Hybrid CDTs: The Final Chapter

Years ago, I published a series of articles on a data modeling technique I named "Hybrid CDT". If you're not familiar with the concept and are curious you can find them here:

1. Implementing a “Hybrid CDT” (9/3/2009)
2. Implementing a Hybrid CDT – Update (11/8/2009)
3. Hybrid CDT's and Cloning (4/19/2010) 
4. Hybrid CDT, Cloning, and Click™ Portal 5.8.x (2/22/2012)

But wait! With the release of Huron Portal 8.1, none of what I wrote matters any more. This is because Portal 8.1 introduces a new feature that allows you to get all the capabilities the Hybrid CDTs delivered with a single setting.

Momentum is a beautiful thing

It’s been nearly a year since my last post and a lot of great things have happened. I last spoke about the challenges around building a packaged solution for a market accustomed to having complete flexibility to tailor software to meet unique institutional requirements. While those challenges remain, it’s worth noting that there’s a not so subtle shift in market expectations that’s starting to happen.

Custom solutions with shrink-wrap dreams

I’ve been involved in the business of research administration through the provision of software and services since the old Webridge days and I can honestly say it’s a great place to spend my time. I’ve often been struck, however, with the wide variety of approaches all aimed at meeting the same set of compliance and business objectives. As much as the market is shaped by regulation and compliance guidelines, each institution is able to determine on their own how best to meet the internal business demands while remaining compliant. I recall, many years ago, a visit to an institution where there was distinct pride in fostering a “cowboy culture”. I applaud the desire to innovate and build a better mousetrap as there is always need to improve and adapt to an ever changing world. However, this does make life interesting in a number of ways.

Thoughts on integration

First let me say thanks to everyone who attended the annual C3 User Group Conference this week. It was great to see you all and share new ideas. The energy and excitement was contagious as always. I look forward to this event every year and this year didn’t disappoint. You are the reason.

At the conference, a major conversation theme was how best to address the integration challenge. This topic was so popular we even altered the conference agenda to make room for an entire session that allowed us to explore the challenges and approaches related to addressing the need to integrate the different solutions in a meaningful way.

The road from Starter Sites to Products

Over the past 10 years, Click (Huron) has established a solid track record of providing software and services that enable research institutions to improve operational efficiency, capture critical data, achieve and sustain accreditation, and service the needs of the research community. Over that time, we’ve also learned a lot about what it takes to accomplish those goals. Our base Click Portal platform has evolved significantly over that time as we continue to identify ways to better meet demand and institutions have been able to benefit from these improvements by simply upgrading to the latest software. We also continually hone our best practices in application design and implementation patterns, but unfortunately these advancements have been significantly more difficult to realize for existing customers. This is due primarily to our reliance on what we’ve called “Starter Sites”. Starter Sites are fully configured solutions that serve as a point of departure for a custom implementation. Think of it as a head start on your custom site. The model works well but assumes that all future development is the responsibility of each institution in partnership with Click Professional Services. Advancements in the starter site can only be realized in your site through custom development. In December of 2011 we began to chart a new course that aims to change this reality through the introduction of products.

Crafting your own document upload form

Extranet 5.6 introduced some nice enhancements to how documents are presented, including the ability to avoid the use of the standard document form altogether. Not forcing the user to use a popup window when all they want to do is upload a document is a nice improvement, but what if you really want to collect additional data that describes the document? You could certainly use the standard document form, but if the meta-data you wish to collect is different than the information collected on that form, what do you do?

Make your own document form, of course!

Let me show you how…

Avoidable Pitfalls when using Custom Data Types

Custom Data Types (CDTs) are a powerful and critical part of any Click(tm) Portal implementation. When used correctly they provide the means of defining robust Object Models. When used incorrectly, however, they can be a source of subtle problems that are difficult to diagnose and painful to correct.

Hybrid CDT, Cloning, and Click™ Portal 5.8.x

The previous post of how properly handle Hybrid CDTs during the clone process described the implementation targeted at Click™ Portal 5.6.x and 5.7.x. Click™ Portal 5.8 introduced a new implementation of the clone capability which requires a different approach to support Hybrid CDTs.

Click Happenings, January 2012 Edition

Life is a blur here in Beaverton. So many exciting things are happening. There was little time to recover from a whirlwind 2011 before we jumped head first into 2012. I thought I’d highlight a few of the notable efforts….

Tech Tip: Changing the data type of a custom attribute

When updating your object model, many of the changes are simple such as adding new attributes to existing types, adding new types, and changing display names of attributes. These kinds of changes can be done directly via the normal check-out, make the change, check-in approach. The Type System in Click Portal will gracefully accommodate the change. Not all types of change are that easy though. The one that I wan to spend time on in this post surfaced in two separate instances this week. It is when you wish to change the data type of an attribute.