Merlin (software) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Merlin 2.6 was released in July 2008 and added publishing for the web. Merlin users could now publish projects that they and their team members could view and edit over the network through a supported web browser.

On Oct 2008 it received a MacUser 2008 editorial award

ProjectWizards released Merlin 2.7 in April 2009, along with a new Merlin iPhone app. - In its review by the German Website 'Heise online' Merlin 2.7 scored 5 out of 6 stars. Customer reviews of the App Store criticize configuration difficulties and syncing concept of the iPhone app.

Merlin Server was first released in May 2009.

2.7.4 was the first version supporting Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

2.7.9 supported better collaboration to Things

Things (application)

Things is a personal task management application for Mac OS X made by Cultured Code, a software startup based in Stuttgart, Germany. Its 1.0 release was on January 6, 2009...

and MS Project .

2.8 was the first version supporting Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.

Current version of Merlin and Merlin Server are: 2.8.1

Current version of Merlin iPhone is: 1.1

This iOS app supports the Retina Display of the iPhone 4

IPhone 4

The iPhone 4 is a touchscreen slate smartphone developed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation iPhone, and successor to the iPhone 3GS. It is particularly marketed for video calling , consumption of media such as books and periodicals, movies, music, and games, and for general web and e-mail...

and the bigger iPad

IPad

The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...

display, but also 3GS iPhone or iPod Touch devices.

Merlin Mac OS X

Merlin features project activities management, resource and assignment management, and budget management. It supports import of and export to various project management file formats including .mpp, .mpx and .xml (MS Project), NovaMind

NovaMind

NovaMind is a commercial mind mapping application for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. It was first released in 2002.It features flexible layout, native interface for both Mac and Windows , and a strong emphasis on the visual aspects of Mind Mapping...

, MindManager

MindManager

MindManager, called MindMan until version 3.5, is a commercial mind mapping software application developed by Mindjet Corporation. Mind maps created in MindManager are based on the mind mapping method by Tony Buzan. The latest version, MindManager 9, is available for Microsoft Windows...

, and Freemind

FreeMind

FreeMind is a free mind mapping application written in Java. FreeMind is licensed under the GNU General Public License. It provides extensive export capabilities. It runs on Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X via the Java Runtime Environment....

(mind mapping software). Merlin also integrates with Apple (Apple Inc) Mac OS X

Mac OS X

Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...

: It can synchronize project and resource calendars to iCal

ICal

iCal is a personal calendar application made by Apple Inc. that runs on the Mac OS X operating system. iCal was the first calendar application for Mac OS X to offer support for multiple calendars and the ability to publish/subscribe calendars to WebDAV server....

, access the Address Book (application) for resource (staff) management, and create email messages to project stakeholders with Merlin reports attached (in HTML

HTML

HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....

or PDF). It also supports automation via AppleScript

AppleScript

AppleScript is a scripting language created by Apple Inc. and built into Macintosh operating systems since System 7. The term "AppleScript" may refer to the scripting system itself, or to particular scripts that are written in the AppleScript language....

.

Merlin can link activities by the typical project management dependency

Dependency (project management)

In a project network, a dependency is a link amongst a project's terminal elements.There are four kinds of dependencies with respect to ordering terminal elements :# Finish to start...

FS, FF, SS, SF kinds, and visualize activities, dependencies, and assignments in various ways. Merlin can also display the critical path in Gantt charts or the net plan.

Merlin's internationalization supports English, German, and French.

Elements

Merlin elements include risk, issue, information, event, and document management. These elements can be inserted into projects, and attached to the complete project, on single activities, activity groups or resources. Merlin recognizes the following 6 element types:

Checklist — A to do list. Can be used to keep track of lists.
File — Linking or embedding documents of any file format. Version control for embedded files is implemented.
Risk — Risk information for risk mitigation and later evaluation.
Event — For organizing project relevant events.
Information — Additional information for the project as a mini CRM (Customer relationship management
Customer relationship management
Customer relationship management is a widely implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing,...

).
Issue — Issues arising during project realization.

Publishing and collaboration

Merlin's multi-user mode allows users to open and edit published projects remotely. Saved changes are distributed and displayed automatically to all users. A rights management defines authenticated users' scope of access.

Optional features by additional licenses

Web sharing: sharing and access to Merlin projects by a supported web browser

Web browser

A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...

.

iPhone sharing: sharing and access by Merlin iPhone app over an iPhone

IPhone

The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...

or iPod touch

IPod touch

The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...

Merlin iPhone app

The Merlin iPhone app provides users the ability to remotely access and edit Merlin projects, and supports all core features of the Merlin native application except sharing. An online connection to the Merlin sharing system is needed when saving changes.
It runs on iPhone, iPad or iPod and supports the latest iOS versions on those devices.

Merlin Server

Merlin Server provides additional features useful for larger projects and teams, including centralized project storage and project publication for remote access to Merlin projects using the Merlin desktop application, or a supported web browser

Web browser

, or the Merlin iPhone app. It is implemented as a preference pane for the Mac OS X and can be installed for the current user or all users on a Mac. A Merlin desktop application is required for initial project creation. Supported web browsers for Merlin Server are Safari 3 or later (Mac and Windows), Firefox 3 or later (Mac and Windows), and Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 in compatibility mode (Windows).

Additions for Merlin

MerlinDaylite-Link is a tool connecting Merlin and the CRM
Customer relationship management
Customer relationship management is a widely implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing,...

system Daylite. It is sold separately and created by a third party company, called Lgo Consulting Ltd

Various Applescripts provided for free in the internet, allow Merlin to integrate to more applications that it would normally connect to over standard exporting procedures. Some of these apps are Billings http://www.marketcircle.com/billings/merlin/, GrandTotal http://www.grandtotal.biz/GrandTotal/, Mon(K)ey Office (http://www.monkey-office.de/blog/files/2f924f4ab3a8648ba9dea89af775ba18-5.php page in German), Starface (phone system)

Further external links / Reference

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Merlin Mac OS X

Merlin iPhone app

Merlin Server

Additions for Merlin

Further reading

Further external links / Reference