Suggestion

If you are going to develop on STARLIMS i highly suggest you familiarize yourself with the interface and how it works first.

Positive starlims

As negative as I may seem at times about the app it does allow someone to tailor it, which puts it 10 steps farther than most.

Starlims Fun

So I'm sitting here with my fellow coder, who between the two of us we've probably got 30, maybe 40 of formal coding experience and we're frustrated.  See, Starlims v10 has all these neat, nifty ways to see the designer and its contents.  I mean we've got color coded code.  Nice crisp blue and red for starlims code (SSL) and different hues for Jscript.

Of course, we were trying to simply figure out how it had loaded a link list with data and that took, oh about an hour to figure its code check in and check out maze.  Hmmm, not the most intuitive necessarily or maybe I just haven't had enough coffee?  *shrugs*

We did finally figure it out, of course.  Through old fashioned trial and error.  You, know, click until you break something!  Which we did and found our answer.

So to get an application open, it looks like you:

• Pull up the item in the Applications Explorer Pane
• Which pulls it up in the XFD Design surface and editors pane
• Then you find it in the Workspace Explorer Pane and right click to "check out" the item
• Which puts you back in the XFD Design surface and editors pane with something you can edit

Simple as pi!

And, of course, the Using Starlims v10 IDE.pdf that comes with programs says, and I quote:

"With STARLIMS v10 ENTERPRISE DESIGNER you can do the following very easy and intuitively, with reduced development time and effort..."

Sigh.

since I feel like bitching...

like it says.

I always wonder why the hell they can't get someone to spell check their damn books.  I mean  few typos and grammatical mix ups are part and parcel of any kind of writing.  I don't mind a few and give generous allowance.  When it gets pathetic I start getting annoyed.  And pathetic, to me, means I start seeing one or more typos per page, page after page, in a professional document.

Really?  Come one!

random thoughts about the XFD

While I'm thinking about it (and yes, all these posts may show up in one day since i'm regenerating notes that I previously lost due to idiots) the XFD does have a few points I like.

The ability to mass comment or uncomment was seriously lacking in previous editions and having it now is pleasant.  Not too mention setting bookmarks.  geeze.  It took them forever to update this product but at least they have put in a nice thing or two.

Of course, in opposite to that, its obvious the version they sent me was in process of completion since its full of bugs.  Just like last time.

hmmm, first things first

Well, since I started down this road a few years ago, I've thought more than once I would document my time spent hammering my head against our LIMS software.

Guess the time has come.

I've administered, updated, coded and complained about a starlims v9 implementation for nearly 6 years.  Its been...a journey.  One I'm about to repeat, it looks like, as we migrate to a v10 app.

Of course, in typical fashion I was given no support, by my agency or otherwise (looking at all you'll dammit!) so I'm going it alone.

crossing my fingers that the installation will be more sunny than the past.