MODx and IDE's

I’m going to slightly hijack this thread because I have a question that is related enough that I think that the same people will be interested and have suggestions...

I have been looking forever for a web-based project log program. I just want something simple to keep searchable dated text logs of work that I do on various projects. The logs contain any info that might be useful to recall later, including work done, calls made, contracts sent, backups, etc.

Previously I just kept one big text file for each project. Recently I decided that forum software might do the trick better than anything else that I could find, so i installed SMF on a server and I have a thread for each project log. It’s searchable and dated, but it still seems like I’m using a chainsaw to slice a lemon.

Anyone else have a good solution for this purpose?

As far as IDEs go, I’ve tried a ton of them and always come back to using a good text editor instead (usually Geany on Linux, Notepad++ on Windows). I rarely need all of the features of a full IDE, and I absolutely hate to wait for software to start up. If I were working on a major project with other people, however, I’m sure I’d feel differently.

Quote from: MediaGuy at Aug 25, 2008, 09:18 AM

Quote from: Bruno17 at Aug 25, 2008, 08:33 AM

you can install aptana as a plugin for eclipse, aptana stand-alone is nothing else as eclipse+aptana-plugin, so far I know

Yes, that is what I read to on the download section of Aptana. So I think I will stick to Aptana for now... It works easier for me then eclipse because everything I need for making websites is in there. The only thing I miss is a SQL browser.

Do you get that Aptana is built in/on Eclipse? You’re not choosing Aptana over Eclipse, you are simply choosing to not use any other Eclipse tools if you only use Aptana, including SQL browsing tools, and much much more. Honestly, it may be easier to get started with Aptana, but in the long-run, usability, performance, and features will drive you to use something else.

Quote from: MediaGuy at Aug 25, 2008, 09:18 AM

I don’t use stuff like subversion/svn, does someone use this on a windows platform? I think I would like to use it to have versioning, but I still want to use the folder structure we already have here at the company. We are a company that also does print work. Am I able to set up a subverion repository with the excisting files and still be able to use the files in other programs like the adobe creative suite??

Subverson is just a tool, you can use it however you want based on the way that it works. That said, you should read how it is expected to be used: http://svnbook.red-bean.com/ and have everyone that will use it become familiar with it before trying to implement it.

You’ll get the most out of tools like Eclipse, Subversion and MODx if you choose to invest the time it takes to learn the tool and all that you can do with it, rather than looking for solutions that are easiest to understand and the quickest to get started with for a very narrow purpose.

Quote from: ZAP at Aug 25, 2008, 10:25 AM

I have been looking forever for a web-based project log program. I just want something simple to keep searchable dated text logs of work that I do on various projects. The logs contain any info that might be useful to recall later, including work done, calls made, contracts sent, backups, etc.

Previously I just kept one big text file for each project. Recently I decided that forum software might do the trick better than anything else that I could find, so i installed SMF on a server and I have a thread for each project log. It’s searchable and dated, but it still seems like I’m using a chainsaw to slice a lemon.

Anyone else have a good solution for this purpose?

As far as IDEs go, I’ve tried a ton of them and always come back to using a good text editor instead (usually Geany on Linux, Notepad++ on Windows). I rarely need all of the features of a full IDE, and I absolutely hate to wait for software to start up. If I were working on a major project with other people, however, I’m sure I’d feel differently.

Well, Eclipse has plugins for relating objects in the IDE to tasks in various task management programs. It’s called Mylyn, and though I haven’t used it, I’ve wanted to (just waiting for the JIRA integration to be more stable).

BTW, you can use your favorite editors from Eclipse (it’s that customizable), but having the projects and all the features it provides available in one program is infinitely better than having to open up 500 programs to work with projects in various languages and different tools and technologies, which web projects almost always are.

I think the thing is that it depends on the user need. I am not a developer so using an IDE for building websites is overkill most of the time but some of the features of IDEs such as class/method references, code references and other integrations make for potential time savings.

As far as I know, you can still use the Eclipse installer from w/in Aptana but you need to know the URL of the repository for the plugin. I am sure it would not be hard to add QuantumDB to Aptana. In either case Java Applications in Windows have a lot of load on the front end which requires a lot of waiting that being said being Open Source allows for more development and more plugins. I think the advantages of Apatana are as Jason says, initial feature sets but user optimization and workflows always trumps feature sets. Sometimes apps that just do enough are what the project orders.

E-Text editor is almost an IDE since it can do on the fly code hightlight switching, references and apps. In addition you have native SVN if you have Tortoise setup. I have also a seperate DB manager so it is a matter of tools for the job.

My instincts tell me that Aptana has many features I don’t need line the JAXER server and every JS library under the sun. (I’m not a JS guy at all.)

MyLyn definitely looks very cool, although not quite what I’m looking for personally (I use Todoist for tasks and I really want a web-based project log so that I can access and add to it from anywhere).

re: IDEs - I try to avoid all Java apps because they tend to be sluggish and don’t quite integrate properly into the rest of the system, so I never really gave Eclipse a fair trial I suppose.