BungeeConnect Basecamp API version 0.1.4 "Green Bar" - Release Candidate

I revved the BungeeConnect Basecamp API tonight, with the following improvements:

• Time Entries have complete test coverage. Thanks to Yamato Engine Specialists for allowing testing of the API with their account.
  
• Messages and Comments now have complete test coverage (and yes, the tests pass).
  
• Todo-Items now update all recommended fields; v0.1.2 only updated the text of the todo-item.
• Milestones update successfully; Milestone due-dates were incorrectly types as DateTime - they are now properly typed as Date.
• An issue with properly identifying responsible parties for milestones, and todo-items was resolved.
  

The following issues are still outstanding:

• There is currently no support for Attachments.
  

Prerequisites (unchanged):

• A BungeeConnect account.
• A Basecamp account. To use SSL and manage Time Entries, you need at least a Plus Account.

Just as a reminder, this code is released completely free to the BungeeConnect community; feel free to use and abuse it to your hearts content.

CampHappier Project

I'm also proud to announce that this code is also the first Release Candidate from the CampHappier Project: a group of code components arranged around the concept of making 37Signals' Basecamp Project Management app more feature rich via the API. Chime in on the Wiki or via GetSatisfaction.

Drop me a comment and let me know how you're using the code.

BungeeConnect Basecamp API version 0.1.2

I (finally) updated the BungeeConnect Basecamp API this morning, with the following improvements:

• Milestones and Todo-Items no longer error out during the uncomplete function.
• Getting archived messages correctly uses the AbbreviatedPost class, instead of the Post class.

The following issues are still outstanding:

• TimeEntry methods are not well tested, as this is a premium feature. I've asked 37Signals for access to TimeEntries for testing & development.
• Update methods are still failing out. BungeeLabs is working with me to resolve this issue.

Prerequisites (unchanged):

• A BungeeConnect account.
• A Basecamp account. To use SSL and manage Time Entries, you need at least a Plus Account.

Basecamp API for BungeeConnect

+ = ?

12 classes. 60 functions. 6 test applications. 30 unit test functions. One big fat API wrapper. BungeeConnect applications can now completely integrate with 37signals' Basecamp Project Management application.

Why?

Well, 37s are an arrogant group of developers; they even admit to it in their book. Ask them for a new feature and the answer is "no", or in my case "there's an API, build it yourself." So I am, in BungeeConnect, and you can too. (My own itch is moving todo-items from one project to another, something 37s has been reluctant to offer.)

Prerequisites.

• A BungeeConnect account.
• A Basecamp account. To use SSL and manage Time Entries, you need at least a Plus Account.

Getting Started.

• Login to the Bungee Builder, and create a new Solution.
  
• Modify the Solution's Depencies to include the Basecamp API
  
• If you want to modify the API, Import it (you'll probably want to, as there aren't any inbuilt Adapters).
• In a class in your TypeLib, add BasecampAPI as a field.
  
• Before you can go to town, you'll have to setup the API. Now there's nothing stopping you!
  

Issues.
I've got two rather minor functions that are still throwing 404 errors - I'm working with 37s (via the forums) to get to the bottom of it, but again, they are minor, and I don't consider them showstoppers.

A bit larger, is an issue I found with BungeeConnect: their HTTP Utility doesn't properly auth PUTs, so none of the Update functions currently work. Bungee Labs has labeled this as Issue #7889 - hopefully it will be resolved sooner rather than later.

In Conclusion...

I'll be maintaining the BungeeConnect code until someone else steps up with better code, so drop me a line with any issues you encounter, or just let me know what cool tool you're building!

P.S. I'll be dropping another blog post soon about a new site I'm building for making Basecamp better using a variety of small tools.

37Signals says IE6 sucks

In a recent blog post, 37 Signals, originators of Ruby on Rails, and a series of extremely popular web applications, reminded users of their intent to stop supporting Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6.

Jason Fried, President of 37Signals blogged yesterday:

"We will not intentionally break IE 6 compatibility, but we will also not invest significant time or resources into making sure we are backward compatible with IE 6 after October 1, 2008."

What's a poor IE6 user to do?

"In order to continue using the products without any hiccups, Internet Explorer 6 users should upgrade to a newer browser..."

... like Firefox, or Safari, or maybe even Google Chrome (if you can work around their EULA).

Why drop support for a browser you've invested so much work in already?

"Continued support of IE 6 means that we can't optimize our interfaces or provide an enhanced customer experience in our apps. Supporting IE 6 means slower progress, less progress, and, in some places, no progress. We want to make sure the experience is the best it can be for the vast majority of our customers, and continuing to support IE 6 holds us back."

This reflects strongly on the culture of 37Signals and their customer base. In the original post, it was noted that, "..IE 6 usage has finally dipped below a small minority threshold of our customers...". This is contrary to browsers overall, as w3Counter still reports IE6 as the top browser in their August '08 stats, accounting for 29.91% of all browser hits. 37Signals is an amazingly successful, forward-thinking, and arrogant set of developers. Their customers, by reflection are mostly the same, and I'm proud to be counted among them. I just hope Firefox 2 isn't next on their hit list...

Of course, if you're using GNU/Linux or a Mac, this doesn't effect you anyway. ;-)