Author Archives: David Tobey

About David Tobey

I'm a web developer and consultant based in lovely Schenectady, NY, where I run SoftSlate, LLC. In my twenties I worked in book publishing, where I met my wife. In my thirties I switched careers and became a computer programmer. I am still in the brainstorming phase for what to do in my forties, and I am quickly running out of time to make a decision. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. UPDATE: I have run out of time and received no (realistic) suggestions. I guess it's programming for another decade.

Using Avalara’s Free State & ZIP Tax Rate Downloads

Posted on July 20, 2019 by David Tobey

In addition to integrating with Avalara’s tax integration service, Avatax, SoftSlate supports the notion of uploading tax rate tables based on country, state, and ZIP code. Avalara provides a free set of tax rate tables for all 50 states that … Continue reading →

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Unleashing Envers

Posted on May 25, 2016 by David Tobey

Why Audit Logging? Audit logging in the database may be one of those things that you have to experience to appreciate. Some of our clients have audit logging set up and others do not. When you’ve never experienced it it … Continue reading →

Posted in How To's, Programming, SoftSlate Commerce | Leave a comment

3.3.1 Sneak Peek

Posted on November 6, 2013 by David Tobey

It’s time for the sneak peek at upcoming features and changes in version 3.3.1. We’ve been working hard – very excited about some of these new features! Emails – Ability to define any number of email templates in the Administrator … Continue reading →

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Handy Recipes for Dealing with Data

Posted on August 28, 2013 by David Tobey

I thought I would post the following handy little scripts, which have proved invaluable to us. Nightly Database Backups The first script simply makes a backup of a SoftSlate Commerce database. We run this guy nightly for all of our … Continue reading →

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The SoftSlate Extender Code Generation Tool

Posted on August 9, 2013 by David Tobey

We spend a lot of time here working for clients helping them to customize their SoftSlate Commerce stores. That often means extending the built-in SoftSlate domain model (ie, adding new fields to the database and the programming code) to keep … Continue reading →

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How We Implemented Lucene Fuzziness and Wildcards

Posted on July 2, 2013 by David Tobey

In version 3.2.8, we’re adding a couple configuration parameters to our Advanced Search (ie, Lucene) implementation in the Enterprise Edition. I have to say, I’m always impressed with how easy it is to use Lucene’s API. It is surprising how … Continue reading →

Posted in SoftSlate Commerce | Leave a comment

3.3.0 Sneak Peek

Posted on June 12, 2013 by David Tobey

Here is a sneak peek at the upcoming changes on slate for the next SoftSlate Commerce release, version 3.2.8. Area Version Description developer 3.2.8.1 Support for optionally using Google Guice to inject business object and DAO dependencies developer 3.2.8.1 The … Continue reading →

Posted in SoftSlate Commerce | 1 Comment

Java vs. PHP – the Essential Factor

Posted on May 8, 2013 by David Tobey

Which language do you prefer? And what’s the essential factor for you? Continue reading →

Posted in Programming | 2 Comments

Homage to Our Awesome Clients

Posted on May 3, 2013 by David Tobey

Inspired by our awesome clients, a list of some of the crazy stuff you can buy with SoftSlate Commerce. Continue reading →

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Testing Has a Point of Diminishing Returns

Posted on August 30, 2011 by David Tobey

Testing of course is vital, if not central, to programming. That said, there is a point of diminishing returns where it takes up more time than its worth. The line is crossed at different points depending on the situation. Continue reading →

Posted in Deep Thoughts, Programming, Web Ops | 9 Comments