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• Renewed

  - by Jeff Certain

  I just got a nice little e-mail from Microsoft. Despite the timing, it’s not an April Fools joke… I’ve been renewed as an MVP for another year. Congrats to all the other MVPs being renewed today.

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• Webscale is all about sharding and its coming to SQL Azure

  - by simonsabin

  There are many that joke about developers always talking about webscale and needing to shard to be able to scale. In reality many systems, if not most, don’t need to be able to scale to numerous nodes because todays processing is so powerful. However in the cloud world where you don’t have 1 big box you have many little ones (instances) you need some way of sharding/federating/distributing data and load. I’ve mentioned before of a PDC presentation on whats coming in SQL Azure, well they’ve put some...(read more)

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• Linux on your iPhone

  <b>Linux Format:</b> "As an April Fool's joke, I created a fake Linux app for the iPhone that made it look like Linux was running on your phone...Sadly, Apple rejected the app for various reasons."

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• Using Sqlite3 with CakePHP

  - by Dan

  Hello, I'm trying to run Sqlite3 with CakePHP. Yes, i know it's not officially supported, but this post here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1021980/cakephp-sqlite says it's possible. I've downloaded the new driver file "dbo_sqlite3.7.php" and put it in "cake/libs/model/datasources/dbo". Now I'm having trouble getting connected to the db. Things I'm confused on: Where should my database.sqlite file be kept What should my config file look like. Should I be referencing the full filename of the driver? Like 'driver' = 'dbo_sqlite3.7.php'? And can I use relative paths to the db file? Is there a difference in sqlite3 files and sqlite2 files by themselves, or is it just the way that you handle the files that makes the difference? Thank you for your help. I'm new to cake and I'm excited about learning more.

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• cakePHP paginate with post data without sessions, serialization or post to get

  - by openprojdevel

  I have created a small search and filter form method post in controller/index, which posts to it self the conditions and fields to paginate ( $this-paginate($conditions) ) However that is good for the first page, the subsequent pages the filer conditions are lost. pagination passArgs supports get variables well. Is there an un complex way to pass the post conditions to the other paginated pages? The method I have looked at is pass the $conditions in session , which isnt without complexity of assigning session and unset the session on submitting the form again (more refinements to the filter criteria by the user ) The other method is passing the $conditions as serialized string url_encode as an get parameter. Is there an good cake way to do this more like passArgs, sessions and url encode do not look like cake style. Thanks

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• CakePHP 1.3.0 RC4 Installation

  - by SDwebs

  I have been using 1.2.6 and downloaded 1.3 to try it out. I am using wampserver with Apache 2.2.11. I have mod rewrite enabled. When I bake a new application using the cake 1.3 console, after I verify that the webroot/index.php of the application CAKE_CORE_INCLUDE_PATH is set to the Cake1.3 Installation folder. The result is a page thats missing CSS, missing a method. Typing in localhost/app/index.php will enable the program to find the app. Therefore I have to assume the rewrite module isnt functioning properly for v1.3. Is there something I have to add to the cake installation or app folder to make this function as it should?

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• cakePHP - ACL tutorial & SQL Error: 1104

  - by vector

  Greetings! I run into a problem/bug in production environment with SQL Error: 1104 when deploying a project secured with the ACL tutorial. The full error: SQL Error: 1104: The SELECT would examine more than MAX_JOIN_SIZE rows; check your WHERE and use SET SQL_BIG_SELECTS=1 or SET SQL_MAX_JOIN_SIZE=# if the SELECT is okay [CORE/cake/libs/model/datasources/dbo_source.php, line 666] I've build a small site, worked through the ACL tutorial from the official cake book and locally everything is spiffy. dev. setup consists of: XAMPP: myslq 5.1.33, php 5.3 cakePHP 1.2.7 prod. setup: mysql 5.0.33 php 5.2.2 One of the differences I noticed with mysql setup between local and production servers, is that SQL_BIG_SELECTS is disabled on the production server ( and I don't have privileges to change that, posted a support ticked, didn't hear anything yet) Is there anything I can do about this from my end? Thanks in advance.

