September 2008 - Posts

• QuickBooks geeks unite! MethodAPI is here!

  We have a slight problem here at Method.  We have rebranded a "developer" as someone who develops their own system.  Afterall, Method is a platform that is all drag and drop, no programming.  But the old school way of thinking is that only a programmer can be called a developer.   This leaves those who actually know how to write code asking "Where do I fit into all this?  What's my title?"  So until we find a better name, "QuickBooks geeks" it is - and since I am certainly a geek, I have no problem using the title. You should have seen me around the office this week showing off the little apps I was creating using the Method API.  Slick apps I'm telling you.  Like a VBA add in for Excel that instantly grabs a list of overdue QuickBooks invoices and plops them into Excel.  Or a cool little web page app that with 20 lines of code fires an invoice into QuickBooks in real time. I think the staff here were wearing sympathetic smiley faces while trying to figure out why I was so excited. But that's understandable.  They aren't all programming geeks like me.  Furthermore, they haven't tried to make apps that use the QuickBooks SDK, or the QuickBooks Web Connector.  So they couldn't possibly understand why it is so cool that you can write a simple SQL statement from a web page, send it to a MethodAPI web service and viola! it updates QuickBooks.  But if you've kept with me to the end of paragraph 3 of this blog post......I'm thinking you just might get it too. Who is this MethodAPI for?  Not your typical Method user.  This is for programmers (those of us who write code..yuk!!) that want to integrate their apps with Method.  So they could be those who want to write powerful import or export tools from a desktop app like Excel, or they could be web developers that want to integrate Method users' websites with Method and QuickBooks data.  In fact, when we were at the QB Enterprise Solutions Conference two weeks ago, I pretty much had every other software company come up to me at some point saying "hey, Paul, could you guys make that syncing engine available to us so that we could make web service calls instead of using the web connector?". So, two weeks later, here we are.  We move fast.  MethodAPI is here, and it delivers a WOW - providing, of course, that you are a QuickBooks geek like me. MethodAPI Documentation: http://www.methodintegration.com/documentation/MethodAPIv1_Documentation.pdf MethodAPI Samples for VBA / Excel: http://www.methodintegration.com/documentation/MethodAPISample_VBA.zip MethodAPI Samples for ASP.NET: http://www.methodintegration.com/documentation/MethodAPISample_ASP.zip Reply to this blog post with any comments, questions or complaints on the use of the “geek” word, I'm all ears.  Couple images: Here's a screen shot of the "Get Overdue Invoices" in Excel: Here's a snippet of the VBA code: Paul Jackson Method Integration Posted Sep 25 2008, 09:45 AM by Method_Paul with 2 comment(s)

• Method launches in Dallas, Texas

  “Giddy up y’all!”  I couldn’t help saying it.  That will be engrained in me for a few days after attending this year’s QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions User Conference in Dallas, Texas.  The primary focus of this conference is to help QuickBooks Enterprise users with managing their growing businesses and taking full advantage of what QuickBooks has to offer.  So why were we at the conference?  Well, we wanted to show off the unique solution that Method has to offer to end users, consultants and developers alike.  Not to mention we officially launched Method, thus ending the beta.  Now that is something to celebrate! The first day of the conference began with a software fashion show.  Developers were given 5 minutes to strut their stuff and show off why their solution was the best.  We decided to think “outside the box” and do a skit showing why “Boxed Software” (played by Katie Riley) isn’t the best solution for customers compared to the “Method Integration” (played by Paul Jackson) solution.  I tried to get a video of this for all of you but I was busy answering questions from people in the audience.  I did manage to grab a few photos which I’ve included in my blog.  Let’s hope Katie doesn’t catch wind of this.  She wasn’t exactly ecstatic about playing “the box”.   For the next three days, we participated in the Solutions Expo.  Here is where everyone pulled out the best of what they had to offer.  Method was a hot ticket item at the conference, no doubt about that.  A common theme throughout the week was other users and consultants letting their colleagues and co-workers know about the product and bringing them to the booth for a second look.  We were also the only developer to offer real-time syncing, between QuickBooks and a web app, through the Method Integration Engine.  Pack that with a totally customizable solution and can you say buzz?    It was a pleasure speaking to everyone who came by the booth and left with a smile on their face because finally we were able to say “yes” to so many of the solutions they were looking for.   Oh I can’t forget to mention that the Method Café was officially opened for business.  We paired the 3 different blends of Method espressos with each of version of Method available.  As a result we offered a blend that suited each coffee drinker’s needs.  Would you expect anything less from the Method Team? I’d like to send a personal “Thank you” to all the beta testers who came out to say “Hi” and provide their feedback to me.  Great to finally put some faces to your names. What’s next on our game plan?  I’ll be working on getting together a certification program for all you eager Method users who want to become gurus and learn the way of the force!  I've included some other pictures below for our trip.  Enjoy! Below: Paul Jackson (Method Integration) and Annie (Intuit) Below: Paul Jackson, Katie Riley and Danny Do Couto (The Method Team)   Below: Danny Do Couto and Paul Jackson speaking with potenial Method users @ The Solutions Expo Below:  Danny Do Couto showing how easy it is to customize Method Below:  Annie (Intuit), Katie Riley and Danny Do Couto Below:  Paul Jackson, Karen (PDG Software), Katie Riley, Annie (Intuit) and Danny Do Couto   Danny Do Couto Method Integration Posted Sep 16 2008, 03:51 PM by Anonymous with no comments

