Introduction

[mdean at kcnet.com]

Hello all!

My name is Michael Dean and I'm the author and sole developer of Double Choco
Latte (http://dcl.sourceforge.net/).  I picked up on the discussion about
phpGroupWare <-> Horde from a DCL listserv mail from Keith Chayer.  I have read
the thread dealing with the phpGroupWare <-> Horde interaction.  My interest in
integrating with phpGroupWare is to provide some of the features I have planned
for DCL.  When DCL started, it was just a project/work order system, but I felt
that, in the end, it could manage departmental work flow.  Some of this requires
groupware features, which you can find on the project task list at Source Forge
(http://sourceforge.net/projects/dcl/).

I learned of the Horde project from Linas Vesptas' excellent Linux project
management software page, and I was intruiged by the scope of WHUPS.

Currently, DCL supports work orders (similar to tasks w/ timesheets), call
tickets (for customer interaction), basic project management, and some other
features.  Everything is data driven to allow easy configuration by users.  This
makes DCL not only suitable for software development, but allows users to manage
just about anything.  I have one user that will be using DCL to track defects in
a manufacturing process.  Of course, I have to implement the keyword list for
this to really be effective, but that would have been done eventually to allow
knowledge base style searches.

DCL is 99.9% objects right now.  The use of an object factory, which I also
introduced to phpGroupWare, makes programming DCL a snap.  I am moving towards
being more compatible with phpGW technology (i.e., templates) at this time, but
also have commitments to continue delivering features in DCL so it unfortunately
takes a back seat at times.

As far as DCL architecture goes, I have separated the UI, business, and data
layers into separate objects (db*.php3, bo*.php3, html*.php3).  I wrote my own
database abstraction layer as well, and am supporting MySQL, PostgreSQL, Sybase,
and MS SQL Server.  Oracle support is being worked on by a user as he has time.

So, I would essentially like to see if there would be any interest in
collaborating on DCL to push it forward.  With the right archtecture design, it
could be pushed into Horde and phpGW both, if it's determined that these
projects will not share technology.  Admittedly, I am not aware of the amount of
activity on WHUPS or other Horde components, much less their state.  But if
there will be any benefit, I would like to collaborate on some of this.

Mike