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• cakephp - try/catch an Action

  - by joshs

  I would like to somehow apply a try catch statement to all Actions as a backstop for any uncaught exceptions. I think this would be particularly helpful for Ajax Actions, because the catch statement could send back a default 4xx status code. Prototype's onFailure() function could then do the client-side error handling. How can I do this without wrapping the Action call with a try/catch in the cake dispatcher like this: try { output = $controller->dispatchMethod($params['action'], $params['pass']); } catch {...} Does anybody have a suggestion or another workable strategy for gaining this functionality without touching the dispatcher? How do people feel about putting exception handling in the Displatcher? I imagine when cake drops php 4 support, there will be a built-in mechanism for this.

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• ACL suggestions needed for a small light framework developed

  - by Sai

  Hello all, I've developed a small framework that was needed for the firm that I work. The problem is I've not made a full level framework, as developers are finding tough time to understand what is what, So I made a simple structure with app/controllers, app/models, app/views so that they can clearly separate the code and can get used to higher frameworks later. All other things like components/modules/helpers are just coded for now in a file called app_functions.php. The above framework is derived from cakePHP, not all, but just the framework uses a modified code of dispatcher of cake. The models all work with normal sqls, and views with pure html using a template engine. Now I'm trying to develop a small application over it, it cameout well, but ACL is something which many versions of it have not proved that satisfactory. Can anybody suggest a good ACL. I've checked phpGACL(too heavy), Zend_ACL likely won't be compatible, Cakephp's ACL which wont fit in the structure,as we are not using cake's SQLs, as there too many queries hitting the database for one page display.

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• CakePHP 1.3 inflections?

  - by PythonGem

  Where do I put my inflections in CakePHP 1.3? I am new to Cake

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• Error appearing in application after updating cakePHP library files from 1.3.0 to 1.3.1

  - by Gaurav Sharma

  Hi everyone, I have just updated my cakephp library to latest version 1.3.1. Before this I was running v1.3.0 with no errors. After running the application I am given this error message. unserialize() [function.unserialize]: Error at offset 0 of 2574 bytes [CORE\cake\libs\cache\file.php, line 176] I updated the libraries simply by replacing the existing cake files with the new ones downloaded from the net. Is it the correct way of updating applications. I did'nt made any customizations to the core library of cakePHP. What is the problem ? Please help. Thanks

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• Installing CakePHP on Windows with Apache

  - by GeoSQL

  Hi, I'm trying to install CakePHP on my Windows XP machine running Apache 2.2. I have installed the Cake folder in my doc root. I've read the installation instructions that say to include this line in the httpd.conf file; <Directory /path/to/cake> Does anyone know how to translate that into Windows? I currently have the following in my conf file: <Directory "C:/Apache/Apache2.2/htdocs/cakeapp/"> Whenever I uncomment this line it crashes Apache. I've tried switching the slashes to "\" and I tried taking the slash off the end. Any advice? Thanks

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• install CakePHP on Mac osx: apache problems

  - by ed209

  First time cake user and I'm having real apache problems. For some reason the .htaccess is trying to find File does not exist: /Library/WebServer/Documents/Users but there is no such directory as Users. I have tried setting up the following also: /etc/apache2/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf <VirtualHost *:80 > DocumentRoot "/Users/username/Sites/mysite/app/webroot" ServerName mysite.dev ServerAlias www.mysite.dev mysite.dev *.mysite.dev <Directory "/Users/username/Sites/mysite/app/webroot"> Options Indexes FollowSymLinks AllowOverride All </Directory> </VirtualHost> /etc/hosts 127.0.0.1 mysite.dev /etc/apache2/users/username.conf <Directory "/Users/username/Sites/"> Options Indexes MultiViews FollowSymlinks AllowOverride All Order allow,deny Allow from all </Directory> That also hasn't worked, but with a different error Failed opening required 'cake/libs/cache/file.php' Although I'd rather not use virtual hosts, and just run it off localhost

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• how to convert zend framework php code to cakephp

  - by rajesh

  i want to convert zend php to cake php but not finding correct book and guiding to do that????

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• Convert a complicated string into an array in php

  - by Patrick Beardmore

  I have a php variable that comes from a form that needs tidying up. I hope you can help. The variable contains a list of items (possibly two or three word items with a space in between words). I want to convert it to a comma separated list with no superfluous white space. I want the divisions to fall only at commas, semi-colons or new-lines. Blank cannot be an item. Here's a comprehensive example (with a deliberately messy input): Variable In: "dog, cat ,car,tea pot,, ,,, ;;(++NEW LINE++)fly, cake" Variable Out "dog,cat,car,tea pot,fly,cake" Can anyone help?

