My things

Import and export initially looked like something I could leave until quite late in the development of my event-planning application. After all, the application already has its own Document model. Guests, Groups, Tables, Seats, contact information, floor plans, images, relationships and event configuration all live inside that model. Saving and loading the application's own Document is obviously necessary, but exporting to other formats could be added later. The more I think about it, however, the more I believe that would be a mistake. Import and export are not just convenience functions added around the edges of an application. They define how the application participates in the world outside itself. A professional desktop application should not become a data island. Users should be able to bring useful information in, work with it, and take useful information back out again. For an event-planning product this becomes especially important becau...