Author: Gary Sherman

Chief Technology Officer, Vice President of Products

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Posts by Gary Sherman:

Trailing wildcards fail to %MATCH% text at the end of the field on Oracle9i

December 4, 2007 Kevin ran into a weird Oracle issue this week in one of his tests.Setup: I have case id 275 with a case_history of "case is in queue SUPPORT" Query:select count(*) from table_case where id_number = '275' and case_history like %SUPPOR%'This query returns 1 row, as expected. Query:select count(*) from table_case where id_number = '275' and case_history like %SUPPORT%'This query returns 0 rows. I was expecting it to return 1 row.I don't understand why the 2nd query doesn't return the expected row.I would have expected that the percent character would have matched to zero or more characters.The problem happens on Oracle 9. Everything works as expected in Oracle 10.Can anyone explain this behavior?

New office, new phone number

November 30, 2007 We (Dovetail Software) moved offices this week. Of course we're still in Austin. We actually only moved a few miles from our old office. It's a much nicer space. The views are beautiful, and our agile development team rooms are much nicer than our old one. Once we get things unpacked and setup, I'll post some pics. We also changed phone systems. Our new main number is 512-610-5400. My new direct dial line is 512-610-5466.

Testing Auto-Destination Rules?

November 27, 2007 Has anyone written a tool to test auto-destination rules?In the past, I've created a rule, imported it with dataex, and then had to manually create a workflow object (such as a case) that met the auto-dest criteria, and see if it worked in the clarify client.Then I would have to repeat for each branch of the rule.I've been thinking about some sort of testing tool to be able to do this, but wanted to see if anyone had already done something like this before.So, anyone?Thanks!

Commitment warnings and escalations – only by email?

It seems like Rulemanager sends all commitment notifications (warnings and escalations) via email.It does not seem to honor the notification preferences of the user (Pager, Notifier, etc.).Is this true?If so, is there a way to have commitment notifications honor the user’s notification preferences?

Snackbyte: Implementation services should include source-code control

November 15, 2007 This is just a little snackbyte that I was thinking about today: Implementation services should include source-code control. Meaning, when a vendor helps a customer with implementation of the vendors product, part of the service should include source-code control. Not maybe. Not an extra cost. It's just part of the deal. Our implementations include custom web pages, config files, schema change files, dat files, etc. These should all be under version control. If the customer has an existing source code control system, great - use it. If not, put one in place. Subversion is free, is easy to use, and works great. Show the customer the value and ease of using a good source code control product. Just another way to add value to the customer. And when everyone starts doing this - take it to the next level. How…

Automatic Subcase Creation

November 14, 2007 While working with a customer this week, they asked about automatic subcase creation, similar to Clarify's Task Manager module. For example, if a new case of type "New Employee" is created, then I want to automatically create 3 subcases: One subcase for setting up network accounts, dispatched to the network queue One subcase for ordering office furniture, dispatched to the furniture queue One subcase for ordering a new computer, dispatched to the hardware queue This is easily accomplished with a business rule and a simple script. The script A simple PowerShell script (my favorite new scripting environment) which takes 1 input parameter (a case id number), and then calls the CreateSubcase API that is part of the Dovetail SDK to create subcases and dispatch them to the appropriate queue. $connectionString = "Data Source=moorea;Initial Catalog=dovetail;uid=gary;pwd=not4youris"; $databaseType =…

Migrate a business rule from one database to another

November 13, 2007 I was working with a customer today, and they mentioned that one task that is problematic for them is moving business rules from their test database into the production database. Currently, the business rule is manually created via the Clarify Client in the test instance, and then when its all working, it is then again manually re-entered into the production. Manual re-entry is a point of potential failure. The rule may have been perfect in test, but a simple typo when re-entering it in production can cause havoc.One solution to this issue is to archive the business rule using ArchiveManager or dataex from the test database, and then use ArchiveManager or dataex to import it into production.Business RuleFirst, I created a new business rule in my test system:Object Type:CaseRule Name/Description:New Employee RequestStart Event:DispatchCancel Events:NoneConditions:Case Type = New EmployeeAction Title:Create SubcasesMessage…

Firing Business Rules based on the business hours of a queue

November 6, 2007 One of our customers posed an interesting problem to me this week. They have offices in different locations, in different time zones, with different business hours. The employees in these offices work on different hours from one another, meaning that while one group is working, another group is not working, and vice-versa. The issue comes in when one group dispatches a case to a queue to be worked by the other group. More specifically, the issue is when the queue members should get notified by RuleManager. If the queue members are off-hours, then they should get notified as soon as their next work day starts. Seems like it should be straight-forward. Let's give it a go. First Try Let's create a specific test example to illustrate the notification process. I created two sites, the Texas Support Center (in CST), and…

What we need is a user story

October 31, 2007 There was an interesting discussion this week over on the Clarify IT Toolbox list - interesting (to me) not so much because of the technical question, but because how it brings to light user stories, or lack thereof. The original question: How Can I custimize the process of "Accepting" a case. I want to have a msgbox before a case is accepted. Some of the discussion: what is your customisation exactly ? what will appear in your msg box ? I just want to display a message Box before a case is accepted.msgbox can contain any text message like "Hello". Do you want the message box to appear before the accept dialogue appears? "Before a case moves to the default wipbin (because I am having only one wip bin), a msgbox with some text should poped up." You still fail…

My free resume tip of the day: include your contact information

October 29, 2007 I received a resume today from someone looking for a job. It was forwarded from a job search board. His resume has his name, but no contact info. Not a phone number, email address, website, physical address - nothing. Guess who won't be getting a call from me. I know it sounds ridiculous, but this isn't the first time this has happened either. I've received similar resumes in the past. Unreal. Got Clarify Skills? Anyway, if your resume includes your contact info, your Clarify skills are kickin', and you'd like to work with great developers, community leaders, Agile VPs, extraordinary testers, and me, in one of the coolest cities in our land, tell me why you'd make a great addition to our technical team, helping us develop and support our customers.

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