‘Tis The Season To Be…..

Spending Lolly?

It sometimes feels, that at this time of the year, we’re just “pushing trolley” piling it high with presents and food. Swept along with the commercialism of the season, “Buy Now“, “Massive Discount” adverts. And all while listening to endless repeats of “Now That’s What I Call Christmas” played over the tinny PA system. (Congratulations if you took advantage of Cradle #BlackFriday deal! To remain on point, “Only a few days left to buy a copy of Cradle for Christmas” Look into my eyes; You want to buy now).

Whilst indulging in the festivities, don’t forget to pause a while and consider those less fortunate. Making an extra effort to put change in a collector’s tin, donating to your local food-bank, or shelter can make a great difference.

Sorry?

Yep, you didn’t finish that report before leaving for the holiday. Over the holiday you ate too much. You didn’t take advantage of that gym membership you bought last New Year? Well, you can make promises to start the  New Year afresh and do all those things you intended to do in 2019. (You can see this is working up to another sales point) So if extra copies of Cradle are not on your Christmas list, make sure it’s lined up for new projects starting in 2020.

Build a Folly? or Buying a Collie?

If you like, as long as it is at home and not one of the projects at work – Customers will always see through a façade eventually.

Remember a dog is not just for Christmas.

Jolly?

Above all, we hope if you get a break, you find time to relax with family and friends. Whatever this Winter (Summer – to our friends South of the equator) season means to you, we wish you all the best from 3SL.

WSI

The Cradle Web Services Interface is an API (Application Programming Interface) to Cradle to allow you to develop your own interactions with the database.
Cradle has long offered a C and .Net interface to allow programs to retrieve and store database items. Whilst the standard API is a comprehensive interface, it requires a fair degree of programming knowledge and support structure to create and maintain applications which interface to Cradle.
The new Cradle WSI is a REST-based HTTP interface, this  offers an alternative method by which users can make data requests using a URI to the Cradle Web Service. Through support of standard HTTP methods POST, GET, PUT & DELETE, data can be retrieved and manipulated. The JSON data returned can be manipulated by any script or programming language you choose. Updated data can then be returned to Cradle.  You may want to interface with another product, linking Cradle data, or simply to output  and use in a different data visualisation tool. To see the full range of capabilities see the product documentation for the Web Services Interface User Guide. In order to use these facilities, talk to us about a Cradle API licence.

Look Back……

Wow 2019 has flown by, in writing our December 2019 Newsletter, we take a peek back at what happened:

• Cradle 7.5 released
• WSI  – Web Services Interface http REST interface
• ReqIF – A standard for requirement interchange can now be imported and exported from Cradle
• ODBC database support – if you want to store your data in an Oracle or MySQL data-farm
• Baseline histories can be read through our API
• Non-model items (requirements and system notes) on Cradle diagrams.
• We passed muster with ISO9001:2015
• G-Cloud 11

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We wondered quite what was inside the 150 tonne engineering component moving along Barrow’s streets, was it a bit of submarine or some strange alien recovered from a crash landing in Barrow docks?

Just in case it had escaped your notice, we had a general election, but we opted to ask people to vote for supporting Cradle

And Finally

That’s all for the December 2019 Newsletter , and indeed this year. If you would like to suggest a topic for next time, drop us a line social-customer@threesl.com.

November Luck, Eddystone and Adaptations

The type of luck for Guy Fawkes and the discovery of the plot may depend on your political and religious views. November also appeared to have good and bad luck for a lighthouse. Read our November 2019 newsletter to find out more.