• Method’s on the road again…

  Summer may be coming to an end but for the Method Team, things are really starting to heat up.  This fall the Method Team will be attending 2 big conferences.   Our first stop will be Dallas, Texas where we are exhibiting at the QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Conference from September 10 - 12.  This conference is tailored for novice to advanced users of QuickBooks Enterprise.  This will also be the official launch location for Method going out of beta and being available to the general public.  Next, we’re headed to Phoenix, Arizona for the 2008 Sleeter Group Conference running from November 10 – 13.   This conference is tailored to both accountants and consultants alike.   For those of you who don’t know, this will be our second year attending the Sleeter Group Conference and this year we will be a Gold Level Exhibitor.  Last year was when we officially launched our beta in Las Vegas, Nevada.  To read more on that, my blog post by clicking here.  So if you happen to be in Dallas or Phoenix on these days, or attending any of these conferences, please stop by.  Say hello!  Perhaps share a coffee at the café ?  Cheers! Danny Do Couto Method Integration Posted Sep 08 2008, 01:12 PM by Anonymous with no comments

• Method has made its first patent filing to United States Patent and Trademark Office

  On Friday (September 5th, 2008) Method has filed its first patent application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office!  In fact it is the first and only patent that our company, Alocet Incorporated, has ever filed, and let me tell you, it is quite a process. What for you ask?  Well, if you break method into two parts: the syncing part "Method Integration Engine" and the web platform "Method", the patent is on the syncing part.  Specifically, the process by which we devised a way to sync an accounting database, like QuickBooks, with a separate server -hosted, non-accounting database, in real-time. Most of us, myself included, have never gone through this process. It is quite an experience, and a lot of work going back and forth with a technology-specialized intellectual property guru, hashing out the details and processes of "the invention" in such a way that it can be understood by an outsider.  By the end you end up with some 75 pages of processes, claims, diagrams, exhibits.....and quite a headache. :) For me, because of my personal involvement in the core development of the actual syncing engine, it was a realization of what an amazing feat we have accomplished by creating it.  We started it over two years ago, and it has been left fairly untouched for the last year while we shifted more efforts to the platform portion, so I had forgotten about all the challenges and obstacles we faced when creating it.  From an end-user's standpoint you might already take it for granted.  You add a customer, or an invoice, or change an item price, etc. and it magically updates QuickBooks instantly (and vice-versa).  But the process of finding its way from your browser, wherever you are in the world, through the internet, finding the computer that has QuickBooks on it, and making the appropriate entry into QuickBooks is quite an accomplishment.  It's even a lot more complicated that one might perceive with all of its many different moving parts each performing a special function, and all perfectly rigged to follow accounting and QuickBooks specific rules - such as hundreds of little rules like "don't try to add a new invoice until you have added a new customer first". The syncing process of the Method Integration Engine is a one-of-a-kind accomplishment...and now I am proud to say we have a pending patent to prove for it. We're off to Dallas next week for the QB Enterprise Solutions conference.  I look forward to meeting many of you, Paul Jackson Method Integration   Posted Sep 06 2008, 08:49 AM by Method_Paul with no comments