Monday morning. We started out with a couple of questions from the guys. Steve had some questions about getting his quantities correct as part of the transfer invoices that he was doing in his production code (mini manufacturing). Wayne has some questions about our use of the application scope and application pages within the adilas site (big picture architecture). Dustin had a query that was returning too many rows and some with duplicate info. We ended up having to do some deeper grouping in order to get it corrected. After that, Steve had me help make sure that a valid user was setup on multiple servers to allow an adilas rep/consultant to login to multiple servers with the same username and password.

After that, I checked some emails and tried to get things flowing on the normal day to day stuff. Worked on inputting my schedule for July. Lots of crazy stuff this month. Random here and there.

Eric and I touched based on some questions. Most of questions had to deal with adilas 3rd party solutions. Either new requests, small tweaks, and ideas on how to handle certain custom requests. We were looking at API sockets, documentation, possible expansion on certain areas, and basic flow (web interface) for other projects. Eric has three or four projects right now and all of them touch the adilas 3rd party solutions page in one way or another. Interesting.

On a different note, Steve joined and reported that he has been talking with Calvin Chipman about running C# and C++ code out on AWS (amazon web services) through Lambda functions. Wayne, had been doing tons of that kind of stuff. Steve wants Wayne and Calvin to touch base and see what we can figure out. That was some good news.

Working on a tech support request. Got an email with an error message that was being displayed. I spent some time trying to figure out what was going on. I found out that a corporation had a number of my cart favorite buttons and they must have asked for those buttons to be copied over to another corporation (they own both corporations). It looks like the buttons were copied over but none of the key id numbers were updated for the new corporation. So, it looks like the new corporation has a bunch of my cart favorite buttons (quick add to cart and quick look-up buttons) but the buttons point to items in the original corporation. I sent an email with my findings out to the rep/consultant and to a number of developers to keep them filled in.

Worked on some tech support stuff while waiting for Shannon. Once she got on, we covered a few things and setup some other times to meet this month. We didn't get a whole lot done this session.

Bryan was working on replacing certain images and dynamic banners for white labeling pages. We ended up getting into some deeper CSS stuff and forcing the changes through the CSS and taking certain pieces and making it become in-line CSS vs a CSS include file. After that, I helped with some other tech support things.

Phone calls and emails.

Working with Steve and Dustin. We fixed a bug with a query that was dependent on another query. The problem was that the first query wasn't returning any results and it was making the second query fail. We fixed that and then the page was good to go. We also went in and had to fix a 3rd party white label problem. As part of that fix and conversation, we talked a little bit about the adilas 3rd party solutions, white labeling solutions, and other topics. The deeper we get, some of that stuff kinda gets out of control. Not too bad right now, but you can see some writing on the wall and some definite needs starting to develop.

Adilas and the adilas platform keeps creating these service based byproducts. The more people we have around to pick-up these byproducts, the better. There is so much business out there... you just have to see the need and then fill that need. The system keeps creating multiple byproducts that could support their own business and/or multiple businesses. So many different segments of how the system creates all of these options and opportunities.

Emails and tech support. I had to fix a client's site. They had selected a number of default expense types for a specific vendor (special way to limit what expense types they see per vendor). Then, after they were done, they changed the default expense types to a 0 (zero) id value. That id was used in another page to limit the list of expense types. The system could find any expense types with the id of 0, so it was showing an error message. I just deleted the 0 from the vendor record and the rest of the pages flowed great. It took a little while to figure out where the problem was.

Eric called and had a few questions about 3rd party solutions vs the free adilas API sockets. Helping him with some of his questions.

Quiet morning today. Mostly spent time doing emails and following up on things.

Working on adding in sub attribute values to the getSubInventory and getSubInventoryById methods out in API socket land. They used to show the sub attributes (columns and column names) but didn't show any associated values. Internally, they are looked up on the fly. However, for the outside or public facing API sockets, they needed to be part of the same API socket call.

Original Document was created on 9/28/13

We found this document and used it as a resource for working on the new school accounting section of the User Guide (Section 11) on 7/3/19

Tools that we use:

Features, advantages, and benefits

Limitations and how do these tools break

Build & Break, Build & Break, Build & Break

1. Head and mind

a. Always on, not limited, imagination, switch at will, creative, huge capacity.

b.  Think through things, process clear to the end without actually committing, different scenarios, multi tasking even while doing other things.

c. Unlimited capacity to learn and process.

d. Start here and translate to other processes.

e. Limitations – Recall, searching, memory, what you do know, knowledge, affected by outside sources.

f. Break the mind – Sleep, eat and intake. Volume and number of transactions.

g.  Complexity

2. Paper and pencil (pen)

a. Write things down to remind you, categorize things, you can do all sorts of stuff.

b.  Draw, make it up quickly, written hard copy, plan, play with options, you can flip pages, you can have huge, tiny, massive, erase, mobile, searchable.

c.  Limitations – Searchability but not centralized.

d.  You have to have it. Potentially dangerous with loss or damage – outside sources or personal neglect.

e.  Not centralized – no one else has it. Hard to share unless you send or copy it.

f. Only one original.

g. Break pencil and paper – Searching, stacking, organizing, auto calculate, create relationships, nothing is automatic, everything is manual.

h.  Physical problems with the paper, run out of ink, pencil breaks, if you loose the original, you have to start all over again.

i. As it spreads, it becomes harder to get back to what you are looking for. No record of who touched anything. What date/times something happened.