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• movedown method not saving new position - cakephp tree

  - by Ryan

  Hi everyone, I am experiencing a problem that has popped up recently and is causing quite a bit of trouble for our system. The app we have relies on using the movedown method to organize content, but as of late it has stopped working and began to generate the following warning: Warning (2): array_values() [<a href='function.array-values'>function.array-values</a>]: The argument should be an array in [/usr/local/home/cake/cake_0_2_9/cake/libs/model/behaviors/tree.php, line 459] The line being referenced: list($node) = array_values($Model->find('first', array( 'conditions' => array($scope, $Model->escapeField() => $id), 'fields' => array($Model->primaryKey, $left, $right, $parent), 'recursive' => $recursive ))); The line calling the method: $this->movedown($id,abs((int)$position)); I have exhausted every idea I could come up with. Has anyone else crossed this issue before? Any help, or pointing in a direction would be much appreciated!

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• Updated slide decks from SSMS presentation at SNESSUG

  - by AaronBertrand

  Tonight I spoke at the SNESSUG user group meeting in Warwick, RI. You can download the slide deck here (this is a 3.5 MB PDF with presenter notes): http://sqlblog.com/files/folders/23423/download.aspx If you attended the talk, please feel free to provide feedback at speakerrate.com: http://speakerrate.com/talks/2849-management-studio-tips-tricks Today also happened to be a birthday celebration for Grant Fritchey ( blog | twitter ). He blogged about the meeting and also took a picture of the cake...(read more)

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• Why aren't web frameworks simple, elegant and fun like programming languages? [on hold]

  - by Ryan

  When I think of pretty much any programming language - like C, C++, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, Python, ActionScript, Haskell, Lua, Lisp, Java, etc - I'm like awesome I would love to develop a computer application using any of those languages. But when I think of web frameworks(I do mostly PHP) - like Cake, CI, Symfony, Laravel, Zend, Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress, Rails, Django, etc - I'm like god no. Why aren't there web frameworks that provide me with simple, fun and powerful constructs like a programming language?

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• Extension to add button "Report to Bugzilla"?

  - by Alois Mahdal

  We have: internal MediaWiki installation for internal documents (we don't use it in completely wiki-like style—only maintainers should normally make changes) internal Bugzilla installation for internal issues including these internal documents on the MediaWiki site Now only the icing on the cake is missing: an automatic button that would appear on each page, being able to open a Bugzilla page pre-fill some fields with information about that page Basically, name What I imagine as a best solution would be a sibling to the ubiquitous "[edit]" button, probably sitting next to it, like in this mock-up:

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• 5 Ways to Link Building Success

  If link building isn't really your daily cup of tea, don't worry because there is a way where you can get your link structured site up in just a jiffy. It isn't always easy but with the 5 helpful steps you'll be building in no time. People often tell themselves that is just a piece of cake.

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• Is TortoiseSVN really this buggy?

  - by John Isaacks

  I have been using tortoise svn for a couple weeks now. I get errors very often. Almost everything I do creates an error. this is with repositories on the internet, locally on my machine or a machine on the network. So I started to keep track. Some examples are below. 12/31/2010 Can't move 'C:\Users\jisaacks\Desktop\my branch test.svn\tmp\entries' to 'C:\Users\jisaacks\Desktop\my branch test.svn\entries': The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable. 01/04/2011 Commit failed (details follow): Server sent unexpected return value (405 Method Not Allowed) in response to MKCOL request for '/svn/kranichs-svn/!svn/wrk/b316f15e-0869-4644-9c53-87aa0103506b/branches' 01/06/2011 Can't move 'C:\Users\jisaacks\Desktop\DVD Catalog\vendors.svn\tmp\entries' to 'C:\Users\jisaacks\Desktop\DVD Catalog\vendors.svn\entries': The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable. 01/06/2011 Can't move 'C:\Users\jisaacks\Desktop\DVD Catalog\cake\tests\test_app\views\layouts.svn\tmp\entries' to 'C:\Users\jisaacks\Desktop\DVD Catalog\cake\tests\test_app\views\layouts.svn\entries': The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable. 01/06/2011 Commit failed (details follow): attempt to write a readonly database attempt to write a readonly database That last one about the read only database happens every time I commit. Say if I am working on the head revision (7) in a working copy. I make a change and commit it. It gives me this error. But if I look at the log it tells me that there is now a revision 8 (the commit I just made) but I am still on revision 7. So I need to run update to be on the current revision that I just commited. I hope I explained that clearly. Anyways with all these errors I wonder.. Is TSVN just this unstable, does everyone have these issues. Or is it just me? If just me, what could I be doing wrong?