The problem with undersea rocks, is they are difficult to see. If they are too near the surface they can easily catch wayfarers off guard with disastrous consequences. Painter and engineer Sir Henry Winstanley solved the problem of ships being wrecked off the Plymouth coast with the construction of the first Eddystone lighthouse. The wooden structure was first lit in November 1698, good luck for all the sailors. However, again in November bad luck struck,  the lighthouse was washed away in the Great Storm of 1703. The next incarnation came from John Rudyard, a silk merchant;  an adaptation of the initial idea,  a flashing light built out at sea right on top of the treacherous rocks. This time a brick core, covered with planks and caulking almost like a vertical ship. The lighthouse survived all its Novembers, only to burn down in December 1755. The next adaptation was by a civil engineer, John Smeaton. This design revolutionised lighthouse building. It was ready and shining just before November 1756. This concrete based construction lasted until 1877, and it was the erosion of the rocks upon which it stood, rather than the construction which failed. So great was this engineering design, it was reconstructed on Plymouth Hoe as a memorial, a copy was even built here in Cumbria, standing as a memorial to naval administrator Sir John Barrow. The current adaptation has stood for 140 years and fingers crossed it has no bad luck in the November weather currently battering the UK. The moral of the story, as far as engineering goes, build upon what is good, adapt and improve your design and don’t reinvent the wheel (or lighthouse). To read more on adaptations and reuse download our whitepaper, or see the Cradle help.

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Deals

We’ve got some great discounts for you or a donation to a charity of your choice with our 2019 discounts.

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Another item’s design that often evolves and adapts, is that of the bridge. We looked at a story from B1M about bridges in New York. We reminded you  there are different ways to control your password in Cradle, and hosted a student from Furness College on work experience.

And Finally

We’d like to mark our respects for the fallen, and hope you all had a peaceful remembrance day on the 11th. That’s all for our November 2019 Newsletter, let’s hope you have plenty of good luck. If you would like to suggest a topic for next time, drop us a line social-customer@threesl.com.

Spirits, Cauldrons, Witches and Jack-O-Lanterns

The masses were hungry, they needed a solution. The Requirements Master toiled over her cauldron. Into the mix she added a freshly cut bunch of requirements, a handful of ideas and a sackful of luck. The brew steamed for day and night, and as members of her family walked by they threw in their ha’p’orth of comments.

The requirements soon stewed and disintegrated, but all could see the ideas floating to the top.

The swirling liquor produced a heady vapour, caught by the nostrils of the management team. They liked what they smelled and believed the Requirements Master was doing just fine.

When the soup was dished up to the masses, the flavour was odd, and it didn’t satisfy their hunger. They felt weakened and sad, some even passed over to another project. “A curse has been placed upon this town”, they cried, “the Requirements Master is a Witch!”  The town’s folk lit lanterns to guide the lost souls home to the  land of abandoned engineering.

Well, that’s certainly one way to do design and engineering! But we don’t believe the most successful.  Whilst it is often the case that many ideas are ‘chucked in the melting pot’, it should be used as a tool elicit idea, and not to ‘hopefully solve’ the problem. A more complex mix isn’t necessarily successful. As the tale told, losing sight of the requirements is a dangerous thing. Managing the project by a whiff of success is unlikely to be accurate.

So, don’t fall under the spell of those that don’t know how to engineer, and let Cradle light your way!

Non-Model Items, in a Model

What do we mean by non-model  items? In our system engineering representations specific components of the ‘model’ appear as particular symbols on the diagram. Behind each symbol the specification details the values and characteristics associated with the process/function/store/environment etc. A data definition is used to detail the information in a flow/store/relationship and so on.

The diagram can be cross referenced to the other Cradle components, such as  requirements or user defined system design notes. In this way a requirement could be “modelled by” a particular diagram. A feature “defined by” a state transition diagram and so on. These items, present in the Requirements Management arena are linked but not directly depicted within the model. We therefore class them as ‘non-model’ items.

It is possible, within Cradle, to directly show these items on FAD (Function Analysis Design) modelling diagrams. They can be used to group sub components of the diagram by representing the context within which they reside, or directly showing the item and some of its details. ‘Opening’ the symbol will show the details of the item in a Cradle form.

For further information on classic modelling, see the Cradle help.

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We postulated over travelling to work in a software controlled transport system, and the damage it could wreak following this tweet from @thalesgroup.

We asked you to get a colleague to quickly draw a hill on a piece of paper and then draw a house on it. How did they do?

That’s all for the October 2019 Newsletter, but if you would like to suggest a topic for next time, drop us a line social-customer@threesl.com.

