Anyone have experience with Scriptcase?

[Jeff]

Good / bad / indifferent / hearsay - I'm looking for any feedback that any of you may have about working with Scriptcase.

I'm looking for a new RAD tool to replace the cumbersome and sometimes mind-numbing phpMaker.

This tool would primarily be used to knock out a CRUD application for the back-end of a db-driven website, but if it proves useful enough and the learning curve isn't too steep, I may also use it for some front-end apps as well.

Anyone?

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Jeff

[Mark Cunningham]

I have experience with mySQL if that helps I've built several cms and designs

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[Jeff]

Thanks Mark!  I, too, have experience with MySQL and have written a CMS before ... but wanted reviews on that particular tool to handle the tedious task of coding a CRUD app.  I'm now working with one that I think is quite handy and may be able to make life easier for me ... phpRunner.  Nice GUI interface, extremely flexible, and handles many of the tougher tasks for this kind of application rather adroitly.  

This after a most unfortunate encounter with a company called Embarcadero.  They're thieves and I would not recommend doing business with them _ever_.

Jeff

[Robert Gonzalez]

Not to goo too far off course, but what's the story with Embarcadero? I've heard of them before but have never used them. What was you're experience with them?

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Robert Gonzalez

   

[Jeff]

Robert,

I apologize for the length of this post, but I think it's important for those on this list understand FULLY what my experience was so it doesn't happen to them as well.  Consider this as a full-fledged WARNING about Embarcadero.

As this thread indicates, I have been looking for a RAD tool to help revise the back-end of a site which has been live for many years.  The db consists of MANY tables and managing the data has been working OK with the admin area I created using phpMaker - but there was a lot that either couldn't be done or was so wonky to get done using phpMaker that it was easier to hand code.  phpMaker is not a terrible product.  It's OK for easy stuff, but gets ugly to use quickly.

So the hunt was on for a better RAD php development tool.

When I decided Scriptcase wasn't the answer, I found a product called RADphp XE2 by Embarcadero ... this was a few weeks ago.  The product appeared to be everything I needed and more!  This same tool (about $350) would not only generate all the CRUD code from a GUI interface, but also was capable of creating Web-based Apps, Webservices, and Mobile Apps for iPhone and Android.  What a deal!

While "digging in", however, I was having trouble finding a decent tutorial - the whole thing seemed a bit overwhelming with no good road map to guide me through the learning process.  I wasn't sure where to get started or about much of the big picture about the development cycle.  So I sent an e-mail for some guidance and got a CALL BACK from a sales rep the next day... impressive!  This was 8/24.  We talked on the phone and the sales rep connected me with a tech guy for more answers.  They gave me some general reassurances that the product would be able to do everything I needed, emailed some links to docs and videos, then sent me on my way to surmount the learning curve again complete with the suggestion that if I didn't find what I needed through the links provided that I should just Google for more info.  That final suggestion, I thought, was not very respectful of their to-be clients' time but I sucked it up and continued my efforts.

Over the next two weeks I did spend time watching videos and reading through the docs, trying some experiments and making a little headway.  Finally I got to a solid footing with learning the tool via a third-party website and felt confident that the product would be a good fit.  This was last Monday ... 9/3 ... just about two weeks after the call.  I went back to their site to check on licensing to see if I would be able to run the program on both my office desktop and my laptop (while on the road) and much to my surprise THE PRODUCT WAS GONE!

NOBODY can tell me that when I called in August those who I spoke with didn't know that something new was coming VERY, VERY soon.  In fact, one of their posts replying to my thread on their Forum suggested that I would be excited about new developments coming for the product.  I didn't think those new developments would mean that the time I spent trying to learn the product would be a total waste because RADphp XE2 was going to be disposed of and the functionalities swallowed up in another product ... leaving me to start over again with a product that (probably - I didn't bother to look) was so new that it didn't have even the sketchy docs of the more mature product they just dumped!

They pissed away two weeks of my time.  I understand keeping a new product 'under wraps' and not being able to divulge specifics.  I also know that I would not have wasted my time learning about a dead-end product if any one of the three reps who communicated with me would have told me to hold off for a very short time because something that would be a much better fit for my needs was on the way.  I could respect that and would have gladly given the new product serious consideration if they had not STOLEN my time by leading me to a dead end!

It comes down to respecting the client, the client's time, and the client's resources.  I will NEVER accept less than that and will walk away stone cold in an instant any time I encounter a provider who has no consideration for the person who is paying their bills.  I've done it to hosting companies, I've done it to doctors, cellular services and ISP's.  I don't care what standard industry practice or company policy says ... if they waste my time, I'm out the door.

I am EXTREMELY pleased with the responsiveness and honesty I have received from the team at Xline in support of their phpRunner product.  I may not be as all-encompassing as whatever came out at Embarcadero, but it is well documented, tutorials are laid out in a logical manner, and the product is highly useable without a massive learning curve.  I would recommend phpRunner in a heartbeat for anyone wanting a GUI-driven application that can do far more than just basic CRUD.

I hope that answers the question.  Thanks for the opportunity to vent ... I won't be recounting THAT story any more.

Jeff

[Jimboidaho]

Hi Jeff.  I just attended a launch road show of  RAD XE3.  The RADphp that you were working with has been renamed HTML5 builder (stupid name).  I tried RADphp a couple of years ago and I couldn't run it long enough without crashing to really test it.  Just in case someone doesn't know this, Embarcadero is a spinoff of Borland.