Priorities

[PointsWell]

There are, to my mind, three aspects to product management

1. Renewal
2. Enhancement
3. New Features

Renewal
Nothing stays fresh forever, parts wear out and need to be updated. The same concept applies to software. Components get updated and flaws get removed. There are components within Aware IM that have become outdated.

Enhancement
There is functionality within Aware IM that we all agree is not as smooth as it could be. This functionality could be addressed to make Aware IM work more as it is expected.

New Features
Everyone loves new things to play with.

I’d like to understand where everyone else sits on the spectrum of what updates should contain.

Personally I’d like to see a mix closer to

45% Renewal
30% Enhancement
25% New Features

My rationale

Renewal
There are JARs in Aware that are very old. Because of this there is a lot of functionality that is being missed out on (or can only be implemented by code duplication). This also stores up issues for the future - Log4J required a number of hot fixes to be implemented in a short period of time which left some of us exposed to clients demanding fixes at risk of losing business. A more structured approach to code renewal would minimise exposure to vulnerabilities when they arise. It would also remove the risk of a fix in one JAR having flow on impacts due to interlinked dependencies within other JARs

Enhancement
There is a lot of functionality within Aware that is 80% there. My recent discovery around EXEC_STRING not being available to a query and a process not being able to DISPLAY Business Objects in anything other than a useless default query layout has placed my application design in a massive hole that I now need to redesign (Bruce a SP won’t work due to there not being a predictable number of inputs).

The server UI also needs some TLC. There are a number of options that require edits within the Props files. This goes counter to the low-code ethos and makes Aware IM less friendly to new users when you need to go digging into text files to makes updates.

Plugins are kinda plugins except they lose their plugin-ness by requiring manual updates to text files to make Aware IM recognise them.

There a number of “almost there” features that just need a final push to make them polished and fully rounded.

New Features
Aware IM is a pretty mature product and it has long past the stage of needing new feature to make it attractive. That’s not to say Aware IM is complete and there will always be new technologies that arrive and merit inclusion (AI is the new buzz word for example) but my personal opinion is that building new features ahead of the Renew and Enhance elements is storing up problems ahead.

What does everyone else think the Renew Enhancement New Features mix should be?

[RLJB]

I think...

Renewal is 100% mandatory, it shouldn't even be an option for resource allocation, it just MUST be done - especially if any component relates to security (as some do). So for me, I'm not even going to allocate to this.

20% New features - for us, Aware is a great tool and a mature product, it's rare (very very rare) that we can't build something with the functionality we have in version 8.5, or work around it, sure there are little things that would be nice, for example around web services features, and UI, add in some more Kendo widgets and controls

80% Enhancement - this should be the main focus, make the existing features bullet proof, make them work 100%, make config faster and more efficient for the developer, for example... mobile UI, html in PDFs, security uplift, logging and debugging, etc

(and we'd like a public (or secure) list where AwareIM licence holder can vote up/down new features and enhancements)

[customaware]

[hpl123]

I think a more 33/33/33 i.e all 3 areas just as important. I think Awaresoft is quite good at balancing this, the only comment/critique I have is, I don't think Awaresoft spends enough time/resources on the enhancement area (Awaresoft is far from 33% today or at least that is my potentially incorrect belief). There are a lot of things and features in AwareIM that needs finetuning and improving to fully utilize the thing/features potential and/or work better and being less buggy (i.e enhancement area).

[Jaymer]

...There are a lot of things and features in AwareIM that needs finetuning and improving to fully utilize the thing/features potential and/or work better and being less buggy...

The new Multi Step Wizard is frustrating. (Something that is crucial to the "Funeral App", but in a specific use case... Non-Linear mode. The example training video is for that mode. But I had fits trying to get Linear mode working and discovered bugs/deficiencies)
see https://www.awareim.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12635

[Jaymer]

...There are a lot of things and features in AwareIM that needs finetuning and improving to fully utilize the thing/features potential and/or work better and being less buggy...

