{"id":180,"date":"2010-01-20T03:45:11","date_gmt":"2010-01-20T09:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/legacy\/?page_id=180"},"modified":"2011-12-21T09:36:02","modified_gmt":"2011-12-21T15:36:02","slug":"experts","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/legacy\/getting-started\/experts","title":{"rendered":"Advice for the m-Power Newbie from the m-Power Experts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- Begin Content --><\/p>\n<h1>Advice for the m-Power Newbie&#8230; from the m-Power Experts<\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li class=\"padleft\">Initial Success\n<ol style=\"list-style-type:lower-alpha\">\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Make the first project a fat, slow pitch down the middle of the plate, so you can hit a solid single on your first swing!\n<ol style=\"list-style-type:lower-roman\">\n<li class=\"padleft5\">Make it visible to lots of important people.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft5\">Allow yourself time to experiment and play while you build the application.  This way, you can lock in what you learn.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft5\">The success you earn on the first project will build good will toward future projects from management and the user community.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Don&#39;t over-stretch at the beginning.  Singles, Doubles, and then Home Runs.  Play for long term success.  A series of small successes that build one upon another will do much to build confidence and self-reliance.  If business conditions\/projects require over-stretching, call in the bullpen.  mrc can help through a consulting or mentoring program until you can put yourself in a position to play for long term success.\n<ol style=\"list-style-type:lower-roman\">\n<li class=\"padleft5\">Start with simple reports and retrievals. (Singles)<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft5\">Step up to summaries, advanced reporting, and simple maintenance. (Doubles)<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft5\">Graduate to heavy maintenance. (Home Runs)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft\">Screen Design\n<ol style=\"list-style-type:lower-alpha\">\n<li class=\"padleft3\">With m-Power, design is now the crucial aspect in application development, not coding.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Use the m-Power Application Design Sheet.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Draw the screens roughly on paper with only general info.  This should reveal a total screen count and provide an idea of the total project size\/scope.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Refine those screens with table\/field\/logic info.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Decide which table is the primary driver of each screen or screen section.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Decide which application type and template should be used for each screen.  Several small apps might need to be pieced together (using m-Power&#39;s Import feature) to create complex screens.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft\">Data First, Paint Last\n<ol style=\"list-style-type:lower-alpha\">\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Use m-Power to create the basic screens with a mind for getting the screen flow and the data right, with little regard for appearance.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Ensure that you get the data accurate on the screen first, testing the different scenarios\/parameters.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Then paint the screen for necessary functionality.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Finally, paint the screen for look.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Make backups of heavily-painted screens.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft\">Be Flexible\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Maybe the template choices do not match exactly what you&#39;d like to create.  Choose the one that is closest to your needs and then plan to modify the generated result with m-Painter.  Use the Import and AJAX features to fill-in-the-gaps and get exactly what is needed.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Use external objects where necessary to include specific business logic.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Think like a business person, not like a programmer.  The business person imagines how to accomplish the main goals fast; the programmer sometimes buries himself in the smallest details.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft\">Design User-Friendly Screens\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Web screens with small data sets are easier to digest.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Create drill-downs to see the details behind the higher level views, passing key values to the lower level to see details.  Keep those data sets small also.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Create simple screens that execute fast, even if it leads to more screens.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Spend your time wisely, by allocating most of your time on the screens that are used the most by end users.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft\">Consider m-Power Services\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Training \u2013 mrc offers a basic 3-day training class and custom classes for more advanced topics.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Hotline \u2013 if you run into a problem, the mrc Hotline is staffed by knowledgeable m-Power application consultants who can help you get back on track.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Mentoring \u2013 An m-Power consultant can work side-by-side with you at any stage of the project to help guide you to success.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Consulting \u2013 mrc can do the work for you to efficiently deliver outstanding Web applications.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft\">Mindset\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Do not let yourself get frustrated.  With a tool like m-Power that can create screens so quickly, it is easy to get frustrated if you reach a stumbling point.  Reconsider your design.  If you can&#39;t imagine how to achieve what you need, please consider our mentoring services; our consultants have done it all with m-Power already.<\/li>\n<li class=\"padleft3\">Enjoy your success.  When you finish a screen or an application, take a few moments and consider how long it took.  Compare that versus a traditional method of application development.  Then, smile.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><!-- End Content --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advice for the m-Power Newbie&#8230; from the m-Power Experts &nbsp; Initial Success Make the first project a fat, slow pitch down the middle of the plate, so you can hit a solid single on your first swing! Make it visible to lots of important people. Allow yourself time to experiment and play while you build [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":58,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-180","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7095,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/180\/revisions\/7095"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/58"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}