Accelerate HR Blog

Bulk imports into Rails: validate if you must

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:54:43 -0600

If you're safe turning validation off when importing large data tables into Rails, then the savings can be spectacular. I've just created 40,000 records in 24 seconds ...

More notes on super-fast data insertion in Rails

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:33:01 -0600

Garbage collection. That's what's slowing down your Rails application, says Nimble Method. They show us how to fix it. And it makes an even stronger case for using ar-extensions for bulk data updates. Plus a worked CSV import example.

Super-fast bulk data imports in Rails with ar-extensions

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:29:44 -0600

Here's how I reduced a bulk data-insertion task from over 10 minutes to around 1 second thanks to 'ar-extensions'. Together with a little rant on Rails documentation ...

End-of-year HR reports

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:28:47 -0600

Not just the routine attendance, headcount, appraisal reports - but HR reports that'll make management sit up and take notice - and drive the business forward next year. Here are a few ideas. You'll have more ..

Payslips: Customizing tractor-feed page-size in Windows printouts

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 23:59:33 -0600

Pre-printed payslips always seem to be printed on tractor-feed paper that isn't a standard size. So how do you size the page properly if your dot-matrix printer only offers pre-set sizes? In Windows, like this ...

Rails for the Enterprise: the Uninterruptible Application Supply

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:58:55 -0600

If we're serious about designing business-critical web applications, we need a fail-safe mechanism for when the web goes down. Here's a blueprint for what we need, and why Rails gives us almost everything we need. Want to get involved?

Enterprise applications: how do you cope when the web can't?

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:23:08 -0600

Recent reports suggest that the web may soon suffer from overload. While this may be political scaremongering, it highlights the need for enterprise-class web applications to have a fail-safe fallback if the web ever lets us down.

Little Helpers for Rails Helpers - 1

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:23:31 -0600

So you've been reading the manuals and learning all about the built-in Rails helpers. But what about all those empty helper files Rails creates for you. Are you using them? Here's how I got started, and how it's helped to DRY up my code.

24 hours from Bahrain

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 16:26:30 -0600

Life in the Arab Gulf - love it or hate it, you've got to admit it's different. Here's how I've spent the last 24 very long hours ...

Is your HR strategy worth stealing?

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:04:24 -0600

If your people management strategy isn't valuable enough, suggests Jon Ingham, then it's not good enough. Jon's Value Triangle shows how HR can add value to the business in 3 different ways. Read on ...