Referencing my "squeaky wheel" comment in the other Priorities thread...
There are things that get released in the product and may work in a specific use case, and have a video that appears to work, but as you branch out into other use cases its easy to find shortcomings.
Mapping is one - and you'll notice the improvements coming to bolster this offering.
But when I actually did a real app with map points needed (configurable Legend text, multi-colored Points) then it was a big struggle.
But when this next version comes, if no one pushes Mapping to discover the limits, then its likely to be another feature that is only partially there (actually, Mapping data points is already partially there, so hopefully these updates will be the finishing touches).

[PointsWell]

I think a more 33/33/33 i.e all 3 areas just as important.

The reality is that the median age of packages that could be renewed is over 4 years, the average is over 6 years and the oldest is almost four times that. If there was a continual programme of renewal then an even split would be sensible, but there is a lot of work to get to that point.

I understand the reticence to inadvertently break things, but that risk is getting bigger as time progresses and newer and newer JARs and classes are released.

I'd be happy to see a release that had no new features but addressed this.

[BLOMASKY]

My 0.02 cents worth.

Aware is great! I keep looking to see what other options are available and while there is a plethora of no / low code options, they all have some serious shortcomings compared to Aware. So many require a REST module for database access. So many can help me build the app fast, but bog down when having to make (major) changes to the application (which my customers constantly require!).

However, there are 2 areas I would love to see improvements.
1. Speed. There are many times I use a stored procedure because queries that join to multiple tables are a little slower in Aware. It could be the amount of traffic that aware returns (Seems to be all the columns in a table). This is way above my pay grade, but perhaps if my custom app was compiled as a Java bean it would run faster.

2. UI Enhancements. While I know a lot of good stuff will be added in V9, there is never enough bells and whistles and options for me. Without writing code, I want to be able to present a richer UI to my customers.

Bruce

[karelh]

Hi,

Firstly, we love AwareIM, and it has made our lives a lot easier. As others have mentioned, it can already do much more than most low-code apps out there.

I also agree that Renewal and Enhancement should be the main focus. Perhaps having a new feature update once a year and then bi-monthly or even monthly updates with improvements and renewals would be beneficial. For us, making the existing features perfect and ensuring the renewals are done is a priority. Below is a list of enhancements that we would like to see to make life easier:

Enable/disable production logs without restarting the server.
Production log file size limit does not work. Log files grow to 60GB or until the disk is full.
The HTML code window from the HTML editor must auto-fit the form. It is too small, and you cannot specify the size.
Import/Export template view is limited to the first 20 entries. Cannot page or see the other entries or even search. Please add paging, filters, etc., or allow us to edit the query settings.
Using a custom HTML form with wizards/tabs breaks when paged. Mapping does not work either when using a wizard.
Be able to set up a lock on x amount of login failures per user, not global. This does not make sense as one user can lock the system for 400 others. This must be applied per user.
Add an option to integrate with AOTH like Authy, Google Authenticator, etc., for MFA. This is becoming vital.
Add an option to encrypt PDF files generated by the report engine. This will enable us to securely send reports or sensitive info. This can be done with PowerShell at the moment but creates quite a delay when sending to a lot of users. We need to export the document, encrypt it, and then import it again.
Custom HTML forms must be displayed directly, not via an IFRAME, as this uses the default AIM form popup and not the original HTML form with its headers and heading.
HTML is not displayed correctly in reports.

So our vote is for one feature update per year and 4-6 renewal and bug fix updates per year.

Have a great week, everyone.

[BLOMASKY]

humm, I am trying to respond to how you CAN use a stored procedure with Aware creating the where clause, but wordpress is giving me an error, "potential unsafe operation". but simply, use Aware the create the Where clause and pass that to the stored procedure

Bruce

[BLOMASKY]

can you explain "process not being able to DISPLAY Business Objects in anything other than a useless default query layout"

I don't understand what you are trying to accomplish.

Bruce