 7 of our Q:What was the greatest or most excit- one-button activity. PRC also provides test Red Leaf web portal for Epicor Prelude. ing thing that happened to your company plan management — allowing test steps to This release made some big leaps in func- or product in 2013? be iterated and noted, saved, and reused. tionality for the product, with some big In April 2013 Revelation Software hosted PRC also has its own request/issue man- enhancements for both the desktop and our Users’ Conference in Nashville, Ten- agement or can be readily integrated with mobile platforms. nessee. Attendees from around the globe other outside tools for help desk/problem congregated to share ideas and knowledge reporting. PRC will support compliance Q: What was the greatest or most excit- about our software. Overall, it was a very with the security initiative and provide the ing thing that happened to your company enjoyable, easy going, fun learning experi- necessary IT controls for any governance or product in 2013? ence. strategy including those imposed by regu- In addition to nearly doubling our office lations such as Sarbanes-Oxley and PCI In September we launched our new web space, we launched a new training center DSS. site written using Joomla and our O4W for Red Leaf that we hope to leverage a software. Q: What would you like Spectrum read- great deal next year. Red Leaf continues to ers to watch for in 2014? be a big hit, and we’re constantly growing Q: What would you like Spectrum read- the platform and finding new ways to ex- ers to watch for in 2014? The coming year will see PRC continue to pand the technology. mature and expand as well as accommo- Development continues on OpenInsight date any new regulatory requirements that Q: What would you like Spectrum read- version 10.0 which will include a 32-bit come along. is ers to watch for in 2014? and 64-bit implementation of the prod- uct. OI 10.0 will include the following More mobile! Our customers have been new components: an embedded web serv- dreaming up all sorts of cool things they er, a WYSIWYG O4W Form Designer, a want to do with the mobile platform, and browser-based Management Console, im- INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM November/December 2013 u 15 Automated Testing Part 5 — Dependencies
By Brian Leach
n the previous article we looked at techniques for refactor- Let us take a simple example. Imagine that you are testing a routine ing legacy code to expose individual functional pieces for unit that places an order. As part of the process this may call another testing. By supplying predictable test data in a correctly con- routine that performs a credit check on the customer, and may figuredI and controlled environment, your tests can prove that the return one of three values: the customer has sufficient credit, the code of such routines continues to operate as expected. customer is on hold, or additional approval may be required before their order can be fully accepted. As a developer, you want to test Whilst it is easy enough to test the inputs and outputs of individual that your order submission will work correctly in all three situa- routines, the challenge comes when you need to test routines that tions. have dependencies on external factors. These factors might include other routines that get called along the way; data fed into or se- One option might be to create and utilize three different custom- lected by the code; external data feeds; spooler output and user ers, each of which fulfils one of those criteria. That makes a naive interfaces. Each of these provides a barrier to straightforward unit sense in simple cases, but as well as the fact that the data required testing. Handling dependencies can be the most time consuming to force that decision may be complex and require a great deal of part of writing unit tests. setting up, it also introduces another dependency. Should the rules involved also vary over time this will render your test invalid, and Faking It whilst this would show up in regression tests, it localizes the error Central to the concept of unit testing is the need to isolate the code to the wrong area of responsibility. The credit check and any data under test, so that you know exactly what is being tested and why. required to implement that should be the sole concern of the credit In an object oriented world that is challenging enough, but on check routine and not the responsibility of the order submission a MultiValue application composed of many interlocking legacy test. subroutines that can be a lot tougher to achieve. How do you test a A key part of unit testing is to be clear about just what is being routine that calls on other subroutines to perform important tasks tested. The order submission calls a credit check routine to return — subroutines that may not yet have their own bodies of tests and a value, but should not itself care how that value is calculated. The whose own effects and dependencies you may not have the time to job of the order submission is simply to respond to that value. This fully understand? is what is meant by functional isolation in terms of unit testing. When faced with calls to dependent routines, the classic approach So rather than worry about setting up all the necessary data to force is to fake it using mocks, stubs, or other similar doubles. A fake is a the credit check to return the required value, a more practical solu- routine or object that stands in place of the true routine that would tion would be to fake the credit check subroutine for the duration normally be called by the code under test, and that can be used of the order submission tests. The fake subroutine sits in place of to produce predictable output (stub) or to verify the behaviour of the real credit check and will present exactly the same arguments, the call (mock). For a good discussion of the difference between but will return a specific value to the order submission when called mocks, stubs, and similar artifacts visit www.martinfowler.com. As under test conditions. The internal logic might even be as simple with all such resources a level of translation is required to apply the as: standard academic model to MultiValued applications.
