status update please re. MDG Integration for VS

[eberline]

Don't you think maybe it's about time for some official announcement re. MDG Integration for Visual Studio? Almost eight months is an extraordinarily long time between beta and either a subsequent beta or an official release. Particularly for Sparx, which has such a history of frequent updates.

What are Sparx's intentions for this product? Is it considered to be at its end of life and no longer under active development?

Ref.  MDG Integration for Visual Studio v4.0, Beta 1, Jan 29th, 2009; and also I'm not the only one asking.

Best regards,

[RoyC]

You are really asking other users here.

To get a proper response from Sparx, please submit a support request (use the Report a Bug link at the bottom of this page) to Sparx Support. They can direct the query to the appropriate member of staff.

[eberline]

I did that, back in May, and was pleased to receive a thoughtful response indicating that the product was still in beta and held up because of a few issues. It sounded like it was still in active development. That was about four months after the beta 1 announcement, and since another four months have now passed it seemed reasonable to rattle somebody's cage again.

Also, since as noted at the top of this thread I'm not the only one interested, I thought a more widely disseminated response would be helpful to others. But it's not my place to forward any private email response from Sparx to this forum.

(And if I'm really asking other users here, I'm a bit mystified as to the point of this particular forum, "Suggestions and Requests". Is the idea that users can post suggestions and requests for other users to implement as 3rd-party add-ons?)

Anyway, Roy, thanks for your reply.

Cheers,
Scott

[Geert Bellekens]

Eberline,

I think the idea of this forum is to discuss suggestions and requests with other users before committing them to Sparx.
Often other users can refine your request, or suggest a workaround.

Geert

[RoyC]

Yes... but as you appear to have found 4 months ago, you tend to get more immediate, thoughtful and informative responses if you address your enquiry to Sparx Support.

Having made such an enquiry, then you can yell lustily here on the forum that you are rattling the Sparx cage on a particular point, so that all other interested users know. It is fully expected by other users that you do pass on information from Sparx Support responses, if it doesn't involve revealing any of your own company-sensitive information.

This section of the forum - and 'Bugs and Issues' - enables users to air wish-lists and stumbling blocks so that other users can agree that they want or have already asked for the same requested feature, point out that they had the same bug and they or Sparx fixed it in this way..., or disagree and point out that the requested feature would cause problems for these reasons, or the fault isn't a fault, or at least not as perceived. Or ... what Geert said.

Actually, there are some third-party organizations that use this forum to tell users about their products, and indeed take note of the requests and issues.

[Paolo F Cantoni]

This section of the forum - and 'Bugs and Issues' - enables users to air wish-lists and stumbling blocks so that other users can agree that they want or have already asked for the same requested feature, point out that they had the same bug and they or Sparx fixed it in this way..., or disagree and point out that the requested feature would cause problems for these reasons, or the fault isn't a fault, or at least not as perceived. Or ... what Geert said.

Then, young Roy, this category (Suggestions and Requests) within the forum is missing a "Sticky" topic (analogous to the one for the "Bugs and Issues" category - helping users to submit formal requests (as Sir Humphrey would say  - "At the appropriate juncture"...)  

Paolo

[«Midnight»]

"At the end of the day..."

So too is a sticky post for the FAQ section [or "category" if you prefer] of the forum missing.

But of course the entire FAQ section is missing. Perhaps there is a sticky post and we just don't see the whole section. Where the FAQ section is (often phrased as why there isn't one) is a likely candidate for the first FAQ to address.

Even Sir Humphrey would agree this is long overdue. It seems to date back to the days of Mister Appleby. But perhaps this very allusion contains a gem of wisdom. Sir Humphrey might not have approved of providing answers; or at least not of questions being frequently asked.

We could therein find a general answer for many such questions though.

"It is all in the files."  

David

[eberline]

OK then, thanks for redirecting me in a more productive direction. A FAQ/sticky would have been useful, and I did actually look for one. Pending information directly from Sparx, the most value I can contribute here is probably this.

Cheers,
Scott

[eberline]

I've been informed by Sparx that MDG Integration is still in active development, and the latest version is undergoing testing. Which reassurance is all that was really expected, pending a final release. Every little bit of transparency is much appreciated.

Cheers,
Scott

[Thelonius]

Transparency. That's a good word. We should have more transparency.  

[Geert Bellekens]

http://www.sparxsystems.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1255411920