3. Computer Based – word processing or a text document.

a.  All the creativity of paper and pen but you can now search it, print it, save it, send it, centralized, easy access, looks nice, readable, formatted, spell check, copy & paste, speed.

b.  Graphics, links, insert things, create columns and rows, email it, go back and change (small amounts to full pages of new content), take things away (delete).

c.  Limitations -  Structured, certain rules, learning curve (learn the tools), the program itself (does it even offer what you are looking for).

d.  Your skill level. Electricity and a computer or device. Dishing things off to outside sources (printers, faxes, email, Internet).

e. Things that break it:j If it is not centralized, it doesn’t do anybody any good. Run out of space to save it.

4. Spreadsheets (rows and columns)

a.  It does the math for you. It can do calculations. Searchable, organize it, show/hide columns and rows, color, graphs, add graphics, block in cells, lock cells, connect certain things.

b.  Ability to reference to specific cells. Ability to sub divide and expand.

c.  Good structured look and feel.

d.  Export and Import data because it is already formatted in rows and columns.

e.  Changing sizes and merging data cells.

f.  Limitations – Volume. It maxes out at a certain level.

g.  No history – once you replace it with something, it is gone.

h.  Higher skill level in order to play.

i.  Limited to rows and columns.

j.  It is not centralized. It is on your machine.

k.  Static layout – If your data is different or variable, it breaks.

l.  Break a spreadsheet – Volume, you have to see the whole thing all at once.

m.  Formulas and moving and inserting columns and rows. It may break all of the formulas and references to other cells.

n. Electricity, computer, you have to buy it.

o.  Spreadsheets are not the most compatible for touch screens.

p.  Manual filters and always looking at a full screen of data. You can get lost very easy if the columns and/or row headings are not shown.

q.  You can overwrite things very easy.

5. Databases

a.  Unlimited structure, storage in the billions, relationships, histories, you can link things, search things, you never look at the whole database all at once.

b.  Return and report, call back, dynamic level for storage (one-to-many). Scalable.

c.  Different types of databases. There are file share databases (limited number of connections) or server databases (unlimited number of connections). What are the open connection options.

d.  Calculations, filter things, pull back certain rows, you can query things (asking it for things), loop or play in bulk – multiple tasks at once.

e.  Storing and cataloging things. Modular or ability to compartmentalize.

f.  Limitations – Where is the database located at? Location is very important.

g.  Computer problems such as electricity, hardware issues, connection issues, multiple variables.

h.  Security issues.

i.  Skill level – who sets it up? Who is going to work on it? How easy is it to get the data in and out?

j. Break a database – Volume (usually traffic vs. size)

k.  Deleting or dropping information. Losing integrity between pieces of the one-to-many.

l.  Too big or too cumbersome.

6. Software Packages and IT (information technology)

a.  Package or packaged. Pre-built, on your own computer. Industry specific scope or niche.

b.  Keep coming out with new upgrades or versions. Improvements are being made.

c.  Thousands and thousands of choices.

d.  User friendly (general statement), support, manuals, well used and communities, training, etc. Lots of resources.

e.  You feel like you own something – even if it is older – you still own it.

f.  You can customize it for yourself. Create your work flow.

g.  Networking and everything can be hard wired. Established different connections.

h.  It is a tool that is meant for a specific job. It is a catered tool box.

i.  It has a version number that relates to a historic level of the software.

j. There are freeware, shareware, and different pricing structures. Bundles, packages, suites, downloadable or on a hard copy (disk).

k.  Limitations – Price or cost. Same with IT (information technology). $0 to Millions and millions.

l. Implementation and delivery. How do you get it? Install? Download it? Served up to you? How do you consume it?

m. Versions and computers – they don’t always match. Upgrades. Static and constant need for upgrades. Once you make it, it is that version until the next upgrade.

n.  Licenses – How many do you have and how many do you need? Bottlenecks or limit output by not having the right tools.

o.  Niche specific – but then you have to try to marry non compatible products together. The average is between 4 – 6 software packages. Maybe more.

p.  Skill set and use of the tools.

q.  Break software – Viruses, outdated, cost, volume, traffic and hardware issues, not support or non user friendly, natural disasters, computer crashes. 

r.  Newer products with more features. Constant leap frog of features.

s. Having multiple systems running at once & having to try to mix & match & hodgepodge things together.  Sometimes having multiple systems requires double, triple, or more entries into the different software packages. 

t. Changing requirements and changing technology can break software. 

7. Web & Cloud

a.  Great when it is fast, personal, any one can access it with a device, centralized, unlimited as far as storage capacity, versatile.

b.  Use outside pieces, tons of features, graphics, links, forms, buttons, animations, video, sound, print, you can search like crazy.

c.  If hardware crashes, no problem. Switch device.

d.  Cut your IT (information technology) costs to almost nothing.

e.  Mobile. From your car, on the go, multiple things connected to the same piece of data, collaborate from anywhere, any time, multiple people can share tasks and work on projects.

f.  Conditional logic (if, then). No updates, no waiting for the next upgrade (it gets pushed to the server).

g.  ADILAS – All Data Is Live And Searchable, Secure, Serviceable, Scalable, Sustainable.

h.  Go paperless. Scans, images, files, and other content tied into the system.

i.  Skin things (look and feel and flow and processes)

j. Cut steps, speed up processes, customize things to a huge level.

k.  Younger generations are getting more and more tech savvy.

l.  Future??? Where is going? Currently pioneering some of these fields and places. How deep is the rabbit hole? Potential!

m.  Limitations & how it could break – Have to have Internet access (somewhat of a diminishing problem). More and more places are getting it and it is becoming more and more free. Free is good!

n. Travel if Internet is down – have to get to a signal. Server issues, global blackouts, hack attempts, filters,  

o.  Security or un-secure (hacks and stolen data). Semi unknown??? Brings up question because you don’t physically have it or can’t touch it. Where is it? Movies almost create this hype or scare on vulnerability.

p.  How adilas.biz uses security – HTTPS – the “S” is very important. This deal with a thing called SSL (secure socket layer) – encryption. Check logins – 3 strikes your out policy on failed logins. Each corporation (aka virtual world) has user assigned. Each page in the system checks for a three-way tie or code. Corp to User – User to Permission on each page. System history or virtual surveillance system. 75% of the entire adilas.biz application deals with validation and security.

q.  Skill set – certain requirements.

r.  Interoperability – meaning playing with outside players and services. Everything has to work together. Adilas – uses a “System Thinking” type model. Cause and effects, consequences, tell the story, connections and relationships.

s.  Custom needs. Load balancing and potential internet traffic. Adilas tries to be an e-Business buffet – you dream it up we’ll wire it up!

t.  Play with both old and new technologies. Browsers, computers, operating systems, unknowns. 

u. Languages - for US markets things are typically created in English but there may be needs for things to be translated into other languages.

v. Trying to keep up with technology - finding people with the skills and talents. We're trying  to keep up with a the constant moving wave of technology. Hard to keep up. It takes lots and lots of money to keep up and keep developing. Trends, aesthetics, expectations of users, user interfaces, user experience, access to tech support and service for clients. 

w. The amount/quantity of data and the time required to calculate or crunch that data. 

x. Can be difficult if that site is not compatible with devices (mobile apps vs. normal web)

8. API Sockets or Custom (application programming interface)

                       a. An API socket is a way to plug into data without having to use a specific webpages or interface. You have data you can push and pull wherever is needed. You can take whatever is in the cloud and instead of having to interact through a specific webpage you can have access to raw data that you can then format, display, use, or do whatever you want with it.

                        b. You can technically mix & blend data from multiple different sources into one single location or feature - it just give you so many potential options! This could be dashboards, reports, interfaces, comparisons, stats, etc. 

                        c. You can tap into what are called data warehouses, where you take transactional data (day by day activities) and then aggregate the data to get pre-calculated sums, averages, totals, etc. 

                        d. API sockets can have their own security and can potentially bypass any permissions or add any permissions for access. So it can totally change the permission structure for what is being asked for or pushed back and forth. 

                        e. Usually APIs have documentation or samples that help speed up the development cycle. 

                        f. With custom work the sky is the limit. You can literally rewrite a process, change processes, show/hide specific values, reorganize things, make it completely niche specific, make it very intuitive, etc. 

                        g. One of the advantages of custom is that you can pay for exactly what you want without altering the core functionality. This could even be done by using outside developers to program something that may become a part of the core or a one-off job (custom mimic of core functionality).

                        h. If you deal with custom often you get to directly interface with the developers instead of just submitting to the general user request line. You  have to pay for it but you get to work with a developer directly and get to say this is what I want. What is the cost, timeline, what are the project deliverables, project mile markers.

                        i. Often when we think of custom we think of adding new pieces and functionality. That is great and well but custom could also be removing or hiding things that seem unnecessary or confusing, simplifying things.

                        j. If you are dealing with custom all of the sudden you are not limited to what the original developers created for database tables, columns, rows, etc. You can create your own structure for your data needs. 

                        k. Limitations: If it is custom you may not know what you may not know. If it is full custom you may not know where to get started. Unless you have a clear vision it can be challenging on the starting side. 

                        l. Another limitation of web API is that if you don't have enough documentation or access to the data then you have difficulty accessing the data you need. 

                        m. A possible limitation is that there may communication issues on wants, needs, availability, getting data pushed out, filtered, documented from the entity you are working with. 

                        n. It is also a possible limitation could be scripting language. One of the benefits is that anyone can talk to anything but one of the limitations is that each language has it's own quirks. It can be worked out but there are quirky things along the way when dealing in different languages. 

                        o. Because you have data, logic, and presentable pieces that may all come from different sources. You may have to determine where is your hybrid combined piece going to live. 

                        p. How it breaks: One of the most common things that happens is that a change occurs and no one lets you know. So what worked yesterday may not work today and there may not be any documentation. 

                        q. If the internet goes down, electricity out, too much web traffic, or other computer issues arise you may be back to paper and pencil again. I hope you have a good back up plan.

                        r.  You can actually custom things to death. Sometimes you can get into a never-ending cycle of trying to refine the feature which sometimes can cause over-analyzing, over-building, and over-complicating the system. 

                        s. New documentations, help files, SOPs, education, training, etc. 

                         t. Cost

9. World Building (digital story telling – ultra custom/hybrid level)

                        See sub notes below - we ran out of room 

Working on allowing corp key aliases to be used out in API socket land. Currently, the only corp keys that work are the older version where it was the first three letters of the corporation name, a dash, and the corporation id number. The new code should allow a corp alias (virtual username for the corp or world) to be used.

Shannon and I were working on a session for the adilas user guide. We are working on a section called new school accounting. As part of that process, we were reviewing a brainstorming document from September of 2013 (years ago) dealing with the tools that we use. See attached for the original brainstorming doc.

As a recap, some of the tools that we use are:

1. Head and mind

2. Paper and pencil (pen)

3. Computer Based - word processing or a text document

4. Spreadsheets (rows and columns)

5. Databases

6. Software Packages and IT (information technology)

7. Web & Cloud

8. API or Custom (application programming interface)

9. World Building (virtual stories and movies - ultra custom level)

Working with Bryan to get some new code pushed up to all servers and light code review.

On the morning meeting with Steve and Dustin. We worked on some small image tweaks for Steve and his custom sales icon reports and then talked about AWS and progress out there in that area. Towards the end of the meeting, Steve and Dustin were starting to work on how to look up sub id's from data that exists.

Tech support and email to an adilas developer with some techy information about 3rd party solutions and cross platform mappings (matching up date between systems).

After that, I jumped back on the sub inventory API sockets and getting them ready for the public. Part of this process was cleaning up some master code to allow corporation keys (old and new) to be used. The old corp keys were three letters of the corporation name, a dash, and the corp id number. The new corp keys allowed for corp aliases (virtual usernames per corp).

Working on the sub inventory web/API socket methods. Trying to help standardize things and make it easier for outside developers. New values, better validation, and making things more user friendly.

Going over some new database updates that Steve was working on. We then switched gears and started working on some internal API socket connections. Steve is working on a small internal project that takes sales data and passes it between servers for a consolidated mini report of sales per corp.

We then got into a small brainstorming session about corp-specific aggregated data (summed up data) and how we could help with a multi-corp consolidated aggregated data type model. Eric said something the other day about having a master corporation and then getting data from that one (from the master) to feed the smaller or sub corporations. We talked about taking that option out further and how another corporation could be a great collecting spot for the cross-corp and/or consolidated aggregated data.

Random notes from our brainstorming ideas:

- Start with the corp-specific aggregated data. Each corporation will end up needing their own corp-specific aggregated data table. Our goal is daily totals per location and per category (we need to figure out what those categories will be, but pretend that they are at the category level).

- We were talking about terms and how best to state and/or call the consolidated aggregated data - if they (different and multiple corporations) want consolidated data... we could sell them another system and get cross-corp aggregated data passed back to that system - not sure which way it sounds better (two options): aggregated consolidated data or consolidated aggregated data

- What about cascading our model - we may not want to alter our model, we may just want another consolidated corp and use internal API sockets to update master controls.

- How do location(s) play into the model? What do location(s) look like on a corp-specific model vs consolidated data and what location(s) are/do out there? We talked about maybe having different mappings from corp-specific data to consolidated data and what is tracked and shows up and what may be combined together. In a small way, it almost feels like application flex grid type mapping and such. Fun ideas and concepts.

- Going back to a master corporation. We could setup a master lists of items, a master lists of customers, etc. If any of the subs add/edit things... we could figure out if those add/edits go uphill or only roll downhill (direction of updates and changes to data and master lists).

- We may need to take the part/item categories to a multiple level (deeper one-to-many system). This is an older project, but it has laid dormant for awhile. We may need to pick it back up.

- Technically, we could do the cross-corp consolidation stuff right now, we could remove the double entry out of the solution and help automate things. Figure out the flow of data.

- Eventually, we will want (or our clients will want) location specific aggregated totals, even out in the consolidated aggregated model.

- We talked about maybe having a special mapping table on the consolidated corporation side. More application flex grid and advanced mapping stuff.

- There may be some huge advantages by using existing tools such as invoices, deposits, expenses, PO's, balance sheet items on the consolidated side of the equation. Many of those things are already mapped to income statements (P&L) and balance sheets. That might be a good approach to helping out with the consolidated reporting.

After the brainstorming session, I left the meeting and starting do some other smaller tasks. I payed bills, did some emails, and got on the phone with a couple of other developers. I chatted with Calvin about custom labels and maybe getting into sub inventory and sub attributes. I also talked with Alan about helping out for the rest of the week as I will be out of town on a scout trip.

Recording notes and trying to get the sub inventory API sockets up and live. Worked some on getting back sub inventory attributes.

Steve gave me a call this morning. I joined the meeting and Dustin was on, but I put a note on my screen that said that Steve and I were on a phone call. Dustin stayed on for a bit and then checked out. Steve and I had a good little call. Some of the topics were:

- Lots of emails that need some attention - new systems, merchant processing API keys, etc.

- White label stuff with Pat, lead generation, emails - constant contact, offering managed services, so much opportunity.

- We (adilas) need to get into project management. There is a big need there.

Eric popped into the meeting and just touched base. He has been pretty burried with all kinds of custom stuff. He was asking what else was needed as far as internal adilas projects. We briefly talked about getting back on the loyalty points and special account tracking stuff.

After Eric left, Alan joined the meeting and gave me an update on what he is working on. He is currently working on the invoice due date project. As part of that, he is currently on a side project working on how we add in new corp-wide settings. He is reworking that whole piece of the puzzle and doing a great job. As he goes, he is taking older code and brining it up into more modern type classes, models, and more object oriented type approach. Good stuff.

Going through tons of emails. Helped Steve out with a few requests. Light tech support and a couple of small code tweaks for customer report exports. Changed the date format from a 2 digit year to a 4 digit year on all customer data exports. Other small code tweaks as I was going through my email.

Working with Bryan on putting white label variables inside of help files (stored in the database). It is easy to use and expose variables inside of code because it gets interpreted each time the page runs. It is much harder to populate variables from stored data.

After that, we went over some of his web/API socket code to help show parent attributes for items in an exposed web/API socket function. We took quite a bit of time looking over the code. He had copied in some code from another process, but it still needed to be refined a bit. We ended up going over complex data structures and how to use arrays, structures, and lists as a single complex data set. We made some progress and he will go back in and do some clean-up on that page.

The last thing that we covered was dealing with some custom code that randomized the PO numbers. The code was working great. The problem came into play as Bryan added some new bulk functionality to add multiple PO's at the same time. The new code didn't follow his same rules to help randomize and record the alternate numbering system. That change threw off his normal code. Basically, we need the same custom code on the normal add new PO's (one at a time) and then make sure that the create bulk or create auto PO's has the same code and logic.

Working on migrating around 7,000 customers from one corporation to three other corporations out on data 7 for a company in Florida. Shari O. popped into the meeting and had a question about changing stock/units models and their sub inventory types. After that, Wayne Andersen joined the meeting and had some questions about some of the settings out inside of the shop folder. He is working on the AWS stuff. We went over a few things and talked about progress in the transition between spinning hard metal (normal dedicated servers with actual hard drives) vs the AWS cloud (virtual servers, stacks, and dynamic server assets). Interesting.

Working on sub inventory API socket information and API socket documentation.

Got a call from Calvin and we talked about some options for a web-based adilas label builder app or application. Good stuff. The cost was around $15,000. We've already paid well over $20,000 for the existing label builder app. The new one would be web-based and include sub inventory and flex grid stuff.

Spent some time looking into a cross corp invoice to PO error that was reported. Apparently, the page was working as of last week and now that same page is not working. I checked and the same code that we have in the master branch is on the server. It also has a modified date of back in April of this year. The next step is to look deeper and see what might possibly be the problem and/or disconnect.

Working on tools that we use, software and IT and moving into web and cloud levels.

https://data0.adilas.biz/top_secret/time_web_gallery.cfm?corp=371&id=4029

Bryan called me up and then jumped on the meeting. We were looking at his code for pulling in parent attributes for both parent and sub inventory. That sounds pretty simple, but it gets kinda deep. Parent attributes can cross part categories (may be mixed and blended) and then each parent gets to assign and/or ignore those assignments on a per item or per parent level. We were working through the code and got closer. I told him that if he wanted deeper help, we would probably start over vs trying to just fix what he has. Way too much fluff right now. We need to cut to the chase.

Dustin and I worked on getting some data (small sub report) out of the sub inventory attributes section. That subject and topic has caused us much grief. It gets so deep, it becomes hard to pull the data out easily without knowing the whole data path (what relates to what and where are things stored). It is all there, it just may not be the most effective storage so that easy retrieval can happen.

Eric joined and had some questions about the adilas 3rd party solutions page. That page is starting to get pretty big and everything is virtually wrapped in smaller conditional logic pieces. It gets pretty deep. He also had some questions about showing loading bars (spinning graphics) to show that certain actions were in process and then showing the user when they had finished.

After Eric left, Wayne joined in and had some questions about the shop (ecommerce area) folder and how a corporation gets setup and/or acknowledged out in ecommerce land. We talked about form, URL, and session values and which ones take precedence. After that I spent some time recording some notes on what was going on.

As a fun side note, my hiking buddy and I were talking about a number of fun topics this morning. As a precursor... my sister Shannon and I were talking about the progression of the tools that we use yesterday for our afternoon meeting. My hiking partner, Brian Stewart, and I were discussing some of these same concepts this morning. The tools that we use progress from simple to more robust and more complex. See this entry for a deeper look at what we are trying to cover...

https://data0.adilas.biz/top_secret/time_web_gallery.cfm?corp=371&id=4029

Anyways, after progressing through the lower tools (head, paper and pen, computers, databases, software, web, etc.) we were talking about these topics. I just wanted to record some fun ideas and concepts that we may use later on as we go deeper.

- Data Fusion - mixing data from multiple sources.

- Big data - how much data, where does it come from, how did we get it, how do we analyze it, what trends are we seeing? etc.

- Digital currency - like bit coin and other digital currencies

- Trends - watching for, discovering, and anticipating trends

- Security and privacy - huge topics that have different levels from head to paper to computers to web to bigger...

- Independent systems - there are certain things that we don't want to interconnect and/or limit access to. That is an important topic (limiting access and/or limiting outside connections).

- Auditability or history or audit trail information - how easy/hard is it to follow the audit trail? This is way deeper than just a one-liner. What was the lifecycle, steps, states, and phases of x (fill in the blank).

- AI (artificial intelligence) - What level of AI are we talking about? Simple if statements, cases, switches, states, or fuzzy logic with decision making power. How does this play in and how will it affect things in the future?

- Integration to other platforms - Once something is on the web, do we allow for integration, do we pick strategic integrations, or leave it open for any possible 3rd party integrations? That starts getting into strategy and even ethics.

- If you do allow integrations, what about syncing data (making sure that data on side a and side b are the same) and figuring out rules of master/slave type relationships between syncing parties. What about integrity of the data sync or data syncing process.

- What do the clients want? If we are avoiding things on purpose, does that get us in trouble? A simple survey of our customers may help shed some light on those topics. What are they wanting, expecting, demanding, and/or wishing for?

- Real-time transactions and flow of funds - batching (time delayed - per month, week, day, etc.), I owe you accounts (who owes who and when will it get paid), real-time transactions, real-time payments, allowing vendors, banks, and government agencies real-time access and real-time payments for products and services. Along those lines, who negotiates those terms and deals? This sounds like more permissions and settings on a per corp (per world) type level.

- Systems vs standalone applications - sometime you can gain great advantages by using a system vs a single standalone tool. Having said that, sometimes as you add more players and pieces, there is a virtual drag (resistance and/or friction) that may go along with that. If it works, sweet. If not, you have been creating an anchor of sorts.

- What are some potential warning signs that we put up... company pride, individual pride, not listening, avoiding certain topics and/or features, seeing and acknowledging hidden threats, on purpose staying a certain size (not reaching our potential), working on a private agenda, and other possible warning signs. As a side note, this topic was toward the end of the hike (we were actually driving home from our hike) and we started talking about integrations with other existing software companies and their platforms. The main topic was the accounting giant "QuickBooks" (and other like products) and why we are not trying to integrate with their product(s). It got pretty deep, but my hiking buddy was concerned that we might be missing out by not integrating with QuickBooks and others. I know that some of our clients would like that, but we have on purpose delayed and kicked that can down the road multiple times. Some of it is pride, some is money and cost of doing so, and some deals with challenging tradition, and some deals with following true to what we are learning and exploring (what if we can do it this way or that way vs just following the crowd - love of exploring).

Anyways, without going too deep. We had a great conversation the whole hike (see notes above) but when we said that we on purpose were not trying to integrate with other accounting systems, the whole conversation changed and it seemed like all of the other topics that we were talking about had no value (basically a game changer). I thought that was very interesting. I will bring it up with Steve (my partner in Adilas) and see what he says. My personal vote is to just keep going. We have a great plan. We just need to keep working the plan. To note a much earlier talk that I with another buddy of mine (riding up a ski lift), he asked, what/who is your major competition? My response was "tradition". I'd have to stick with that answer right now. Tradition is our biggest competition. Interesting and hopefully correct, there is still lots of things that need to play out. We'll see where it goes from here. Yee haw!

Looking into a small bug on the cross corp invoice to PO section. Not for every client, but for one client, we are getting an internal 500 server error. Those are hard to debug because you don't get any real details to know what is wrong.

Russell is looking into a masters degree in MIS (management information system) from Utah State University. As part of that, Russell might be looking into an internship with Adilas to help with data warehousing and data analytics (working with totals and aggregated totals).

We were going over some of what Russell is working on (small demo). He was talking about and showed me some internal classes and being able to extend them out to the API socket level. Lots of building things on the fly and then reusing code as much as possible (internal engines and code engines). Some of the things he was showing me included automatic documentation, validation rules, preset defaults, and allowing exceptions and exclusions. Lots of layering of the data using the different classes. In a way, almost a shorthand syntax with encapsulated functionality.

As part of the demo, we were talking about how he loves making versatile tools that can do tons of different things. Building and extending classes, extending code, methods, functions, etc. Making an extendable architecture as part of the backend platform. As a fun concept, some of his API calls had some standard selection options (an API socket engine of sorts). These standard arguments could be things like sort by, return columns, restrict columns, pagination, limit by (virtual where clauses), joins, matches, contains, comparisons, like, greater than, less than, equal, in, between, group by, order by, etc.

We also went over some concepts of adding in custom code by passing it in through arguments to a function. Basically, storing small pieces of instructions (aka custom code snippets) and then using those code snippets to run the data through the dynamic normal API socket engine. This is very similar to the black box concept, only you start holding small database entries (mini instructions) in the database to provide the dynamics vs actual code changes. That concept could work with some of our needs but sometimes you just have to create custom code or custom look and feel to get the job done. Lots of moving pieces.

Back working on and looking at the cross corp invoice to PO options. I pushed up some changes and did some emails.

Working with Alan on debugging a cross corp invoice to PO process. The error ended up being in a sub loop and switching between main or parent line items and sub or child line items. Anyways, Alan figured it out and we did some testing and got it all fixed up.

I had a client join our meeting and we did some trouble shooting on his Authorize.net merchant processing account. Later, Mrs. Shari O. popped in and had a few questions. Small but productive work session this morning.

Met with Shannon to go over the tools that we use. This is some research on a topic called new school accounting. We are trying to get some information for the adilas user guide. We were reviewing some notes from yesterday about some topics that I was talking about with a buddy on a hiking trip. See this element of time for some of the details. As we were going through it, I was drawing and showing Shannon what some of the things meant. Fun session.

https://data0.adilas.biz/top_secret/time_web_gallery.cfm?corp=748&id=4736

As a side note, We had both Eric and Drea join our meeting at different times for some internal tech support type stuff. Eric had questions on showing progress bars, spinning loading images for big uploads and data sync processes. Drea had questions on rounding, discounts, with tax included, and smart group buttons (tiered pricing). We ended up going in and doing some math to help us know what was happening and going on. Lots of moving pieces. Also, we recommended to her that she talk to the client and maybe recommend using the corp-wide setting to help with invoice rounding. That way the client could have their invoices go out the door without any extra cents.

Working with Bryan for an hour and a half on getting parent attributes for part numbers. We kept running into issues and overwriting our output. I finally asked him to send me the file so that I could tinker around with it and do some of my own testing. I got it done and pushed up the new files. It took quite a bit of work. It was good to get in there and try to figure things out. Russell and Alan originally did the parent attribute section. Once it was done, I decided to add it to the getWebGeneralInventory  method as well. No one has asked for that yet, but I imagine that it is only a mater of time. Trying to be proactive.

Kinda of random day so far today. On the phone with an adilas developer going over some changes. Small bug fix for adding new parent items from a PO. On the phone with Molly, an adilas rep, going over needs and tech support stuff. Paying bills and other light tech support things.

Had a 45 minute meeting with a front end designer named Jonathan Wells. He is very talented at graphics, moving animations, and UX/UI (user interfaces, user experience and design). Super cool meeting. His portfolio is: https://designjwells.myportfolio.com/

Reached out to a new developer named Chuck. My brother Russell recommended that we touch base and get some talks going. We setup a meeting for next Monday afternoon. Chuck does a lot of frontend development work (working on the look and feel and user interface type aspects).

Working on the cross corp invoice to PO action page. We had an error reported that we needed to look in on. It ended up being that a part category name was being passed when it should have been a part category id number. Small fix.

Also, by way of a note, one of our tech support ladies called today and said that they are getting major pressure for the standard loyalty points and reward tracking system from Adilas. We have a number of clients that have custom rewards systems but are getting more and more demands for the standard tools to be released. Those files ,that project and/or code branch, have been turned over to me for code review but we haven't been able to get to it yet. There is definitely some heat and pressure starting to mount on that frontier.

Emails, tech support, and fixed a small bug on the main classic homepage. We had a developer push up some new code yesterday and it just needed a slight tweak to make it more solid. Minor fix.

Alan, Steve, and I were talking about options for servers. We were talking about the progression of client needs. Virtual machines vs standalone dedicated servers. Working with clouds, virtual environments, clusters, dedicated stacks. Pretty techy server stuff. Load management, load balancing, and turn around times for different processes (flexing both up and down).

The other topics of the day were cross corp stuff, world building (breaking apart the databases), and integrating with other or outside solutions. At some point, it may be fun if some of these outside parties try to integrate with us vs us having to integrate with them. Custom interfaces and how deep (clear into details and sub levels) things really need to go. It gets pretty crazy. You really need a platform and a highly flexible system to help handle those things.

At one point, we had Wayne join us on the meeting. Some of his questions were dealing with images and icons out in the ecommerce land area. We chatted about that and then also touched base on server options, both existing pieces (physical dedicated servers) and virtual cloud and/or AWS type environments.

Later on, we had a discussion about expanding the adilas team and who would take care of what pieces. We talked about allowing white label options to take care of specific industries and then we could focus on the general engine and upkeep of the system. We also talked about the future need of project managers, graphic designers, frontend developers, backend developers, and server/hardware guys. It is going to take a team as we keep moving forward. We are already started down some of those paths. We just need to keep minding our p's and q's. Good stuff.

Steve and I spent the rest of the meeting talking about other options with developers and what plans we wanted to activate and what things we want to sit on right now. Great conversations and we feel like we have a good plan. Here we go. Yee haw!

Back on the loyalty points, gift cards, and in-store credit project. It has been on the side lines for a couple of months. Back in looking around on the sub special account tracking project that includes the loyalty points, gift cards, etc. Took about an hour to review notes, get back to the correct branch, look around and find a spot to start back in on the project. I would call that transitioning.

Spent the rest of the time doing code review, checking, and moving forward. Started back in on the corporation special account transactions homepage.

Alan, Steve, and I were on the morning meeting. Mostly just a check-in and see how everybody was doing. Steve had a couple of questions about a loop that he was doing, but the rest of the meeting was just updating each other about current projects and such.

Code review and working on the add/edit process for manual transactions for the special account tracking (sub of the balance sheet dealing with loyalty points, rewards, gift cards, etc.).

Helped merge in some code for Eric and his Spring Big integration project. I also talked on the phone with Calvin about what is needed for the adilas label builder (sub inventory and flex grid). I then did some emails and tech support stuff.

I was supposed to work with Shannon on some user guide content but she got delayed. We did meet up, but very briefly. She has the go ahead to start working on glossary of terms with Cory.

I spent some time helping Alan with a database back-up project for a client. They (one of our clients) tweaked some settings and wanted to go back to a prior state. We have to do that through a manual database look-up and pulling data from a older back-up (manual process involving the server company). I also worked more on the special account tracking stuff. I was adding history notes for the manual updates of the special account transactions. This project is dealing with loyalty points, rewards, and gift cards.

Alan, Steve, and I were on the morning meeting. Touching base and checking in on things. Steve had some code questions about some date pickers, time pickers, and text based auto select stuff. These are all jQuery things that he is using on some of his pages. Alan and I were batting things back and forth with him to help him out. Emails and paying some bills.

Had an online meeting with Chuck. He is the department head for a local web/ecommerce department. He does a lot of stuff with WordPress and frontend layout. We talked a bit and went over a little bit of history. We are going to have him start helping us with some campground stuff. This is a small experiment and trying to expand into some different business verticals. We currently already have a number of campgrounds using adilas, we just want to put a little bit more icing on some of the flow and presentation. Anyways, Chuck's first assignment is to get with Russell and see if he can find out more about what we do and who we are. Basically, a small research project of sorts.

Shannon and I were working on some new verbage and documentation for tools that we use. We spent some time on the web/API socket section, custom web platforms, and full on world building (hybrid or super customer with everything included). I'm enjoying getting in there and adding some new content and trying to help people and users follow along with where we are going and what we have learned along this journey. Good stuff.

See this entry for some of our notes...
https://data0.adilas.biz/top_secret/time_web_gallery.cfm?corp=371&id=4029

On the GoToMeeting session with Bryan. We went over a number of questions for some things that he is doing with Full Circle 365 (custom dual platform integration). We merged in code and pushed it to all servers. We also spent some time talking about the pros and cons of allowing line item locations. Normally, we only allow a single PO to pull from a single location. This would be allowing PO's, invoices, and quotes to push/pull inventory from any locations. Currently, we encourage inventory transfers to keep the paper trail correct. Some companies are wanting to skip that step and we are trying to decide if we will let them or not. We talked about a possible corp-wide setting that allows them to do it if they wish (pass the responsibility to them, as a company). I took some notes and told Bryan that we need to hold off and run it by Steve and see what he says.