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• Determining what action an NPC will take, when it is partially random but influenced by preferences?

  - by lala

  I want to make characters in a game perform actions that are partially random but also influenced by preferences. For instance, if a character feels angry they have a higher chance of yelling than telling a joke. So I'm thinking about how to determine which action the character will take. Here are the ideas that have come to me. Solution #1: Iterate over every possible action. For each action do a random roll, then add the preference value to that random number. The action with the highest value is the one the character takes. Solution #2: Assign a range of numbers to an action, with more likely actions having a wider range. So, if the random roll returns anywhere from 1-5, the character will tell a joke. If it returns 6-75, they will yell. And so on. Solution #3: Group all the actions and make a branching tree. Will they take a friendly action or a hostile action? The random roll (with preference values added) says hostile. Will they make a physical attack or verbal? The random roll says verbal. Keep going down the line until you reach the action. Solution #1 is the simplest, but hardly efficient. I think Solution #3 is a little more complicated, but isn't it more efficient? Does anyone have any more insight into this particular problem? Is #3 the best solution? Is there a better solution?

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• posting array of text fields using jquery and ajax

  - by tabia

  i dont want to use serialize() function please help me with this. I am a beginner html <input type='button' value='Add Tier Flavor' id='Add'> <input type='button' value='Remove Tier Flavor' id='Remove'> <div id='batch'> <div id="BatchDiv1"> <h4>Batch #1 :</h4> <label>Flavor<input class="textbox" type='text' id="fl1" name="fl[]" value=""/></label></br> <label>Filling<input class="textbox" type='text' id="fi1" name="fi[]" value="" /></label></br> <label>Frosting<input class="textbox" type='text' id="fr1" name="fr[]" value=""/></label></br> </div> </div> <br> </div> this is a dynamically added fields using javascript the code is: javascript <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.1.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> $(document).ready(function(){ var counter = 2; $("#Add").click(function () { if(counter>5){ alert("Only 5 Tiers allow"); return false; } var newBatchBoxDiv = $(document.createElement('div')).attr("id", 'BatchDiv' + counter); newBatchBoxDiv.html('<h4>Batch #'+ counter + ' : </h4>' + '<label> Flavor<input type="text" name="fl[]" id="fl' + counter + '" value=""></label><br>'+ '<label> Filling<input type="text" name="fi[]" id="fi' + counter + '" value=""></label><br>'+ '<label> Frosting<input type="text" name="fr[]" id="fr' + counter + '" value=""></label><br>' ); newBatchBoxDiv.appendTo("#batch"); counter++; }); $("#Remove").click(function () { if(counter==1){ alert("No more tier to remove"); return false; } counter--; $("#BatchDiv" + counter).remove(); }); }); </script> i am trying to post the values in an array to post it onto next .php page i am using this var user_cupfl = $('input[name^="fl"]').serialize(); var user_cupfi = $('input[name^="fi"]').serialize(); var user_cupfr = $('input[name^="fr"]').serialize(); serialize is not passing the values. :( on second page i am trying to mail it using $message .= "<tr><td><strong>Cake Flavors(according to batches):</strong> </td><td><pre>" .implode("\n", $user_cupfl). "</pre></td></tr>"; $message .= "<tr><td><strong>Filling type (Inside the cake):</strong> </td><td><pre>" .implode("\n", $user_cupfi). "</pre></td></tr>"; $message .= "<tr><td><strong>Frosting type (top of the cake):</strong> </td><td><pre>" .implode("\n", $user_cupfr). "</pre></td></tr>"; i m posting array like this $user_cupfl=filter_var($_POST["userCupfl"], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING); $user_cupfi=filter_var($_POST["userCupfi"], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING); $user_cupfr=filter_var($_POST["userCupfr"], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING); your replies will be highly appreciated

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• Enterprise Process Maps: A Process Picture worth a Million Words