September, An Autumn Season

I wonder if I could get a catchy acronym from that? SaAs…. Not quite sure that’s what the boss meant when he suggested we highlight the growing offloading trend. As you may remember, we surveyed readers a while back, and the split between “Keep it all in house” and “Get someone else to look after it all” was fairly even. However, the predicted compounded growth of this method of working is around 24% over the next 4 years or so. We feel sure that there will still be a mix of users on ‘traditional’ systems and others on the cloud based solutions. Partly this is a matter of  trust, knowing that your data is within your own four walls. However, SaaS providers often have better redundancy and backup facilities than SMEs. The benefits of PAYG computing power, without the capital investment and yearly depreciation of these assets, could benefit the shareholders of larger companies. It’s not a simple choice, but whatever you choose, please feel free to discuss your requirements with 3SL salesdetails@threesl.com. No doubt the debate will reign on, to be joined with discussions about whether Cradle is best served over Cat6 to a desktop, or sent over 5G speeds into your hand-held device. We expect that depends on what you ask of Cradle’s Web Services. It will also depend on whether you want a quick health check dashboard, or to be able to manipulate Engineering models.

Oh, yes and to keep readers happy who thought this article was about Autumn, here is a September picture over our wonderful bit of coastline.

What’s In Store?

Cradle 7.6 is currently in development with a host of new features to support your business processes. Look out for a small patch release to 7.5 which has corrected some small faults and added a few improved features. Such as being able to get hold of baseline information over the API and a new Brazilian Portuguese message catalogue.

If you’ve not already upgraded to 7.5, don’t forget you’ll need a new licence code from 3SL. However, if you have, any forthcoming  patch releases can simply be downloaded and installed.

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We liked the huge civil engineering works to protect against flooding from @ArupGroup
Whilst we always like to progress forward, we checked in with how sometimes it is good to go in reverse.

…and Finally

Congratulations to all those students who achieved so much in GCSE, A-level and Degrees this summer. A reminder to all those off to university, your lecturers can get massive discounts on Cradle for academic teaching. If you are now looking for work, don’t forget there’s  a short while left to apply for the support engineer post at 3SL.

Headline July 12th:

Chaucer Appointed Clerk of the King’s Works

OK, this is a 2019 newsletter and the headline is from 1389 (and not from the 3SL newsletter, we may be a long established company but the MD assures me he’s not that old).

What’s Geoffrey Chaucer, the Father of English literature from the middle ages got to do with Requirement’s Management? I hear you ask.

Any wordsmith will strive to create a picture or describe an event in such a way that the reader is able to internally visualise and experience what the author is trying to convey. Whether that be fact or fiction is the main divide between literary and engineering authors. Visions of golden eagles carrying the author high above the earth in Chaucer‘s Hous of Fame, or a depiction of Hiccup, a small Viking, on the back of a Dragon, by our most recent Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell, may paint vivid pictures, but are works of fantasy.

Business writing must also convey a visualisation to the reader. However in a very different style. No one would ever suggest writing your requirements in octosyllabic couplets, or even in rhyme. Although it does sounds fun! In the same way that a poet uses rules to create rhymes,  couplets, sonnets or limericks, business writers follow hierarchical, brevity, atomic rules to keep requirements clear, concise and understandable. We’d rather draw you a diagram to illustrate the system than add another thousand words.

Requirements need to have a purpose, a defined theme or product. Unlike the criticised unfinished, wandering Hous of Fame. In his job as the Clerk or works (CoW), Chaucer would have needed to provide clear instruction and detail to the builders. His work as a bureaucrat would also have required clear communication. An uncommon talent to find, skills in both literary and business writing, unless you know different?   Let us know social-customer@threesl.com

What’s In A Name?

Quite a bit really. We believe Cradle® – From Concept to Creation is synonymous with a product helping organise and manage projects world wide. In that regard we have successfully defended our registered trademark under the “software umbrella” for many years. However, many of you will be familiar with Cradle support, training and business consultancy. You may also be aware Cradle is now also available as a managed service (SaaS).  In recognition of the work we do helping companies set up successful processes, and our service provisions, you’ll now also find Cradle® in classes 41 and 42.

G Cloud 11

We’ve been successfully accepted into the UK government’s G-Cloud 11 framework. Thanks to the efforts of all involved.

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We liked the Soapbox challenge that came to Barrow, and enjoyed the longest day this year. We were impressed that Battelle‘s micro engineering could identify you from a hair.