Blog: Posts from November, 2025

Unlock the power of the Builder Edition, enable AI Scaffolding, and debug with Visual Studio by mastering this database-agnostic utility.

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Posts from November, 2025
Tuesday, November 25, 2025PrintSubscribe
Expanding Your Toolkit: The Strategic Value of SqlText

The SQL Business Rule has long been the superpower of the Code On Time developer. It allows you to inject validation, logging, and custom data processing directly into your application using the language you know best—SQL. For high-performance, database-specific tasks, it remains the gold standard.

But as the Code On Time platform evolves with the Digital Workforce, Builder Edition, and AI Scaffolding, there are specific scenarios where you might need a different kind of tool.

This is where the [ProjectNamespace].Data.SqlText utility class shines.

It isn't about replacing the SQL rules you love; it's about extending your reach to platforms and technologies where raw T-SQL or PL/SQL cannot go.

1. The Key to the Builder Edition (SQLite)

The Builder Edition allows you to build unlimited commercial applications for free and accelerated by the Digital Workforce. To make this portable and lightweight, it defaults to using SQLite.

While SQLite is a powerful database engine, it does not support the rich procedural languages (like T-SQL or PL/SQL) that drive standard SQL Business Rules.

  • The Challenge: How do you write server-side validation logic (e.g., "Check if Customer exists") in an app running on SQLite?
  • The Solution: Type: Code business rules using the SqlText class. This allows you to write standard SQL queries wrapped in C# or VB.NET, which the framework automatically translates for SQLite. It is the only way to build complex server-side logic for Builder Edition apps.

2. A Blueprint for AI Scaffolding (GEN)

We are introducing GEN (Scaffolding) capabilities that allow you to "export" your application logic to completely different technology stacks, such as Next.js, Python, or standard ASP.NET Core APIs.

  • The Challenge: An AI agent cannot easily translate a block of raw T-SQL into a Node.js API route because the logic is "locked" inside the database dialect.
  • The Solution: Logic written with SqlText acts as a "White Box" for the Axiom Engine. The AI can read your C# code, understand the intent, and natively re-implement it in the target language. If you plan to use your app as a specification for a custom build, SqlText ensures your business rules travel with you.

3. Debugging with "Pro Code" Tools

For complex logic, nothing beats a real debugger.

  • The Advantage: Unlike SQL scripts, Type: Code rules live in your project's source files. You can use the "Edit Code" action to open your rule in Visual Studio, set breakpoints, and step through your logic while the app runs. It combines the speed of the App Studio with the precision of a professional IDE.

Learn the Pattern

We have released a comprehensive tutorial to help you add this tool to your belt. Whether you are building a portable app for the Builder Edition or preparing a specification for the Digital Workforce, this guide shows you how to write secure, database-agnostic logic.

Read the Tutorial: Using the SqlText Class in "Code" Business Rules
Master the tools that let you build anywhere, for any platform.
Sunday, November 23, 2025PrintSubscribe
Stop Building Data Lakes. Start Building a Knowledge Mesh.

For the last decade, the standard advice for Enterprise Intelligence was simple: "Put everything in one place." We spent millions building Data Warehouses and Data Lakes. Now, in the AI era, we are trying to dump those lakes into Vector Databases to create a "Global Ontology" for our LLMs.

It isn't working.

Centralizing data strips it of its context. To a Data Lake, a "Lead" in Sales looks exactly like "Lead" in Manufacturing. To an AI, that ambiguity is a hallucination waiting to happen. Furthermore, a passive database cannot enforce rules. It can tell an AI what the budget is, but it cannot stop the AI from spending it.

The future of Enterprise AI is not Monolithic; it is Federated.

1. The Unit of Intelligence: The Micro-Ontology

At Code On Time, we believe the best way to model the enterprise is to respect its natural boundaries. Do not mash HR and Inventory data together.

Instead, build Micro-Ontologies.

A Micro-Ontology is a self-contained unit of Data, Logic, and Security. In the Code On Time platform, every application you build is automatically a Micro-Ontology.

  • It Speaks "Machine": The Axiom Engine automatically generates a HATEOAS API (The Invisible UI) that describes the data structure to the AI in real-time.
  • It Enforces Physics: Unlike a passive database, a Micro-Ontology enforces business logic. If an invoice cannot be approved, the API removes the approve link. The AI physically cannot hallucinate an illegal action.
  • It Enforces Security: It carries its own ACLs and Static Access Control Rules (SACR). It doesn't rely on a central guardrail; it protects itself.

2. From Micro to Macro: The Federated Mesh

So, how do you get a Full Enterprise Ontology without building a monolith? You connect the nodes.

We utilize Federated Identity Management (FIM) to stitch these Micro-Ontologies together into a Knowledge Mesh.

  • The Link: A "Sales App" (Micro-Ontology A) can define a virtual link to the "Inventory App" (Micro-Ontology B).
  • The Traversal: When your Digital Co-Worker needs to check stock levels for a customer, it seamlessly "hops" from the Sales API to the Inventory API.
  • The Identity: Crucially, it carries the User's Identity across the gap. The Inventory app knows exactly who is asking and enforces its local security rules.

3. Control is the Missing Link

The definition of an "AI Ontology" usually stops at inference—helping the machine understand. We go one step further: Control.

A Full Ontology built with Code On Time is an Executable system. It allows you to deploy a fleet of thousands of Digital Co-Workers who don't just analyze the enterprise—they operate it. They can read the Sales Ontology to find a deal, cross-reference the Legal Ontology to check compliance, and execute a transaction in the Finance Ontology to book the revenue.

And they do it all without you ever moving a single byte of data into a central lake.

Build your first Micro-Ontology today. Your Digital Workforce is waiting.
Labels: AI, Micro Ontology
Monday, November 17, 2025PrintSubscribe
Feature Spotlight: Meet the Scribe

The "Digital Consultant" That Listens, Thinks, and Builds.

We are thrilled to introduce Scribe Mode, the newest persona in the App Studio. If the Tutor is your teacher and the Builder is your engineer, the Scribe is your silent partner in the room.

For years, consultants and architects have faced the same friction: the "Translation Gap." You spend an hour brilliantly brainstorming requirements with a client, but when the meeting ends, you are left with messy notes and a blank screen.

The Scribe eliminates the blank page. It acts as a Prompt Compiler, listening to your conversation, filtering out the noise, and constructing the application in the background while you talk.

How It Works: The "Clarity Gauge"

The Scribe isn't just a voice recorder; it is a Real-Time Requirements Engine.

  1. Ambient Listening: Switch to "Scribe Mode" and hit Record. The Scribe uses your browser’s native speech engine to transcribe the meeting in real-time.
  2. The Director’s Remark: Need to steer the AI? You can type "corrections" or "technical specifics" directly into the chat buffer while the recording continues. The Scribe treats your typed notes as high-priority instructions to override or clarify the spoken text.
  3. The Ephemeral Cheat Sheet: When you pause to think (or hit Stop), the Scribe analyzes the conversation against your app’s live metadata. It generates a Cheat Sheet—a proposed plan of action.
    • The Magic: If you keep talking, the Cheat Sheet vanishes and rebuilds. It is a living "Clarity Gauge." If the Cheat Sheet looks right, you know the AI (and the room) is aligned. If it looks wrong, you just keep talking to fix it.
  4. Instant Materialization: Click "Apply All," and the App Studio executes the plan. By the time your client returns from a coffee break, the features you discussed are live in the Realistic Model App (RMA).

The Scribe turns "Talk" into "Software" at the speed of conversation.

For Our Consultants and Partners: Your New Superpower

If you build apps for clients, Scribe Mode is your new competitive advantage. It transforms you from a note-taker into an Architect who delivers results in the room.

  • Win the Room: Don't take notes; take action. Use Scribe Mode during the discovery meeting to generate a working prototype in real-time. Show your client the software they asked for before the meeting ends.
  • Instant Proposals: Use the Builder to generate a technical SRS (Software Requirements Specification) and LOE (Level of Effort) estimation based on the meeting transcript. Turn a 30-minute chat into a professional proposal instantly.
  • The "Wizard" Effect: You remain the expert. The Scribe handles the typing, configuration, and schema design, freeing you to focus on strategy and client relationships.

Choose Your Partner: Tutor vs. Builder vs. Scribe

Feature

The Tutor

The Builder

The Scribe

Role

The Mentor (Teacher)

The Engineer (Maker)

The Silent Partner (Listener)

Best For...

Learning "How-to," navigating the studio, and troubleshooting errors.

Executing complex tasks, generating schemas, and building specific features instantly.

Stakeholder meetings, "rubber duck" brainstorming, and capturing requirements in real-time.

Interaction

Conversational: Ask questions like "How do I filter a grid?"

Directive: Give commands like "Create a dashboard for Sales."

Ambient: Runs in the background. Listens to voice (mic) or accepts unstructured notes.

Input Type

Natural Language Questions.

Precise Instructions & Prompts.

Stream of Consciousness (Voice or Text) + "Director's Remarks."

Output

Explanations + Navigation Pointers (guides you to the screen).

Cheat Sheet with executable steps + "Apply All" button.

Ephemeral Cheat Sheet (Self-correcting plan) + "Apply All" button.

Context

Knows the documentation (Service Manual) and your current screen location.

Knows your entire project structure (Schema, Controllers, Pages) to generate valid code.

Knows your project structure + synthesizes the entire conversation history into a final plan.

Cost

Free (Included in all editions).

Paid (Consumes Builder Credits).

Paid (Consumes Builder Credits for synthesis).

Summary: Which Mode Do I Need?

  • Use Tutor when you want to do it yourself or do not want to consume credits, but need a map.
  • Use Builder when you know what you want and want the AI to do it for you. Requires Builder Credits.
  • Use Scribe when you are figuring it out with a client or team and want the app to materialize as you speak. Requires Builder Credits.