Project Objective V Function, Function and more Function:

Make the process as simple and complex as possible. Use special programs to mimic business processes that cannot be reduced to drag and drop relationships.

Making the processing of information easy is always the goal. Creating a consistent interface so the user learns just one method is always the goal. Getting to a reasonable compromise between these conflicting goals requires thinking outside of the normal program interface. Sometimes a business process is too complex or overly structured to be fit into the normal drag and drop methodology. In these situations we use special programs to facilitate the easy entry of information. We call the special program section Reports.

To manage these conflicts UDS invented the separate program for all printing and special functions. Some applications like invoicing work very well in a modified drag and drop environment. Other applications like payroll required much special programming. Make the special situations separate executables.

Windows is an excellent development environment for visual application but as applications programmers it seems that printing to a printer or fax or email was an after thought to the system programmers at Microsoft. The least reliable process in Windows is the printing process. Also it seems that if anything can go wrong in printing is frequently does.

Because it is less manageable, separate the printing from the main UDS system. The concept of calling separate programs from within the UDS main system has worked very well.

By design a print program can crash or not function properly but the main UDS ActiveApplications will continue to run. This also creates easy opportunities for special programs, forms and reports. Built into the project is the ability to add or change parts of the programs without affecting the main business process.