Shandy's Blog

I've had a week to play around with Axosoft's OnTime 2005 Beta and so far I have been pretty impressed. I have restricted myself to the Windows version to start with (but have just downloaded the VS Add-In too so more of that in a few days)

The download is around 12Meg. The installation was seamless and took less than a minute. When it was first run you will need to connect to a database. I used my existing OnTime 2004 database. This required the database to be updated and so I backed up my existing OnTime 2004 database first (using Enterprise Manager). The updating took a couple of minutes. A license key was then required (supplied on the web site) and then an activation key. I tried to do this over the internet using my proxy server settings but this did not work. I posted on the 2005 Beta forum and received a response indicating it was a known issue. The response asked me to email onTime support, which I did and I then received an email back with the location of an updated download. I downloaded this and tried to install the new download but I got an error message indicating that onTime 2005 was already installed. So I removed the OnTime 2005 installation via Add/Remove Programs and tried the install again. Success! So a few glitches but nothing out of the ordinary for a Beta product ;-) I have reported a number of errors to the Axosoft support team but nothing that is actually preventing me from using the Beta product for my day to day usage.

The task feature is nice and follows the same sort of windows layout and idea as the defect and feature screens. I'd have desparately liked a hierarchical task system but as this is the first time OnTime has included tasks its probably a good idea to start with a relatively simple version. You can attach a task to either a feature or defect. I'd have really liked this to have been multiple defects/features as a task for me is often test latest version and I'd like to have related all the recent modifications to that task so that I know what to test. But the task system is useful and I am already using it:)

Another feature I really like is the multi-edit. This allows you to alter a few set fields by selecting multiple records from the list. It saves having to open each record individually and is a real time saver. Nice work guys!

The multi column sorting is also very useful.

I've still not had chance to check out the workflow, templates or reports and the email notification is not really relevant in a single user installation. Hopefully I'll have a look at these items over the next few days.

The Beta application is due to run until March 15th. The good news is that Axosoft have confirmed via their forum that the Windows/Web/VS versions will all be free for single users (like myself) :-D Suffice to say so far so good and I am still going to be a strong advoate of OnTime if this Beta is anything to go by.

Sometimes I despair. There are many things in life that should be really simple and yet obsticals are constantly placed in the way. I'll give you an example. When we got back to Colombo after the tsunami my wife went down to the British Council and put her name down for any volunteer work. Now my wife has no medical skills (other than the fact she was a dental nurse for a few years), construction skills etc. but has a lot of time on her hands and really wanted to help out. We have even offered to short term foster and filled in the forms etc. required. Needless to say, despite chasing up several times noone has got back to her. Fair enough, I can understand there are many issues with fostering that could complicate matters.

However, my wife was persistant and decided yesterday to contact one of aid points with a red cross on it that are situated across Colombo. And yes they did need volunteers. Great I here you say? Wrong I reply. Apparently they only want rich volunteers. It costs 50,000 rupees (around £250) to register as a volunteer. My wife has no income and I certainly don't have that sort of money lying around. I have no problem stumping up money to cover and administration to register my wife but £250 quid? Is this normal? If it is I think there is something very, very wrong with the way in which people are trying to help tsunami victims. All my wife wants to do is offer some of her time to help people...

I had a very nice Valentine's day evening, spent in the apartment, with my wife (thought I'd best clarify that), a bottle of very acceptable Chillean wine (my favorite), an excellent meal of beans, bangers and mash (another favorite) and some pot.

Now a couple of things may need clarifying here ;-)

Beans, bangers and mash is a pretty traditional English meal where the bangers are simply sausages. A welcome respite from the Sri Lankan food I have over here ;-) Sri Lanka sausages are, how can I put this? Well to be honest bloody awful so our sausages are Australian and very tasty and with not even the vaguest hint of chicken in them. And before I get a deluge of emails from other ex-pats in Colombo wanting to know where you can get Australian sausage from in Colombo I will put the record straight and say these came directly from Australia and my source must remain a secret ;-)

And the pot? That would be the two plant pots I bought for my wife as a Valentine's day present so she could re-pot her spring onions and tomato plants :-D Who said romance was dead?