In the beginning, we programmed computers with toggle switches and punched cards. Next came the command line interface (CLI) and today’s graphical user interace (GUI). Before long, there will be brain computer interaces (BCI), but for today, we’re faced with GUIs.

Anyone involved in software development, training, or support spends a great deal of time discussing what is on, or what will go on, a computer screen. A well-designed set of screens expose not only the application’s features, they steer users toward using the right feature at the right time. A very well designed application will even display screens with error messages that actually pinpoint the problem.

Many UI discussions take place remotely or asynchronously. The other end of the discussion is either not in the room or not available while the display is on your screen. If someone is not looking over your shoulder, an actual screen shot can be the best way to get your point across.

On the Windows platform, Ctrl+PrntScrn and Paint is still a screen-capture option, but adding comments to a screen in Paint is too much like work. A number of screen capture utilities have rushed in to fill the gap, including SnagIt and FireShot, among many others.

I like FireShot for it’s simplicity. It’s available for FireFox and Internet Explorer. The easiest way to get started is to snag the free FireFox plugin at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5648/. (I’ve never been able to get IE versions to work myself.)

Once installed, FireShot puts a friendly [S] icon at the end of the address bar. Select the icon (or pressing the hotkey Ctrl+Alt+Z) and FireShot will capture the contents of your browser’s screen, either the current view or full page. With any capture, you have the options of saving, editing, copying, printing, or emailing. You can even open up the capture in an external editor.

I find the internal FireShot editor intuitive to use. It’s easy to overlay the screen capture with arrows and boxes with your own comments, and save the result.

One key feature lacking in the free version is the ability to save files for future editing. A project file format, and much more is part of the professional version, Screenshot Studio ($60).

Screen shots are indispensable when submitting bug reports or creating training manuals for any browser-based application. If you don’t have a screen capture utility on board now, fire up Mozilla and snag yourself a copy of FireShot.

Apache HTTPD has been the Internet’s most popular web server since 1996, and the worldwide Apache Software Foundation conferences are well known for providing hardcore technical data around Apache HTTPD and some of the other fifty-odd ASF projects. Along with the usual bits and bytes, ApacheCon NA 2010 (Nov 1-5, Atlanta GA) is broadening its scope with Content Technology, Business, and Community tracks. Other tracks Tomcat, Lucene, NoSQL, Tuscany, OSGi, Enterprise Java, Commons, Mahout, and Hadoop, and, of course, HTTPD.

I’ll be presenting an updated version of my Open Source Secret Sauce presentation on Thu, Nov 4, 2010, at 4p, as part of the Community track. OSSS discusses how volunteer open-source projects create and maintain so many compelling, competitive products, and asks “What is the Open Source Secret Sauce?”

The presentation covers

• Why open source matters,
• How open source development works at the ASF, and
• What makes open source projects successful.
  If you caught the OSSS presentation at BlueTie or FOSSCon 2010, and have any suggestions, drop me a line.

This will be my fifth ApacheCon, and I’m looking forward to another whirlwind of war stories, brain dumps, and social goodness.

A growing twist in web application requirements is a request for compatibility with mobile phones, especially iPhones. Of course, Apple’s latest touchscreen device, the iPad, is #2 on everyone’s list, with a bullet.

The good news is that modern mobile devices are also using modern browsers. Supporting the iPad is not much different than supporting Safari on a Mac. But here are some gotchas to keep in mind if mobile support comes up in your next web requirements meeting.

• No Flash support - Many sites sprinkle in Flash a little sizzle and some others can’t function without it. Most mobile devices, like the iPad, don’t support Flash. If mobile support is important, don’t require Flash to access key features.

• Sketchy online office support - Many online office environments, like Google Docs and Zoho, use controls that are not being supported with the iPad out of the box. If an online office is part of your web site mix, be sure to call out restrictions for iPad users.

