2.1 isn't done. Sorry. What can I say? I have no self-control. But I have a Tabulas-related post for you to make it up for you! Like you REALLY care!!!!!!!!!

I've realized how tough it is to transition from one system of doing things to another. 2.1 is taking forever because I have to take into account each action that somebody could take on the control panel and figure out how the database structure is affected (for example, data is being stored in separately named columns!), then make sure the old way gets converted to the new way, while the new way also works. Not to mention that I need to offer backwards compatibility for everything that's been done...

Today after meeting Yum and JJho for dinner (and after meeting the infamous Tony Lee for lunch, I sat down and focused in on hacking away at some of the logic code. I've basically broken down development for 2.1's control panel into three distinct stages:

1. First stage is the development of primary logic functions. These are the most basic functions; they are responsible for the interaction of the program with the database.
2. Secondary is the UI level. There are functions that take this data and then format it out so it comes out nicely. These functions also handle output/input of FORM elements
3. The last stage is the CSS/JS/XHTML touchup. Make it pretty and usable.

Unfortunately I'm still only on stage one. I'm still in the process of rewriting a lot of the logic from 2.0 so the whole script is totally scalable, while is quite important to me in order to secure a long-term future for Tabulas. (Scalable means that no matter how much more popular the site becomes, all I have to do is buy more servers and hook them into the network in order to handle the load; I don't have to modify the program in any way. In essence, it means that if the site becomes exponentially popular, I can easily deal with the problem by throwing more hardware at the problem instead of wasting time rewriting the software).

The exciting task for me today was purchasing a SVN account from CVSDude.org. SVN is short of 'Subversion,' which helps with source-control. Basically if you have multiple people working on the same programs on different computers. it's very hard to sync those changes without the help of a program. SVN helps sync all these computers together so each computer has a fresh copy of the program. This is important for me because it serves as an external backup, and also because it allows me to move seamlessly between my computers. If I want a change of scenery, I can just load up my IBM Thinkpad and go downstairs, do some work, and SVN the changes. I could then get my primary work machine (which is my Tablet, hooked into Microsoft's awesome bluetooth keyboard and mouse), and do some work. Maybe if I want to do some work on my Powerbook, I could also do that ... without having to do anything in keeping my source code updated!

So I was pretty excited about finally having source control for Tabulas.

The feature list for Tabulas 2.1 has been finalized, and I'm releasing it here: http://www.tabulas.com/2.1/. These are features that will be added to Tabulas for the 2.1 release. I have been working on them when I can spare time from work, and it's coming along nicely. It's a pretty ambitious list, but I've got to aim high.

Let me know if you think a critical feature is missing from there :)