Digital Version Begin Case Case CustomerId = FIRST_TEST_CUSTOMER On-Line Result = CREDIT_OK Case CustomerId = SECOND_TEST_CUSTOMER Scan Me! Result = CREDIT_ONHOLD Case CustomerId = THIRD_TEST_CUSTOMER
16 u intl-spectrum.com It is always better to test the logic first and then develop the UI over the top of the verified code.
Result = CREDIT_AUTH In unit testing the data with which we work must be both predict- End Case able and reproducible. That can be difficult to achieve on devel- You can then call the order submission passing each of these cus- opment systems where any kinds of rubbish may be left behind tomer numbers, knowing what the routine will return. You could by previous tests or generations of the system, or where data may similarly drive the output from a file or named common block be broken as the result of unfinished or erroneous development stacked with required responses from the unit test itself. work. In object oriented languages, fake objects can be accessed through Periodically refreshing your development systems with sanitized inheritance or interfaces. In the MultiValue world we can simulate copies of the live data is a simple solution but from a unit testing the difference in calls by using indirect calls (CALL @name) or perspective it is not the answer. If you have many developers work- by overlaying the catalog pointers. Keeping a FAKE.BP file from ing on different tasks, some of these may be dependent on future which you can temporarily catalog a replacement routine is often data changes that are still being coded by other teams. If your pro- the simpler solution, though you may need to be careful about duction data is volatile, you may find that you simply didn’t have how the database caches called subroutine code. You also need to certain types of data in your database at a particular refresh point ensure that tests involving fakes are suitably isolated to prevent the so vital test situations might get missed. And depending on where possibility of two developers running tests at the same time in the you are in the business cycle, the point at which the data refresh same account each setting up a different temporary fake for the takes place may not be the right point for a team testing period same routine. It is one of many strong arguments in support of end, specific end-of-day or intra-day operations. Having one team each developer testing in a separate account. run an end-of-day batch may even wipe out the very data required by another team! Not all fakes need to return data. Let us imagine that later in the process your order submission routine sends a confirmation to the So here is the hard fact — whilst snapshots may be fine for user customer by calling a general purpose email subroutine. Do you acceptance testing, you cannot depend on existing test data for unit need to test the email functionality here? Clearly not. Once again or CI tests. A unit test should create and tear down the data it that is not the responsibility of the code under test. What does needs. That is tough work and probably the most time consuming matter, however, is that fact that the email routine gets called and part of any test strategy — but ultimately if you want control over that valid arguments are passed in. Mocking routines verify the in- your testing all the way through the process it will be unavoidable. teraction of the calls themselves by capturing and validating input It can also expose risks if the test data does not match your live and the number of calls made. data. Unit testing alone is never a replacement for user acceptance testing. mock.Setup(x => x.DoSomething(It.IsAny
INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM November/December 2013 u 17 Automated testing part 5: remain open for the duration of the appli- If you are producing the document as Dependencies cation. plain text or PCL directly from the data- Continued from page 17 base spooler, you could capture and read Separating Concerns live files, any secondary indices are created the resulting file and interrogate it just like until the end of the test when temporary What about other dependencies — those any other content. Writing comparison files are removed and original file point- on devices, spooler, data flows, or user in- routines that strip out time-dependent or ers restored. Do remember if you adopt a terfaces? Again you can leverage the same data-dependent values from text based re- similar scheme for your own testing that concepts of isolating just what it is that ports is something I have done for systems some databases will not delete files that are you need to test. Let’s go back to the order migrations in the past, if sometimes com- open in named common so you need to submission and suppose that it produces a plex to define. But if you are using a high consider closing files that would normally document for the invoice. How do you go end document engine like mvPDF, that about testing that in your unit tests? is a different matter. The document may be protected, encrypted, certainly com- pressed and possibly have digital signatures and other assets that make parsing it not straight forward. What we are looking at is the need to apply the principle known as separation