G2 (software)
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| developer | Staudinger Foundation |
| Publishing year | 2006 |
| Current version | 3.1 |
| operating system | Windows |
| category | Client-server application |
| License | Proprietary |
| German speaking | Yes |
The G2 software is a technology for programming-free application development based on the client-server model for collecting, storing and reporting data . With G2, specialist users in companies and public administrations build their own solutions and operate them. This can be any complex system - from the management of fault reports to the control of entire procurement processes. Programming skills are not required; Knowledge of Excel is sufficient. In contrast to Excel, the data with G2 are on a central database server.
As in Excel, the G2 program does not contain any ready-made data masks and has no business logic . It has a design component with which forms (structures for recording data) can be set up and the business rules required for a specific specialist task can be set. The business logic is not stored in the source code. Forms are used to specify which data are to be recorded and which properties this data has. The relationships (business rules) between this data are stored in forms like in Excel. The data is presented in an MS Windows environment ( Win64 ) or in a web browser (http client). Several business users can work simultaneously and independently of one another. You import the required released data from other systems and integrate it into your system in a form. Interfaces to all common formats are stored. G2 enables users to adapt and expand solutions to current requirements within days. The software technology manages without customizing and thus remains stable.
The developer of the G2 software technology is Gerd Arno Staudinger. The starting point of his considerations was the suffering experienced by professional users in companies and public administrations . In his experience, the dilemma is that the IT specialist often does not understand the vocabulary of the business user, so that an IT consultant has to be intervened as a mediator. In order for a new software program to be introduced, the specialist user must be able to give the developer a complete list of their requirements at the time of design - a prerequisite that they can only meet in the rarest of cases. However, if he has forgotten something, the IT specialist will have to adapt the software later. This makes it more unstable. From Staudinger's point of view, a complex software changeover that affects many specialist users and makes different versions necessary is even more problematic. This led Staudinger to develop the G2 software. It enables business users to manage and develop their data independently of IT specialists, so that no process knowledge can leave the company. His basic idea was to separate the data structure and business rules from the source text, as in the Excel spreadsheet program. He transferred the solution to a client-server model with unlimited complexity and in this way further developed Excel. The G2 technology has been in use since 2006.
G2 is used in industry, craft and public administration. The ministries of Saarland have been using the software developed in Dresden for more than ten years for complex funding management. G2 is a no-code technology. To be able to use G2, .NET and a Microsoft SQL Server are required. G2 can process the common Office data sources (Excel, Microsoft Access , text, clipboard), the database interface ODBC and web services. This can be expanded as required on request. G2 can make the data available to any target system, for example Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Business Intelligence (BI), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or financial accounting , provided they have the appropriate import interfaces.
Data management
Organization of the data
At G2, the data is organized in subject areas analogous to the structure of a company (e.g. purchasing, production and sales) (Fig. A, 1). Each subject area has its own business rules and data structures. The subject area data is organized in forms that are hierarchically subordinate to the subject areas (Fig. A, 2). A main form can contain any number of subforms. These in turn can have a large number of subforms. In this way, any complex processes can be mapped.
Any number of roles can be defined for each form. All employees in the company are assigned a role. On the one hand, depending on their roles, they only see the data in the forms that is relevant to the completion of their work tasks. On the other hand, they have different access options to the data. For example, the manager can approve the vacation request, while the employee only sees the decision.
A form is defined by characteristics. Because one subject area exists independently of the other, its characteristics can also be defined independently. This means that feature descriptions can be used differently in different subject areas. For example, one and the same characteristic can be displayed as an integer in subject area 1 and as a fixed point number in subject area 2.
All characteristics of a subject area that have already been defined (from previously created forms) are contained in the Catalog of characteristics list (Fig. A, 3). The features are typed. The characteristics can be of the type text, fixed point number, integer, date, date from – to, yes / no, catalog selection and link with object (file, form and back reference). The feature types can be combined with one another. For example, a yes / no field can be coupled with a date field.
Additional properties can be individually added to the feature types assigned to a form via the form definition (Fig. A, 4). For example, the unit of measurement, the number of decimal places and an alias can be specified for the fixed-point number type. An initial allocation can be defined for each assigned feature (Fig. A, 5). The first assignment can either be a fixed value (e.g. fixed point number) or a formula (e.g. "today"). If the formula “today” is specified, the current date is entered automatically. It can be overwritten. The form processing also contains the properties “Mandatory feature”, “Only display” and “Only internal”. “Mandatory feature” means that this feature must be filled out when entering data. "Display only" means that the data cannot be overwritten. "Internal only" means that the feature remains invisible in the display.
Simple form
A simple form can contain a collection of characteristics and any number of subforms.
Form with an embedded form
Any complex form can be embedded in a main or subform. A feature of the type form is then contained in the main or subform.
Embedded report form
A report (see section 2 on data reporting) can be embedded in a main or subform. The form with the embedded report can be enriched with further data. For example, a report on incoming payments can be embedded in a form from the project management area. In order to be able to determine whether the customers paid on time, this form can be enriched with the respective payment terms.
Map the business model
The characteristics can be linked using instructions analogous to Excel. For example, the characteristic “price” can be combined with the instruction “Link to VAT net or gross”. With the help of extensive library functions, values can also be calculated analogously to Excel. This allows texts to be linked or logical calculations (for example if - then) to be carried out. Depending on the content and values, content can be accessed elsewhere on the forms.
presentation
The data can be displayed both as a Windows application and as a web application . In the Windows application, a distinction is made between the list display and the dialog display. The characteristics are displayed as data columns in the list display and as input fields in the dialog display.
Windows application, list display
In the list display, the screen is divided into the main form (Fig. B, 6, above) and sub-forms (Fig. B, 7, below), which can contain subordinate sub-forms. These can contain any number of subforms.
Windows application, dialog display
In the dialog display, you select a line from the list and display it with input fields (Fig. B, right). If there are subforms again, this screen is also divided into input fields (above) and the list display of the subordinate subforms (below). The form can be exported and embedded in a workflow or sent as an attachment in an e-mail.
Web application
With the web application, the data is presented as with the Windows application, only as an HTML form (Fig. C).
Data reporting (evaluation, report planner)
A report can be embedded in a main or subform that contains data from several forms in a subject area. The form with the embedded report can be enriched with further data. The report planner is the link between data management in G2 and various data evaluation systems ( data warehouse ). You can display a form or several forms, extract the required data, integrate it into another form and / or provide it to the data warehouse.
Communication with the IT environment
G2 enables data from various sources to be merged, assessed and analyzed. Every employee in the company can import the released data they need from other systems (inside and outside the company) and integrate it into their system in a form. He does not integrate all data into his system, but only the information that he needs for his work. The employees pull the information from the field of the data source into the field of their form (data mapping ). G2 can process the common Office data sources (Excel, Access, Text, Clipboard), ODBC, XML and web services. This can be expanded as required on request.
literature
- Heiko Weckbrodt: Stella Dresden wants to end Excel sausage. In: Dresdner Latest News . April 11, 2018, p. 16.
- Digitization of the procurement process: Finding the needle in the haystack. In: IT Mittelstand. Specialist magazine for IT business in medium-sized companies . March 2019, p. 31.
- Bernhard Haselbauer: How smart is your company? In: TrendReport. Editorial office and newspaper for modern business . March 2019, p. 26.
- Raising data treasure yourself. In: TrendReport. Editorial office and newspaper for modern business. March 2019, p. 27.
- Stella Systemhaus: Build your own software solutions. In: Handelsblatt . No. 178, September 16, 2019, p. 3.
- Heiko Weckbrodt: Stella digitizes procurement. In: Dresdner Latest News. January 29, 2020, p. 17.