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[General Discussion] Where are certain aspects of development up to?

Submitted by Guest on Tue, 04/03/2008 - 21:44
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Dear OVPMS users and gurus, developers, users and any interested parties.... I am just wondering where OVPMS is up to wrt to certain issues and functionality?: * how is the development of a graphical scheduler-calendar proceeding? As a current user of rx(xtortion) works and seeing how other systems function, I am wondering where you blokes are up to wrt development of a scheduler that has drag/drop, R click functionality (menus etc)? * how is integration with e-order (provet to be exact) proceeding? I sense a degree of stalling of development but please excuse me if I'm wrong. (In between reds and the second final).....
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Re: Where are certain aspects of development up to?

Submitted by tony on Wed, 05/03/2008 - 21:55.
Thanks for your post. I am sorry that you think development has stalled. I personally think we have achieved much in a short time given the nature of the project .... We released 1.0 final on 29th October last year. This was a milestone release for us as it not only represented the first fully functional version of the software it also was the end of initial seed funding for the project. Since then we have worked on version 1.1 which included new functionality and improved many aspects of the software. This work was necessary to mature the product based on direct feedback from current users and was funded in part by both standard subscriptions from practices currently using OpenVPMS, prepaid subscriptions from visionary practices wanting to support the project and ongoing support funding from the original project supporters. The first beta version of this release was made available in December 2007 and is currently operating in 7 sites and the final release is expected in mid March. While the 1.1 release is being tested in beta test sites version 1.2 started development in February. It will include some major stock control features including manual stock ordering, deliveries and product price management features. We hope to have a beta test version is April. With both of these releases you can check out what is included on the web site at [url]https://openvpms.atlassian.net/browse/OVPMS[/url] It is a dynamic site so please visit it regularly to get an idea of the development work being performed. So to the key points you raised. 1. When will the graphic scheduler be developed and released. Well this depends on many things. A plan on what needs to be done, developer and funding resources. Sounds simple doesn't it .. well not really. It all starts with someone or a group of people who are willing to spend their free time to clearly define what they think is missing from the current scheduling system and put together a preliminary design document that can be viewed, reviewed and contributed to by the OpenVPMS community so we have a clear picture of the requirements. Currently no one has put up their hand to start this process .. When this process is completed it then needs to transformed into clear concise developer tasks/instructions. This turns user requirements into technical tasks and is not an insignificant task. It is analogous to an architect taking a set of house owner needs into a set of clear, unambiguous instructions to a builder. The developer community then needs to estimate how much development time is involved to build the new feature and how this time will be contributed or funded. If Internally funded it will need to come from the standard income sources or sponsors or the community. Contributed development resources are obviously cheaper (free) but at the same time cannot be scheduled as they are at the whim of the developers who are willing to contribute their valuable time. Either which way we cannot start development until these resources are in place. Given this all falls into place you still need someone to manage the development process, test the development, document the new features etc, etc, etc. Up to this point all this work and funds has been contributed by a small group of people associated with the project who have put up their hands both financially and with time. Considering what we have achieved so far this is a pretty amazing feat isn't it. Over $500,000 of funds and many 100's of contributed hours. So in essence we are looking for one or more people to contribute resources in order for this process to start and move forward. Can you or anyone else help in some of these areas ? 2. E-Order interface Given OpenVPMS is completely open source, and each supplier has its own specific interface requirements, we hope any supplier who wishes to service their customers who are running the OpenVPMS software will develop their own interfaces to the product. Alternatively they can sponsor the interface development through the OpenVPMS project itself. Obviously the OpenVPMS community (user and development) can assist this process by working with the supplier to specify what they would like to see in these interfaces as well as provide access to all the technical resources to assist the supplier in this development. In reality this process will only start when the supplier gets enough pressure from it's customers to provide this interface. So the more OpenVPMS users (or the more pressue current user apply) the more likely you will see these interfaces appear .. I hope this answers some of your questions. Cheers Tony

Aspects of development

Submitted by PeterG on Tue, 11/03/2008 - 11:46.
Yes, we are using OpenVPMS in our clinic (same as Matt Costa's) and we can vouch for the huge strides in development that have occurred over the last 18months. I can tell you that this hasn't in any way stalled and that the refinements are happening all the time. However if we as a professional community want to find a better way of getting the software we want then we have to become more involved in the process. At one level it means lots of meaningful discussion of what we would like to have and then turning that discussion into a decision-making process. At another level it means that we need to understand that whilst this project aims to provide software to our community at a low and fair cost and where these costs are applied purely for the benefit of the users it is by no means "free" and has cost the organisation a lot of money to run. Also remember that those who have contributed funding to this project (sponsors, stakeholders, subscribers) will not share in any profits that the project generates as the stated aims of the organisation specifically state that any funds generated will be used to fund ongoing development of the software and adminstration of the organisation itself. This means that we all need to be prepared to contribute both in kind and financially to see these aims met in a timely way and yes, you will get great practice management software that works in the way you want (or can be changed by your geeky mates to precisely do the things you want) at a price that has no profit margin attached. We would dearly love to have a good stock control module and graphic scheduler at this time and my feeling is that we need to start stating what our needs are so that they can be incorporated into the design framework which is currently being developed. My first question to you in the Rx user community is what features would you like to see in an OpenVPMS graphic scheduler? Do any of you have any screen shots that we can check out with maybe a description of what its strong and weak points are?
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