A very Useful Feature in Code OnTime (COT) – Discovery of Relationships

I wanted to share this with the COT community – a very very useful insight for all businesses to consider.  I am a technologist by profession and experience; setup my own company to make it big through my R&D capabilities.  But right now I am trying to come to terms with manpower matters in finding ways to ramp up their skill.  

I have been trying various permutations and combinations when I found COT on the horizon.  Felt that this could help me meet my customer expectations because there will not be any bugs any more.  But, to my displeasure I found my fresher team taking a long time to learn various nuances of COT; while I tried to push their knowledge levels by helping them in so many ways I could not understand why it is taking so long for them.  As usual, I decided that they are slow learners. 

Then I was dismayed that my nth experiment with PRODUCTIVITY failed once again.  My people were good, sincere but still……..  However, I did not lose hope on COT.

Continued to maintain interest and discovered one more fact that COT’s Partner Community has not been increasing.  Wondered why without much input from other parties.

Meanwhile, I lost several business opportunities over 10 months that came my way as COT’s partner trying to ramp up my team.  

As a last resort, I have decided to take things into my hand to test my own capability in building an application all alone working with COT.  After all that is what it promises a business user.  I must be able to do a reasonably simple application within the required time of a customer because I am experienced in understanding customer requirements.  Rest of the job anyway will be done by COT if I show it the right database - that was my assumption.

I went through a torrid time of testing my own ability to develop this neat little app with my pride of understanding customer requirements well.  I knew I had to show the right database to COT, in the process I fell sick, went into depression, patted myself and brought my spirits up in attempting to do that one right thing.  I could do it only after 10 days of agonizing time.  The application came out right! 

Initially I failed because I kept foreign key relationships all over the place among entities without really understanding.  Could not really fathom why COT is building so many unnecessary fields in the controller.  When I try to delete even one of them it goes into tizzy - throws up lots of Unfathomable Errors.  And ...... I could not recover out of those errors.  

I know about software development and change management inside out.  I am very skillful at it; but man, I could not get this small little process under control by myself.  Had to change the db design at least 7 to 8 times in 10 days.  Missed my development team badly then. 

Then I remembered my developers who always used to tell me – that the database designs must come very right. Then only development will happen correctly.  Whenever I questioned them on their ability they used to answer me like this.  Could not appreciate them then.  Now I know guys, you are right.  I was SLOW in LEARNING this.

Friends ! – COT discovers relationships among entities.  You must LET IT discover them and make use of them.  Then only it works correctly.  If you do not let this process do its work by building virtual keys, build its read-only memory, system variables and all that (I read about these at least 6-7 times to comprehend them), you are in for trouble with your application.  This process will really ease your app development.

Put your best man on this job of designing your core database very correctly.  I promise that the rest of your life will become simple.  If you do not do this, you will continue to struggle even with COT and wonder why you are not reaping its benefits.  

And lastly DO NOT blame your employees whoever they are that they are low skilled.  They have their weaknesses like all of us.  But where we have to listen to them we have to.

Thanks to COT - it made me rediscover my dear development teams.

Have a good time with COT – the CodeOnTime; it is a truly great tool.

Tags on COT’s knowledge base - many-to-many relationships, denormalization, discovery of relationships