Rapid App Development
Nolan Ramsey
Outdated Technology: When to Build New vs ...

All IT leaders face challenges of outdated technology. Sometimes it’s time to build or buy a new application. But nowadays, it might make more sense to refresh the new old one. I explore those challenges and provide real client examples where I’ve used low code to help in both cases.

Outdated Technology: When to Build New vs Refresh the Old
Rapid App Development
Nolan Ramsey
Does SAP's acquisition of No-Code Developer ...

I share my thoughts on the recent acquisition of AppGyver by SAP and how that does or doesn’t relate to their SOLEX partner, Mendix.

Does SAP's acquisition of No-Code Developer AppGyver hurt their SOLEX partner Siemens Mendix?
Rapid App Development
Nolan Ramsey
Is Rapid App Development essential in the ...

The world is battling a war on two fronts: our health is threatened by COVID-19 and our economies have slowed and even stopped in certain sectors. As an App Developer, does my work really matter in such times?

Is Rapid App Development essential in the current climate?
Rapid App Development
Nolan Ramsey
What makes a Great Rapid App Developer?

After years of delivering, leading, and coaching leaders in Rapid App Development, I give you my perspective on what skills and profile it takes to be a ‘Great’ RAD Maker.

What makes a Great Rapid App Developer?
Mendix
Nolan Ramsey
Extending SAP: Fiori or Mendix Revisited

It’s been 1 year since I first wrote the post, “Extending SAP: Fiori or Mendix?” and a lot has changed. Because of the changes, this older post has gotten a lot of renewed interest so I thought I would take a look at my opinions from a year ago and see if they differ. If you haven’t already, please refer to the original article to have context for this one.

IT should be an expert “SWAT” team with precise skills to tackle the toughest app challenges, not a bottleneck to solving business problems.

Extending SAP: Fiori or Mendix Revisited

Mendix

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Taking a critical eye to those ‘old’ Microflows

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Taking a critical eye to those ‘old’ Microflows

This entry started as the first in my next series that I planned about reporting with Mendix, but when capturing my screenshots I realized my example was so poorly designed in a working, production application that I needed to address it. While I don’t have the story prioritized to actually do the work to fix it versus competing higher priority issues, I’m going to explain what I did wrong in one of the first processes I ever wrote in Mendix and how I would design it differently had I followed my BI best practices and understood Mendix as well as I do now. Hopefully this comparison will help others who develop in Mendix when trying to optimize their application and look at each step more critically.

Fixing your Mendix Domain model - part 2

In the previous blog post, I tried to explore ideas and questions that help me determine how to correct or establish a good domain model. In this second part, I'm writing about the process of implementing those changes as compared to traditional application development.

Fixing your Mendix Domain model - part 1

In the past month, I've been asked to help other Mendix developers with what I'm seeing as a very common problem: Domain models. What is occurring is that the developers build their models, begin to create their pages and forms, and inevitably hit a wall where they can't quite get the attributes on their pages to align, associate, or a number of other issues. Worse yet are those applications that have been in production for a while that require a redesign in order to accommodate a new feature. In this post I'm going to explore how I troubleshoot and help correct designs.

Display line breaks in your Mendix strings

Display line breaks in your Mendix strings

I was asked the following question recently:


Do you know if it is possible to use a new-line character when creating an attribute in Mendix?  I've created an attribute that I would like to display as such:
Attribute Name
Entry 1
Entry 2
Entry 3
...
Where each Entry is generated via a loop.  I've tried every new-line character combination and trick I know and can find on the internet ( '\n', '\\n', 'newline', hard coding the return, hard coding the return with a character in the first and last slot, hard coding spaces, etc.).  All of the questions about this topic that I've run into on the Mendix forums have claimed that '\n' or '\\n' work but these do not work for me.  I ran into one question on the forums (whichI can't seem to find now) where someone asked the exact question I have and also said that none of the answers he received worked.
 

The good news is that I can help. I, too, struggled with this topic early on in my Mendix development. I'm sure I read many of the same forum posts this individual did as well as I recognize the proposed solutions. Here's how I deal with line breaks in my Mendix strings.

Expand your Mendix app to other departments

Expand your Mendix app to other departments

This week I tackled a pretty common issue with all successful apps: Enable use across more than the one group it was developed. When an application solves a business problem, the users tend to tell their peers about it. Suddenly, those peers realize they have a similar business problem and they want in on the solution. In this blog, I'll discuss the various factors that need to be considered when transitioning a single-purpose app into a multi-purpose one.