  - by raul.goycoolea

  p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }h1 { margin-top: 0.33in; margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(54, 95, 145); page-break-inside: avoid; }h1.western { font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14pt; }h1.cjk { font-family: "DejaVu Sans"; font-size: 14pt; }h1.ctl { font-size: 14pt; } Getting Started with Business Transformations A well-known proverb states that "A picture is worth a thousand words." In relation to Business Process Management (BPM), a credible analyst might have a few questions. What if the picture was taken from some particular angle, like directly overhead? What if it was taken from only an inch away or a mile away? What if the photographer did not focus the camera correctly? Does the value of the picture depend on who is looking at it? Enterprise Process Maps are analogous in this sense of relative value. Every BPM project (holistic BPM kick-off, enterprise system implementation, Service-oriented Architecture, business process transformation, corporate performance management, etc.) should be begin with a clear understanding of the business environment, from the biggest picture representations down to the lowest level required or desired for the particular project type, scope and objectives. The Enterprise Process Map serves as an entry point for the process architecture and is defined: the single highest level of process mapping for an organization. It is constructed and evaluated during the Strategy Phase of the Business Process Management Lifecycle. (see Figure 1) Fig. 1: Business Process Management Lifecycle Many organizations view such maps as visual abstractions, constructed for the single purpose of process categorization. This, in turn, results in a lesser focus on the inherent intricacies of the Enterprise Process view, which are explored in the course of this paper. With the main focus of a large scale process documentation effort usually underlying an ERP or other system implementation, it is common for the work to be driven by the desire to "get to the details," and to the type of modeling that will derive near-term tangible results. For instance, a project in American Pharmaceutical Company X is driven by the Director of IT. With 120+ systems in place, and a lack of standardized processes across the United States, he and the VP of IT have decided to embark on a long-term ERP implementation. At the forethought of both are questions, such as: How does my application architecture map to the business? What are each application's functionalities, and where do the business processes utilize them? Where can we retire legacy systems? Well-developed BPM methodologies prescribe numerous model types to capture such information and allow for thorough analysis in these areas. Process to application maps, Event Driven Process Chains, etc. provide this level of detail and facilitate the completion of such project-specific questions. These models and such analysis are appropriately carried out at a relatively low level of process detail. (see figure 2) Fig. 2: The Level Concept, Generic Process HierarchySome of the questions remaining are ones of documentation longevity, the continuation of BPM practice in the organization, process governance and ownership, process transparency and clarity in business process objectives and strategy. The Level Concept in Brief Figure 2 shows a generic, four-level process hierarchy depicting the breakdown of a "Process Area" into progressively more detailed process classifications. The number of levels and the names of these levels are flexible, and can be fit to the standards of the organization's chosen terminology or any other chosen reference model that makes logical sense for both short and long term process description. It is at Level 1 (in this case the Process Area level), that the Enterprise Process Map is created. This map and its contained objects become the foundation for a top-down approach to subsequent mapping, object relationship development, and analysis of the organization's processes and its supporting infrastructure. Additionally, this picture serves as a communication device, at an executive level, describing the design of the business in its service to a customer. It seems, then, imperative that the process development effort, and this map, start off on the right foot. Figuring out just what that right foot is, however, is critical and trend-setting in an evolving organization. Key Considerations Enterprise Process Maps are usually not as living and breathing as other process maps. Just as it would be an extremely difficult task to change the foundation of the Sears Tower or a city plan for the entire city of Chicago, the Enterprise Process view of an organization usually remains unchanged once developed (unless, of course, an organization is at a stage where it is capable of true, high-level process innovation). Regardless, the Enterprise Process map is a key first step, and one that must be taken in a precise way. What makes this groundwork solid depends on not only the materials used to construct it (process areas), but also the layout plan and knowledge base of what will be built (the entire process architecture). It seems reasonable that care and consideration are required to create this critical high level map... but what are the important factors? Does the process modeler need to worry about how many process areas there are? About who is looking at it? Should he only use the color pink because it's his boss' favorite color? Interestingly, and perhaps surprisingly, these are all valid considerations that may just require a bit of structure. Below are Three Key Factors to consider when building an Enterprise Process Map: Company Strategic Focus Process Categorization: Customer is Core End-to-end versus Functional Processes Company Strategic Focus As mentioned above, the Enterprise Process Map is created during the Strategy Phase of the Business Process Management Lifecycle. From Oracle Business Process Management methodology for business transformation, it is apparent that business processes