Anatomy of a Genie Add-In
I was recently asked to add a feature to Inmagic Genie that would detect overdues and calculate fines on the Loans Checkin page, allow a staffperson to override fine values, and save the fine totals to the Loans database in order to generate overdue reports by borrower.
Here it is in action over the Loans Checkin page:
Fig. 1 (above) - Overdues dialog appears when barcode input loses focus.
Fig. 2 (above) - Growl-type message shows feedback.
Workflow
- Enter barcodes.
- Tab out.
- Overdues, if any, appear. Set and submit fines.
- Click Check In button.
One extra step isn't too bad, right?
Pros
- Minimal impact on Genie: just one extra line in loans_checkin.aspx.
- Easy to set up.
- Supports IE7, IE8, IE9 beta, Firefox 3+, Chrome 5+, Opera 10+, Safari 5+
- Supports 212 international currency formats.
- AJAX-to-web-service-enabled
- Blessed with good looks
Cons
- It's not already part of Genie?
Anatomy
The key components are:
- An ASP.NET user control: AndornotCheckinControl.ascx.
- A jQuery plugin: jquery.genieCheckin-1.0.js.
- A JSON-enabled .NET web service: checkin.asmx.
- A .NET wrapper to the Webpublisher XML API: Andornot.Web.WebPublisherXml.dll
- A supporting Genie AddIn assembly: Andornot.GenieAddIns.Web.dll
Fig. 3 (above) - Diagram showing key components and workflow of the add-in.
Contact Us
Call or email or parachute in for a quote on adding this functionality to your Inmagic Genie installation.
1-866-2626-2525 toll free
info@andornot.com
Where to land your parachute or glider