In this chapter, an example of the type of problem that often leads to the development of a small business application is introduced. That is, to make available to many the data currently restricted to a small number of people. Some of the decisions and processes that a developer needs to consider and complete, before starting to create a new application is described. In particular, how to organize the data, define named objects, and start considering how users will interact with the data. Whilst developing small business applications, I have found it important to involve the end users throughout the development process and therefore user involvement is introduced here too. At the end of this chapter, we will be ready to move on to the creation of the application itself.

Chapter 2: The Initial Problem A Normal Day in the Office Examining the Data Data Objects Database Table Design Rules Separating the Data Naming Conventions Use Meaningful Names Use a Consistent Naming Convention Ruby on Rails Naming Conventions Constants and Classes Variables Methods and Properties Special Method and Property Suffixes Reserved Words Back to the Data Review the Result Project Preparation Steps How Good is the Source Data? Tracking Who does What No Log-On and No Authentication Simple Password Access User Log-On Recording Access History Access Control for Rory's Application Data Validation The Minimum Required Data is Entered Each Record can be Uniquely Identified Identify Fields that Need to Have a Particular Format References to Data in Other Tables Point to Actual Data Rory's Data Person Company Address Summary

Paperback 528 pages Released: October 2007 ISBN: 1847190855 ISBN 13: 978-1-847190-85-7

View the book details on PacktPub.com