exist for the purpose of achieving the strategic objectives of an organization. In a prescribed, top-down approach to process development, it must be ensured that each process fulfills its objectives, and in an aggregated manner, drives fulfillment of the strategic objectives of the company, whether for particular business segments or in a broader sense. This is a crucial point, as the strategic messages of the company must therefore resound in its process maps, in particular one that spans the processes of the complete business: the Enterprise Process Map. One simple example from Company X is shown below (see figure 3). Fig. 3: Company X Enterprise Process Map In reviewing Company X's Enterprise Process Map, one can immediately begin to understand the general strategic mindset of the organization. It shows that Company X is focused on its customers, defining 10 of its process areas belonging to customer-focused categories. Additionally, the organization views these end-customer-oriented process areas as part of customer-fulfilling value chains, while support process areas do not provide as much contiguous value. However, by including both support and strategic process categorizations, it becomes apparent that all processes are considered vital to the success of the customer-oriented focus processes. Below is an example from Company Y (see figure 4). Fig. 4: Company Y Enterprise Process Map Company Y, although also a customer-oriented company, sends a differently focused message with its depiction of the Enterprise Process Map. Along the top of the map is the company's product tree, overarching the process areas, which when executed deliver the products themselves. This indicates one strategic objective of excellence in product quality. Additionally, the view represents a less linear value chain, with strong overlaps of the various process areas. Marketing and quality management are seen as a key support processes, as they span the process lifecycle. Often, companies may incorporate graphics, logos and symbols representing customers and suppliers, and other objects to truly send the strategic message to the business. Other times, Enterprise Process Maps may show high level of responsibility to organizational units, or the application types that support the process areas. It is possible that hundreds of formats and focuses can be applied to an Enterprise Process Map. What is of vital importance, however, is which formats and focuses are chosen to truly represent the direction of the company, and serve as a driver for focusing the business on the strategic objectives set forth in that right. Process Categorization: Customer is Core In the previous two examples, processes were grouped using differing categories and techniques. Company X showed one support and three customer process categorizations using encompassing chevron objects; Customer Y achieved a less distinct categorization using a gradual color scheme. Either way, and in general, modeling of the process areas becomes even more valuable and easily understood within the context of business categorization, be it strategic or otherwise. But how one categorizes their processes is typically more complex than simply choosing object shapes and colors. Previously, it was stated that the ideal is a prescribed top-down approach to developing processes, to make certain linkages all the way back up to corporate strategy. But what about external influences? What forces push and pull corporate strategy? Industry maturity, product lifecycle, market profitability, competition, etc. can all drive the critical success factors of a particular business segment, or the company as a whole, in addition to previous corporate strategy. This may seem to be turning into a discussion of theory, but that is far from the case. In fact, in years of recent study and evolution of the way businesses operate, cross-industry and across the globe, one invariable has surfaced with such strength to make it undeniable in the game plan of any strategy fit for survival. That constant is the customer. Many of a company's critical success factors, in any business segment, relate to the customer: customer retention, satisfaction, loyalty, etc. Businesses serve customers, and so do a business's processes, mapped or unmapped. The most effective way to categorize processes is in a manner that visualizes convergence to what is core for a company. It is the value chain, beginning with the customer in mind, and ending with the fulfillment of that customer, that becomes the core or the centerpiece of the Enterprise Process Map. (See figure 5) Fig. 5: Company Z Enterprise Process Map Company Z has what may be viewed as several different perspectives or "cuts" baked into their Enterprise Process Map. It has divided its processes into three main categories (top, middle, and bottom) of Management Processes, the Core Value Chain and Supporting Processes. The Core category begins with Corporate Marketing (which contains the activities of beginning to engage customers) and ends with Customer Service Management. Within the value chain, this company has divided into the focus areas of their two primary business lines, Foods and Beverages. Does this mean that areas, such as Strategy, Information Management or Project Management are not as important as those in the Core category? No! In some cases, though, depending on the organization's understanding of high-level BPM concepts, use of category names, such as "Core," "Management" or "Support," can be a touchy subject. What is important to understand, is that no matter the nomenclature chosen, the Core processes are those that drive directly to customer value, Support processes are those which make the Core processes possible to execute, and Management Processes are those which steer and influence the Core. Some common terms for these three basic categorizations are Core, Customer Fulfillment, Customer Relationship Management, Governing, Controlling, Enabling, Support, etc. End-to-end versus Functional Processes Every high and low level of process: function, task, activity, process/work step (whatever an organization calls it), should add value to the flow of business in an organization. Suppose that within the process "Deliver package," there is a documented task titled "Stop for ice cream." It doesn't take a process expert to deduce the room for improvement. Though stopping for ice cream may create gain for the one person performing it, it likely benefits neither the organization nor, more importantly, the customer. In most cases, "Stop for ice cream" wouldn't make it past the first pass of To-Be process development. What would make the cut, however, would be a flow of tasks that, each having their own value add, build up to greater and greater levels of process objective. In this case, those tasks would combine to achieve a status of "package delivered." Figure 3 shows a simple example: Just as the package can only be delivered (outcome of the process) without first being retrieved, loaded, and the travel destination reached (outcomes of the process steps), some higher level of process "Play Practical Joke" (e.g., main process or process area) cannot be completed until a package is delivered. It seems that isolated or functionally separated processes, such as "Deliver Package" (shown in Figure 6), are necessary, but are always part of a bigger value chain. Each of these individual processes must be analyzed within the context of that value chain in order to ensure successful end-to-end process performance. For example, this company's "Create Joke Package" process could be operating flawlessly and efficiently, but if a joke is never developed, it cannot be created, so the end-to-end process breaks. Fig. 6: End to End Process Construction That being recognized, it is clear that processes must be viewed as end-to-end, customer-to-customer, and in the context of company strategy. But as can also be seen from the previous example, these vital end-to-end processes cannot be built without the functionally oriented building blocks. Without one, the other cannot be had, or at least not in a complete and organized fashion. As it turns out, but not discussed in depth here, the process modeling effort, BPM organizational development, and comprehensive coverage cannot be fully realized without a semi-functional, process-oriented approach. Then, an Enterprise Process Map should be concerned with both views, the building blocks, and access points to the business-critical end-to-end processes, which they construct. Without the functional building blocks, all streams of work needed for any business transformation would be lost mess of process disorganization. End-to-end views are essential for utilization in optimization in context, understanding customer impacts, base-lining all project phases and aligning objectives. Including both views on an Enterprise Process Map allows management to understand the functional orientation of the company's processes, while still providing access to end-to-end processes, which are most valuable to them. (See figures 7 and 8). Fig. 7: Simplified Enterprise Process Map with end-to-end Access Point The above examples show two unique ways to achieve a successful Enterprise Process Map. The first example is a simple map that shows a high level set of process areas and a separate section with the end-to-end processes of concern for the organization. This particular map is filtered to show just one vital end-to-end process for a project-specific focus. Fig. 8: Detailed Enterprise Process Map showing connected Functional Processes The second example shows a more complex arrangement and categorization of functional processes (the names of each process area has been removed). The end-to-end perspective is achieved at this level through the connections (interfaces at lower levels) between these functional process areas. An important point to note is that the organization of these two views of the Enterprise Process Map is dependent, in large part, on the orientation of its audience, and the complexity of the landscape at the highest level. If both are not apparent, the Enterprise Process Map is missing an opportunity to serve as a holistic, high-level view. Conclusion In the world of BPM, and specifically regarding Enterprise Process Maps, a picture can be worth as many words as the thought and effort that is put into it. Enterprise Process Maps alone cannot change an organization, but they serve more purposes than initially meet the eye, and therefore must be designed in a way that enables a BPM mindset, business process understanding and business transformation efforts. Every Enterprise Process Map will and should be different when looking across organizations. Its design will be driven by company strategy, a level of customer focus, and functional versus end-to-end orientations. This high-level description of the considerations of the Enterprise Process Maps is not a prescriptive "how to" guide. However, a company attempting to create one may not have the practical BPM experience to truly explore its options or impacts to the coming work of business process transformation. The biggest takeaway is that process modeling, at all levels, is a science and an art, and art is open to interpretation. It is critical that the modeler of the highest level of process mapping be a cognoscente of the message he is delivering and the factors at hand. Without sufficient focus on the design of the Enterprise Process Map, an entire BPM effort may suffer. For additional information please check: Oracle Business Process Management.

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• Accessibility tools turn ON on boot screen EVERY TIME

  - by Tristan

  Hello, I wanted to do a joke to my teacher : When she left, she logged out and i set up all the accessibility tools (color blind, narrator.....) When she came back, she turn off her computer by letting the POWER button pushed. Ever since, each time she turns on the computer, all the accessibilty tools came up even if she DISABLES it each time. (@windows 7) Any solution before she kills me or i get fired from the school ? =o Thanks

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