of concerns. From the testing perspective we can con- sider that a document is composed of two things — the data and the presentation. For the presentation you may need visual confirmation at the user acceptance testing stage — a good technique for CI testing is to simply print masters on acetate and overlay the newly created documents for quick checking. For the purpose of automated unit test- ing, the focus instead rests on the informa- tion that will be rendered. Hopefully your legacy application does not contain lots of programs stating “print 20 spaces, then this value.” If so, they are ripe for refactor- Fig. 1 mvTest Profile ing anyway. At the very least you should be supplying data to a print template so that elements such as positioning and styling are separated from the production of the data to fill it. It does not need to be as so- phisticated as an mvPDF report or merge form, but just a set of instructions to state where different data should go and how it should repeat. Then the inevitable user changes are much easier to accommodate. If even that is not possible, you can still split the print production into a separate routine and feed it the data to render, so that you can then fake the production rou- tine for your unit tests. In all these cases, what you need to test is the content and not the presentation of the output. What is more important, that the invoice lines up? Or that it shows the right figures?
Fig. 2 UI Script Recorder 18 u intl-spectrum.com The same is true of data flows. Do your drive an application. There are limitations routines under test care where the data on this approach, not least the fact that PICK originated if it can be passed in the same low level key-based input routines may not PROFESSIONAL format and volumes? Feeding in test data work with DATA stacked input, handling from a spreadsheet or CSV file is no dif- function keys is difficult and these tests are Don’t make the mistake of placing your career in the hands of just ANY ferent than feeding it from a hand held difficult to maintain. If you have a com- search firm. We are professionals who scanner or message queue but is quicker mon input subroutine in place of INPUT understand the importance of to repeat and requires far less setup. That statements in your code, that gives you an CONFIDENTIALITY and RESPECT of a job search, and our database of clients does not mean that you can avoid separate- option to read inputs from a script but that is one of the largest in the country. ly testing those interfaces also, probably in of course will not work for any system gen- Unlike the rest, we will work in YOUR best interests’ to help you further your the acceptance phases, but the rules around erated messages (Press any key to continue, career. Because of our dedication and code isolation mean that you do not need for example). Test routines that rely on professionalism, we are recognized as to run them for all the data combinations the DATA stack also rarely handle excep- the leaders in the PICK/UniVerse/Unidata placement industry in the Tri-State area demanded by your unit tests. Consider en- tions well — you can drive an entry screen and throughout the U.S. So if you are capsulating and faking socket operations, to simulate order entry, but what happens tired of putting yourself at the remote database calls, or anything else that when the system reports that the item is mercy of the rest. brings data in or out of your area of im- now out of stock? CALL THE BEST! Contact... mediate concern. A better option is to invest in or code up Matt Hart UI Dependencies a test scripting product that can drive a EXECU-SYS, LTD TELNET or SSH connection and simu- 1411 Broadway, Suite 1220 User Interface dependencies are prob- late terminal activity and one that can New York, NY 10018 ably the most complex pieces to untangle adapt to handle exceptions. This avoids (212) 967-0505 from a legacy application. As with print- the limitations of DATA stacked input by (800) 423-1964 x 302 ing, the best long term option is the sepa- fully simulating the user, and it can also Fax: (212)947-8593 rate these out so that your business code Email: [email protected] offer the benefits of being able to read the is segregated from the user interface, and screen, much as a user would, to validate presented to a screen driver or common Consultants Needed Nationwide what is displayed. routines for input, navigation and display of data. These routines can be augmented mvTest has built in support for TEL- by standard validations — testing for data NET, SSH and TELNET/SSL operations format, ranges, lists of values, file relations that run as a second connection beside and like. Hand coding screen activity has the main test connection (fig. 2). These always been a waste of time. scripts can send input and function keys, can examine the content of the screen or If you are running with GUI or web inter- output stream, can wait for and branch on faces then by definition you have already specific messages appearing and can gather split out the presentation logic, and should input from external sources to drive tests use the appropriate platform tools like Se- through the terminal connection. At the lenium, Jasmine, or