Gathering

Gen APIs

The Gen encyclopedia has a C API as we know, and it has an automation component which runs (only against locally downloaded models).
I said in this post  last year that it would be a great idea if there was a Java API for the encyclopedia.

Of course, I didn’t think about the other obvious candidate  – a .NET API

It seems that someone in QAT has had sort of the same ideas, since in their new blog  – specifically this post, they talk about generating (presumably for internal use) a .NET wrapper for the C API.

The article is the first of a series (hence the “….Part 1″ in the title) which I’ll be watching out for.

Response Systems’ Presentation

As I write, Malcolm Tharnaby is concluding his presentation about the Response Systems‘ product QA Console from within Second Life.

Malcolm presented an overview of the productivity tool that can check your CA-Gen code and verify that it follows standards and, more importantly, perhaps, look for potential issues in your code.

He explained that after the product has QA Checked your Gen code, one of the aims of the product is to make the “thing” that has failed the QA check as clear as possible – even to the extent that the tool could automatically correct it for you – he gave an example of view reordering.

Thats a great productivity gain for developers and ultimately increases CA Gen‘s position as a seriously productive toolset.

There are a plethora of reporting options contained within the tool and all of them are configurable in many ways, enough for developers to actually pinpoint the source of the problem rather than a generalist statement.

There are many QA checks which come as built-in with the tool but they can also be site-specific and built yourself with the QA Console SDK.

The second part of the presentation showed us how to create a custom check for use with QA Console, and how its important to understand the underlying encyclopedia structure in order to do this effectively – Malcolm showed us that Response Systems’ knowledge of the encyclopedia is extensive.

I’d like to thank Malcolm for his time, and know that the attendees will want to thank him too.

I learnt a lot – not just about the tools being demoed, but the CSE and HE encyclopedia too – there’s knowledge in this presentation that’s valuable!

Remember that the video, audio and a copy of the slides will be posted here and on the EDGE an Response Systems’ sites in a few days time…. keep watching!

Don’t forget Wednesday !

As detailed here, on Wednesday 4th February 2009 at 9pm UK Time, at the Gen Village, Response Systems will be presenting their QA Console product – don’t forget you need Quicktime installed and running to hear the audio and visuals and benefit from this presentation..

to the Gen Village

Response Systems enters the Gen Village

On Wednesday 4th February Tuesday 27^th January at 9:00 PM UK time, at the Gen Village, there will be a session from Response Systems on its new QA Console software. The one hour presentation will show how the QA Console integrates into Response Systems’ existing browser software – Access Gen – and will also reveal the basic encyclopedia principles behind developing your own Custom QA Checks within the QA Console framework. All you need to attend is the Second Life software and your own online avatar. Visit http://gathering.gentalk.biz/ for further information and instructions on how to join this growing online community.

For further details on how the QA Console can be used to develop your own complete QA Solution leveraging your current in-house Gen skills without reliance on third parties, visit http://www.response-systems.com/solutions/qa/ or email info@response-systems.com.

Christmas is here.. what would you want ?

Christmas is here – what would you like to have as a feature of CA-Gen ? What would you like it to do ? What would be the best thing to happen to the toolset?

For one, I’d like better explanatory text in the error messages (within the online help) – sometimes, you stumble across a runtime error that you’d not had before, and need more immediate help – the online help needs a little revamping to be more explanatory – that would be a simple, easy, “do-able” Christmas present !