Posted by Jim Locker (24.209.104.73) on October 03, 2003 at 06:12:21:
We have released a new feature called a "personality module". This technology exploits the user extension interface that is available in all versions of The Property Manager, and that is explicitly supported and documented in the Developer Edition.
Basically, our package organization is quite flexible and via the user extension interface we have the capability to change the way it looks and works. We are generating personality modules to do that for specific industries.
The first module released is for the homeowner association industry. It relabels the forms to get rid of the "tenant-unit-building" type of labeling and replaces it with "owner-lot (or parcel)" labeling. It also causes the code to execute a bit differently in some places so that the explicit need to select a Building before selecting a Unit is eliminated; a HOA or POA would not care about a Building and is only interested in the Units, which in this case are Lots or Parcels.
The built in reports and queries are also somewhat modified to reflect this bias.
We are planning a Hotel/Motel personality module. This module will also bypass "Buildings" and only consider "Units", which will be relabeled "Rooms" or "Suites". "Tenants" will become "Guests", the default rental period will become 1 day rather than 1 month, and information collected will reflect the needs of a hotel management rather than a landlord.
These personality modules can be extended for any particular purpose, and will provide a customization capability that any potential customer who has a custom requirement should explore. We will build custom personality modules for customers, as needed.