Flex and Taxes

When my coworkers suggested using a Microsoft Access database for our latest online project, I wasn't sure I was cool enough to disregard years of wisdom advising against doing just that. So, I did what I always do. I put on my thinking cap (alright, my thinking hoodie) and tried to figure out how to avoid the situation altogether. That way, I may not be cool like my coworkers, but at least I'm not un-cool either. Of course I might have gone too far.

The task was to create a web page allowing a citizen (or interested party -- and if you know of any interesting parties, please invite me) to enter an address and determine whether or not it is within the City limits, and is accordingly subject to an additional 0.25% sales tax approved by voters recently. My coworkers were ready to set up a whiz-bang circa-1999 online mapping application that would show the address dynamically generated on a map image using about $10k worth of deprecated server software, hooked up to an Access database.

I've been so busy learning how to normalize SQL databases and properly employ transactions, I haven't had time to get into the advanced stuff like Access.

AND, because it was Tuesday, I was sworn to avoid deprecated server technologies. Since the project HAD to be up by Wednesday, I had to do something, so I went to lunch and gave it a thought over my dual carnitas tacos and delightful conversation with my hot young wife.

She always inspires me to greatness, and this was no exception. It is a humble greatness, you see. Humble, because I say it is. And you have to believe me because you read it on the internet.

Anyway, I'd been fiddling around with Flex. I know, I know. Why am I wasting my time with vector artwork when raster artwork has worked fine for years, you say. Good question. Maybe something to do with (relative) resolution independence, performance, and flexibility, but then I'm still fiddling, so perhaps I'll come to my senses soon. After all, every GIS Specialist knows that "raster is faster [so why bother with vector]".

I didn't get the Access/Raster Religion™ soon enough for this project, though. I built the darn thing in Flex, and managed to avoid vectors AND Access all in one swell foop! I thought, what the heck does a map have to do with a darn thing here. My team spent a few minutes trying to conceive a scenario where one might ever care, but could find nary a one (save the annoying door-to-door salesman or three and who wants to encourage them anyway). My coworkers, of course, reminded me that sometimes it takes a while to conceive, so while I explored other options, they continued to brainstorm.

So it's done, and it rocks. Hard. I made a cool little entry form with lots of value added coolness. The field where the user is supposed to enter their address isn't just auto-completing, it is Smart™ on top of it. You can't type a street name until you type a street number, and once you begin the street name, you can't type any numbers. Cool, eh?

The system looks up the entered address in an XML-based data set and indicates whether or not it is in the City limits.

Ironic, I think, that the most advanced whiz-bang widget using a progressive RIA framework like Flex would be deployed on a web site entirely constructed, otherwise, by FrontPage 2003, and looking every bit like it.

Anyway (again), we got word this week from the California State Board of Equalization (the Golden State's Tax Agency) that the head analyst couldn't access it. She tried it a couple times and just got a blank screen, colored "Flex blue" -- the standard gradated Flex background. Nothing foreground. I was asked to fix the problem.

Now, I don't know what the problem is, and doubt I will be able to do anything about it when I finally figure out what IS wrong.

A review of Google search results indicate a cornucopia of anecdotes—mostly from folks who seem to likely have other system troubles and are, as such, cursed. In this case, however, I'm thinking the problem might be that the user is within a bureaucratic intranet that might have all sorts of stuff locked down so as to preclude wasted work time at YouTube.

Has anybody seen this before? Any suggestions? Help?

Oh, and by the way, here's the City of San Luis Obispo Measure Y Address Locator. Enjoy.