WatIn to test the UI same time, the main connection can per- separately from the MultiValue logic be- form database-level checks to make sure hind it. Testing through the UI is always that what is entered on screen finds its way limiting as you are bound to miss unas- into the database or to set up the precondi- signed variable messages and other errors tions before running a UI test: all written swallowed by the middleware and working as part of the same script so that it is easy at that remove makes it more difficult to to see both sides of the operation. Other isolate issues when found. It is always bet- telnet scripting products are available but ter to test the logic first and then develop lack the deep reach into the database. is the UI over the top of the verified code. Brian Leach is an independent Multi- For a legacy system where it may be sim- ply unaffordable to refactor the code in Value consultant and tool developer living this way, or may take considerable time to in the UK. He is a founder member of the achieve, the simplest UI tests may be no Rocket Software User Group and former more than a series of DATA statements or, for the brave, a PROC that can stack the president of the U2UG. Find out more at values to fill the various input statements to http://www.brianleach.co.uk. INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM November/December 2013 u 19 M a r k e t p l a c e
ADVERTISER INDEX AccuSoft Enterprises 9 Ladybridge Systems, Ltd. 22 Brian Leach Consulting, Ltd. 19 PICK Programmer's Shop 11 Execu-Sys, Ltd. 19 Revelation Software 5 HDWP 11 SJ+ Systems Associates 9
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20 u intl-spectrum.com ACCOUNTING Database Natec Systems Ladybridge Systems Ltd www.natecsystems.com | [email protected] www.ladybridge.com | [email protected] Revelation Software mv QuickBooks API for the MultiValue Database www.revelation.com | [email protected] QB REPORTING • Read/Write Directly to Quickbooks Databases Brian Leach Consulting, LTD • mvQB API is Designed for the MultiValue www.brianleach.co.uk | [email protected] Program to Use Entrinsik • No Need to Learn the Internals of QuickBooks www.entrinsik.com | [email protected]
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INTERNATIONAL SPECTRUM November/December 2013 u 21 Clif Notes: It's Beginning referring to. I'm referring to the modern Also, the nature of the workforce has To Look a Lot Like Cratchit attitude towards work itself. First, most changed. There isn't anybody at home Continued from page 23 people seem to think that any time away every day to bake pies, do holiday shop- from the office is inviting a career catas- ping, wrap gifts, etc. yet we carry within us were actually talking about, to the bright trophe. "If I'm not there 60 hours a week, the expectations (supported by the media and sunny Southwest of my native San they won't think I'm dedicated, and they bombardment in many cases) that this is Diego, where a number of times the day will pass me over for promotion (raise, em- all Required Activity in order to enjoy the after Christmas was celebrated with a party ployee retention after a merger, whatever). holiday and make it a "success." In other on the beach. And all points in between. And with the rise of mobile computing words, even if we have a balanced attitude There is a big cultural difference between and access to “data everywhere,” the syn- towards work, we simply don't have the the Pacific Northwest and the rural South. drome continues to get worse. time to achieve the picture we still carry in Yet wherever I've gone, I hear the same our head. And that is not going to change. complaints about the holidays. So it got It's easy to blame the employers and claim Norman Rockwell belongs in the museum, me to wondering about common factors. that it is their inhumane demands and ex- not in our day planner. Then it dawned on me. pectations that cause people to do this. In some cases, perhaps. But the holidays are So my suggestion is, ignore the media. Work. Among the people that I associate not the only time you see this behavior. Lighten up on the "stuff." Focus on peo- with the most, are the people I work with. What about all the people who come to ple. And most important, give yourself a And the people I work with the closest are work sick, running fevers, coughing and break. Take your time off work. Don't in the same industry I am – information sneezing, and leaking from every opening check email. Enjoy the people in your life. processing. I think most of our readers fall in their head? I haven't seen an employee And if you currently don't have that, look into that category. Many of you support handbook yet that said that you are ex- for ways to help someone else. But don't 24/7 operations and have had the experi- pected to come in and put 50% of the of- choose to sit huddled in an office in self- ence of being away from your families on fice out sick by playing Typhoid Mary and imposed exile. holidays to do system upgrades or conver- spreading your illness around. Yet people sions, those being the only times the busi- You aren't Bob Cratchit. is do it all the time. On their own. Their ness can be down. But that's not what I am choice.
