Hi All,
I have a requirement for D7 based site to have a pilot logbook functionality. Basic requirement being that pilots book an aircraft and then once done they enter their flight times and associated details which would then keep a tally of their hours as well as the hours on the aircraft (which in turn would trigger notifications for aircraft servicing and the like). Finally, this module would need to be able to manage the invoicing of members based on the flight times and aircraft used in their log entries. Some basic ledger functions such as tracking who has/hasn't paid as well as export to excel/csv and the like would be desired. The intended audience generally are not overly computer literate, so emphasis would need to be put on ease of use in the work flow.
There would be two main elements to this project;
1. Design and coding of the module. Above is pretty high level, however it does for the most part capture the requirements of the new website with the finer detail to be fleshed out.
2. Migration of existing data from Access DB & validate. Use of API's is required where appropriate to prevent data issues (bad past experience).
At present I am looking for a rough estimate on how much this would cost, and would appreciate it if you could break it down into the two components listed above. Please do not hesitate to contact me for further information. At this stage it would be intended that this module would be released back to the Drupal community.
Comments
Interesting Project - Working on something similar
Obtaining my private pilots license has spurred a couple side projects that are the start of what you're after. One is an integration/import and basic drupal alternative of the aircraftclubs website. The other project is not drupal specific and has more to do with managing aircraft maintenance, airworthiness directives etc.
I've been working with drupal professionally since 4.7 and have been developing custom modules for the last four years or so. I have full-time drupal dev work, but since this is a topic I'm interested in I'd be willing to help and share what I have.
The basics are fairly straightforward and don't require a lot of custom programming. An install profile of pre-configured contrib modules will do 90% of what you're after. However, as with most projects, the expense/trouble/time is in the details and remaining 10% of functionality. When you say RFQ for custom module do you want a quote for just the custom module or for the entire setup and configuration?
Scheduling:
The easiest option is using a node type with a date field and a couple others. The pilot selection is a user reference. Aircraft selection is node reference. I like using a separate content type with integer fields for hobbs and tach and reference back to the original schedule and aircraft for the actual logging of time. More integer fields can be used for storage of tach and hobbs time since last entry. The calculation would require a quick function in a custom module with an implementation of hook_node_update to grab the previous hobbs/tach values and subtract the current ones.
Invoicing Functions:
I've been using Ubercart for commerce stuff since it was in alpha so I'd suggest using drupal commerce http://drupal.org/project/commerce for your billing records. Send invoices to aircraft renters and have them login and pay with credit card. It's pure awesome.
Exporting to Excel/CSV:
I like to use a jquery module called http://drupal.org/project/datatables datatables. I have a version that integrates with the tabletools plugin http://datatables.net/extras/tabletools/ I don't think my additions are committed to the datatables repo yet.
Messaging:
I haven't look at the D7 versions yet, but in the past http://drupal.org/project/messaging and http://drupal.org/project/notifications have been fun to work with. Personally, I like the ability to choose XMPP and Prowl options.
The details:
Managing when custom aircraft servicing alerts are triggered and keeping track of aircraft and pilot currency gets a little more complicated with some custom programming required. Still, most of it can be done with the appropriate configuration.
Send me a message if you'd like to chat.
Kai
When you say RFQ for custom
Webmasterkai, please do not respond directly to paid-services offers but contact the user through the user's contact form. Thanks.
--rj