From Frustration to Victory: Finally Nailing Change Tracking in Our Grow System

You know that feeling when you’re trying to solve a problem, and it seems like the universe is just having a good laugh at your expense? That was me today, diving into the depths of our grow management system at Weed Garden. We were trying to nail down change tracking for locations and lots, but things just kept going sideways. It was one of those "I swear I’m going to lose it" kind of days.

So here’s the scoop: We needed to keep track of every little change to locations and lots. Sounds straightforward, right? Just log the changes when they happen. Simple. But, no. Every time we thought we had it right, the system would go all “nope, not today!” and log the previous state instead of the current one. Our history logs were stuck in some sort of time warp—always a step behind. It was like trying to catch a train that already left the station.

The Mystery of the Missing Updates

Imagine this: You update a location name from "Flower Tent 2x2 Grow Room" to "Flower Tent 2x2," expecting to see "Flower Tent 2x2" in the history. But no, it logs "Flower Tent 2x2 Grow Room" instead. Cue the facepalm. 🤦‍♂️ It felt like a bad joke, and trust me, I wasn’t laughing.

At first, we thought, “Okay, maybe we’re not grabbing the right info at the right time.” We dug into the code, tore it apart, put it back together—still the same ghost in the machine. It was like trying to win an argument with a stubborn toddler.

Lightbulb Moment: Keep It Simple

After way too many cups of coffee and some deep soul-searching (read: frantic Googling), the answer finally hit us: We were overthinking it. All we needed was to make sure we knew what kind of change was happening—adding, updating, or deleting—before we saved anything. The actual details? We could grab those fresh, right after the save.

It was one of those “duh” moments, you know? We realized that instead of trying to cache all this extra information that might go stale, we could just keep track of the change type and then let the system do its thing. The next time we checked, boom—everything was perfectly logged, in sync with the latest updates. No more time travel, no more missed trains.

Celebrating the Small Wins

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of finally getting it right after banging your head against a wall for hours. We cracked open a beer (or two) to celebrate. The logs were in sync, the changes were accurately tracked, and everything was working like a charm. The grow system was back on track, and so were we.

Lessons Learned: Don’t Overcomplicate It

This whole ordeal taught us something crucial: Sometimes, the solution is way simpler than you think. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds (pun totally intended) and try to build something more complex than necessary. But more often than not, the best approach is the straightforward one. Just step back, take a deep breath, and think: “What’s the simplest way to solve this?”

So, if you’re ever stuck in a similar situation, remember our little adventure. Keep it simple, focus on the essentials, and don’t be afraid to take a step back. And if you’re still stuck, well, there’s always coffee (or beer).

Have you ever had one of those “aha!” moments where everything suddenly made sense? Share your story—I’d love to hear it. After all, we’re all in this together, just trying to figure things out one step at a time.

Until next time, keep growing and keep coding!

Parker Blunt
Your friendly neighborhood developer and grow enthusiast