Month: May 2008

Variant Limits in CS2007

/ Ryan Donovan / Leave a comment

A question came in today about how many variants are supported per product in CS2007. The answer is somewhat gray:

  • There is no practical or enforced limit – so in theory of causing a functional breakage, one can go quite high
  • Performance testing was conducted with 250-500 mix on average, with upper limits of 1,000 in the test suites; that can be characterized as the product’s known sweet spot
  • How good (or bad) variants will perform is also largely a function of how many variant attributes are present – obviously hundreds of attributes will perform less than tens, etc.

At the end of the day, the best advice I can give – model it and do a simple proof-of-concept exercise. If it works, run with it – as there is no right or wrong answer – just as there is no uniform one-size-fits-all catalog schema.

Hope this helps!

Gatineau Park – the First Edition

/ Ryan Donovan / Leave a comment

Mackenzie King Estate #11
Originally uploaded by rdonovan

Ottawa is a great place to live for lovers of the outdoors. And there is no finer place than Gatineau Park. Situated about 10-15 minutes from downtown (depending upon which entrance is used), the park features a mix of hiking, lakes, skiing (cross country and downhill), camping, BBQs, scenic vistas, and a piece of history with the William Lyon Mackenzie King Estate (one of Canada’s most significant Prime Ministers).

I visited for the first time this Victoria Day weekend. And managed to take in parts of the Mackenzie King estate, the scenic vistas, and some of the spring plant life. I have a feeling I will be returning here for many subsequent visits for more photography – and enjoying the park itself. See my first visit at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rdonovan/sets/72157605144281556/.