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22 u intl-spectrum.com Clif Notes It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Cratchit
By Clifton Oliver
used to enjoy the holidays. I think that many, if not most, of you rude and self-centered people in general have had thoughts along the same lines are, and how it seems like every year I have very pleasant memories of as the holiday season approaches. Re- the parking spaces keep getting smaller. time off from the routine, prepara- I ports of depression during the months And it does seem like a lot of people are tions and excitement, tasty things you of November and December seem to just looking for an excuse to bite your only get once a year such as homemade be on the rise. (On a related side note, head off. Several people have told me divinity, fudge, and sugar cookies, and however, the "common knowledge" that because of the extreme to which delightful times spent with family and that more suicides happen during the the political correctness pendulum has friends. I think that the United States holiday season is, in fact, not true.) The swung, they're afraid to say anything to holiday of Thanksgiving might even most commonly reported stress factors somebody that even refers to the season. have been more dear to my heart than in cases of holiday depression requiring If you slip and say "Merry Christmas" Christmas. Of course, the major compo- intervention or treatment are loneliness to a stranger, you don't know if they are nent of that holiday is food, so for me and a sense of lack of family. Makes going to smile and return the greeting, that is probably not surprising. Smells sense. At this time of year, we are con- spit on you, cuss you out, or physically of pies baking the night before, fresh stantly bombarded by the media whose attack you. Some folks tell me that just cranberry relish (not that canned goop), portrayal of the holidays typically shows to be on the safe side they have given and a golden roast turkey coming out of people together, laughing, having a up holiday greetings entirely. So at first the oven looking like something out of a good time, and generally being joyful. If glance, it might seem to be obvious that Norman Rockwell picture. you are single, recently moved to a new "they" have ruined the holiday season Of course, Christmas was also delight- city, haven't made any friends yet, it just for everybody. ful. For that holiday the preparations seems natural that this constant bar- Well, I suppose that to a certain extent, and build up almost better than the hol- rage of "happy happy" media messaging that's true. However, I'm always a bit iday itself. All of the decorations, lights, would get to you and make you feel like suspicious about explanations that focus shopping for family, friends, and maybe an outsider. But what about those of us on people and events outside of our- even that friend that you were hoping who do not fall into that category, have selves to explain the feelings we are hav- would become family. And the music. friends and family locally, established ing within ourselves. We will come back Wow. Bach, Handel, Mozart – abso- holiday traditions, and seem to have all to that in a moment.So while I do not lutely delightful. Of course, we seem to of the prerequisites for enjoying these deny any of these observations, I have to de-evolved to "music" such as "Rock- festivities? Why do we still tend to look wonder about them. As a result of my ing around the Christmas Tree" and at the holidays with trepidation and consulting practice, I have had the privi- "Grandma Got Run Over by a Rein- many times feelings of, "Oh no. Here lege of experiencing the holiday season deer." But it was still a time of magic. we go again." in a number of regions of this country, And then, I grew up and got a job. A lot of people point to changes in our from the frozen beauty of the Northeast, social fabric as the culprit. You fre- where I learned what many of the verses Where did the magic go? I know that I quently hear comments about how ma- of those traditional Christmas songs am not alone in wondering about this. terialistic everything has become, how Continues on page 22
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