I got some pretty good (mostly valid ;) criticism today about Lighthouse so I thought I should post about it. Before downloading and using Lighthouse, you should know that it was built as a light weight, quick to deploy bug tracker. It uses XML to track bugs, and it stores this info in RAM. That means the tracker is going to suck if you load it with a large number of bugs.
I built it this way because I wanted a bug tracker that was fast to deploy. It was based on a one file tracker a good friend of mine did that took about 30 seconds to deply. Lighthouse isn't that quick, but that is the thinking behind the way it was built.
That being said, there is room for improvement. I plan on doing a minor update next month that will mainly consist of UI changes. I also plan on adding a Lighthouse support forum on my site.
So, my question to you is (you being anyone using it, or anyone who tried it) - does this lightweight setup actually work for you, and secondly, would you be interested in a more "Enterprise" level bug tracking system, something actually using a database. Not that I have time for another large project, but I have been thinking of making a new version of it, while keeping the lightweight one as well.
Archived Comments
Hi Ray:
I've tested the current LightHouse on 4 small projects now and it was just ducky. That said, a more robust db-based version would be the bomb.
Hi Ray:
I also had as one of my primary goals with Tracking Tools (tracking-tools.com) to make it easy to deploy. I was able to achieve a 0 step deploy (just download the package and doubleclick) while also supporting major db platforms. The point of this comment is not to plug my app ;) but to let you know it is doable and to look forward to some articles in future CFDJs that describe how.
-Phil
Ray, some better documentation on how to set it up for multiple projects would be nice. I really like it but could not seem to get away from the "default" project it monitors. Apart from that it is really excellent!
Ray, I'm using it on a small project for one website. An enterprise level one that could easily incorporate multiple projects would be great. Though current version is very nice, keep it up!
Tested it also... very inspiring. Yet, with SOS coming out I am evaluating everything I look at as to how easily it can be deployed into a shared application environment. Would love to integrate a "SOS" version of lighthouse... if you are game to it. I don't want to cross over anyones rights though. (And just perhaps my goals would be more along the big boy version of the software.)
John, by SOS do you mean SourceOffSite, which is just a remote tool for SourceSafe?
No... share open source. It's a framework for Coldfusion development that allows multiple methodologies, customization... SOS will be free, but the applications that I personally write for it won't always be. Like Fusebox is free. It just does a whole lot more. (Web Skins, presentation handlers, shared application platform, UDF Libraries, Enhanced API platform... and more, more, more.)
Great program just wondering how to reinitialize it so it will take the changes I made to the .ini file. Kind of a newbie here to CF so forgive me if it is an obvious question.
Randy
using reinit=1 in the URL will refresh the app.
Thanks Ray! I was going to take a crack at hooking it up to a table in MySQL if you don't mind. I would be glad to share any successes with you.
Randy