• Smaller screens at standard resolution - Today, most web site are designing around a 1024x768 resolution, which is supported by netbooks and many mobile devices. But, don’t push the resolution envelope, or you will start to lose the bleeding edge. Also be sure that visual elements and typefaces are not so small as to be inscrutible on a smaller screen.

Otherwise, most web applications should be good to go with the latest and greatest in mobile technologies.

Who knows, before long, users may be surfing your site from an actual surfboard!

ASI watchers may have noticed an uptick in patches lately. That’s no fluke says Mark Breland of ASI. It’s all part of an initiative to shorten development cycles and put code improvements into the field sooner.

One offshoot of that development initiative is ASI’s plans to open source its IBO product. iBO (iMIS Business Objects) is the standard way to integrate iMIS with other products or one-off customizations.

ASI is working with its partners community version of iBO. Following up on a recent webinar, ASI has invited several interested volunteers to form a steering committee to manage an open source community product spun off from the current iBO code base. Five volunteers were on the kickoff call – Bruce Wilson (McGladrey), Randy Richter (Association Technology Solutions), Jason Voccia (Computer System Innovations), Ted Husted (NimbleUser), and Troy Stenback (ASI Consulting) – along with Mark Breland of ASI.

The working plan is that ASI will donate the code and host a repository and case management system, and provide a collaborative space for the project. ASI will continue to maintain its own “enterprise” version separately, and the ASI version will be the only code base supported by ASI itself. Meanwhile, the steering committee will have full control over the “community” version, leaving us free to apply whatever patches or improvements to the “community” version as we deem fit.

While some of the volunteers (including myself) are concerned about creating a “fork” of the iBO code base, we came to see it as a stepping stone toward a more complete open source model. Our hope is that ASI will adopt our fixes and improvements into the “enterprise” version, and also supply patches to the “community” version, to help the code bases remain in sync. Initially, =each code base would be maintained separately, and ASI will remain in complete control of the official “enterprise” version.

The committee’s hope is that once we prove ourselves, we might be able to reunite the codebases in the future. But, in the meantime, we are eager to make the best use of the enterprise/community model.

Our next steps are to draft our “Rules of Engagement”, setup a mailing list, and look to ASI to setup the repository and case tracking tools, and settle some of the loose ends with Legal. I caught the short straw for drafting the Rules, but I can draw on experience with open source projects like Apache Struts and the Jakarta Commons, to help give us a solid starting point.

As a note, there are similarities between the Open iBO initiatve and the origin of Apache Tomcat. Sun originally donated a Java plugin to the Apache Software Foundation. Under the name “Tomcat”, the ASF extended and rewrote the codebase, and over the years, the ASF grew the product into a full-featured web server. A recent market survey indicates that today Tomcat has a 64% market share (http://ztrek.blogspot.com/2007/10/bea-oracle-market-share.html).

Keep watch here for further news about Open Source iBO. I’m looking forward to living through some “interesting times” with ASI.
-Ted.

The International Institute of Business Analysis is an independent non-profit professional association serving the growing field of Business Analysis and is for individuals working in a broad range of roles – business analysis, systems analysis, requirements analysis or management, project management, consulting, process improvement, and more.

The 2010/2011 kickoff meeting for the Rochester NY chapter will be held on Wednesday, September 8, from 5:30p to 7p, at NimbleUser, 656 Kreag Road, Pittsford NY 14534

Refreshments will be provided with a $5 to $10 suggested donation. Assorted sandwiches, soda and dessert will be served.

The meeting will include a Study Group Orientation along with a review of the application process for the CBAP® professional certification.

For more, or to register, visit the chapter web site.

If you are interested in what the IIBA® Rochester Chapter has to offer or becoming CBAP® certified, please check us out on line at: Professional Development. We are accepting membership to the Rochester Chapter as well.

Membership benefits and advantages are outlined online. For more information, please visit our membership page: Membership.

If you have any questions about the chapter or the IIBA please contact us atinfo@rochesterny.theiiba.org.