MartyConnelly
martyconnelly at shaw.ca
Fri Aug 22 14:19:47 CDT 2003
Your company is getting dangerously close to the practice of allowing computer systems to dictate company policy. Banks are renowned for this. How many times have you had a bank teller tell you "I can't do that, the computer wont let me". Drew Wutka wrote: >I don't know, if my company set something like that up, I think I would just >hack into the system, and completely remove any possibility of them getting >any data out whatsoever! > >Drew > >-----Original Message----- >From: Bruce Bruen [mailto:bbruen at bigpond.com] >Sent: Friday, August 22, 2003 6:35 AM >To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving' >Subject: RE: [AccessD] A "Real World Example" of Piss Poor Programming >Pra ctice > > >Alan, > >This sounds very much like an input only system created by people with >little technical skill and too much time on their hands. > >I suggest you persevere, enter all your resume, all your resume, back to >preschool at least, and don't forget to include your college holiday >employment as a portable whale trainer and that 23 year stint as an >eskimo wrangler. Get your colleges to contribute likewise. > >Speak quietly to your boss, convince him of your need to engage the >services of a left handed Adelphi code repositioner fluent in the Swiss >language and have him sent the request to HR 3 or 4 days after the >"critical" deadline. > >I am sure that any fears your have and all of your doubts about the >usefuleness of the employee resume database will be allayed by the speed >at which your request is addressed. > >Cheers >Bruce > > >-----Original Message----- >From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com >[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Lawhon, Alan >C Contractor/Morgan Research >Sent: Thursday, 21 August 2003 7:07 AM >To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving' >Subject: RE: [AccessD] A "Real World Example" of Piss Poor Programming >Pra ctice > > >Arthur: > >That's what I was doing, Arthur, but on one of the text boxes, (i.e. my >current job with my current employer), I had to do "creative writing" - >composing on the fly as I had not updated my resume in quite some time. >Apparently, I took too long to come up with those 1,000 words. > >Yea, you're right: Always assume the worst. :-((( > >Alan > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Arthur Fuller [mailto:artful at rogers.com] >Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 3:42 PM >To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving >Subject: RE: [AccessD] A "Real World Example" of Piss Poor Programming >Practice > > >Write it in NotePad or NoteTab or whatever then paste the bits into the >appropriate controls. You're far too experienced to fall for this, Alan. >I've read lots of your posts and you are far from stupid. > >Always assume the worst. > >Arthur > >-----Original Message----- >From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com >[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of Lawhon, Alan C >Contractor/Morgan Research >Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 3:43 PM >To: AccessD at databaseadvisors.com >Cc: 'Elam, Debbie' >Subject: [AccessD] A "Real World Example" of Piss Poor Programming >Practice > > >Several weeks ago the HR (Human Resources) Department in my company sent >out an email informing all of us that we had to enter our resumes into a >"new" HR database that they had developed. We were given a deadline >(this coming Friday) for entering the data and told how important it was >to complete this task. The HR Manager stated (in the email) that any >employee failing to meet the Friday deadline would be reported to >his/her immediate supervisor. > >So I spent two hours (yesterday afternoon) entering my data only to >experience the following calamity: > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Lawhon, Alan C Contractor/Morgan Research >[mailto:alan.lawhon at us.army.mil] >Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 9:40 AM >To: <addressee deleted to protect the guilty> >Subject: Problem With the Morgan HR Database ... > > >Dear HR Database Problem Fixer: > >I spent a considerable amount of time yesterday afternoon loading my >resume into Morgan's new HR database. I had completed "Step 11" of the >process, (loading Employment Information), when time ran out - I had to >vacate the building. In accordance with the printed instructions, I >clicked the "Save & Exit" button. The screen immediately went blank and >an error message: "HTTP 404 Termination" or "HTTP 403 error" (or some >similar wording) appeared in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. >As my heart sank, I immediately reentered the program and my worst fear >was confirmed: Not a single character of the entered data (not even the >blank spaces) was saved. :-((( > >I was VERY CAREFUL to follow the program instructions precisely and to >NOT exceed the 1,000 character limit - including spaces - in any of the >fields. (There were a few fields that I left blank as I did not know - >or could not remember - the information.) Obviously, I will have to >reenter all the data and try again, but before I do that I have two >questions. First, have you had similar reports (from other users) of >this problem with the program? Since I was concentrating my effort >almost exclusively on the information I was entering, I didn't click the >"Save & Exit" button until the very end - which may have been a mistake >on my part. I guess my second question is as >follows: What assurance is there that this program will function >properly and actually save entered data? > >Alan C. Lawhon > >-------------- > >I received the following response to my inquiry. > >-----Original Message----- >From: Tim <a Support Tech with the Company that Developed This Kludge> >Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 10:47 AM >To: Lawhon, Alan C Contractor/Morgan Research; >Subject: RE: Problem With the Morgan HR Database ... > > >Alan, > >My apologies for your trouble, but you must click the "Save & Exit" >buttons to save each screen's data. This is clearly posted at the top >of each screen in red, stating: "If you do not click one of the "Save" >buttons your information will not be saved." > >Regarding the termination problem, the error you received indicates it >was not a problem with the software, but with your connection. Here is >a note from our lead programmer: > >"""If he had received an application error, it would have logged it to >the windows even log, sent us email, and forwarded him on to the >Error.aspx form page for further feedback. As none of these things >happened, then there was some error that was external (and out of our >hands) to the B2Secure application. It sounds like his internet >connection dropped. > >Just for reference, the session time out is set to 90 minutes. Had he >exceeded this amount of time without clicking anything, he would have >been sent to the login page (without error) and his information would >have been lost as well.""" > >As for the integrity of the system functioning properly and saving data, >we have received no other complaints. > >Thanks, > >Tim > >------------- > >Following is my reply to "Tim" (and his "lead programmer" ...) > >Tim: > >I would be grateful if you relayed a brief message to your lead >programmer. In a well designed GUI interface, if you have not >implemented a periodic "auto backup" feature which executes seamlessly >in the background, (let's say once every ten minutes), you should design >and implement a "warning" dialogue box which displays a message to the >user approximately five minutes before any session timeout occurs. This >dialogue should inform the user that he/she must save their work >immediately. Allowing a session timeout to occur, with a subsequent >loss of data, is indicative of poor programming design and inadequate >testing. > >As for your contention that "... the system is functioning properly and >we have received no other complaints," that does not jell with what I am >hearing. > >Alan C. Lawhon > > >Debbie Elam: I feel your pain! :-((( > > > > >_______________________________________________ >AccessD mailing list >AccessD at databaseadvisors.com >http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd >Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com >--- >Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. >Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). >Version: 6.0.510 / Virus Database: 307 - Release Date: 8/14/2003 > >--- >Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. >Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). >Version: 6.0.510 / Virus Database: 307 - Release Date: 8/14/2003 > >_______________________________________________ >AccessD mailing list >AccessD at databaseadvisors.com >http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd >Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com >_______________________________________________ >AccessD mailing list >AccessD at databaseadvisors.com >http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd >Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > >_______________________________________________ >AccessD mailing list >AccessD at databaseadvisors.com >http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd >Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com >_______________________________________________ >AccessD mailing list >AccessD at databaseadvisors.com >http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd >Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > > >