Drew Wutka
DWUTKA at marlow.com
Fri Aug 22 14:26:34 CDT 2003
Actually, I personally think we are on the other end of the spectrum. Our company policies dictate what we can and can't do on computers. I have many examples of this if you want! Drew -----Original Message----- From: MartyConnelly To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving Sent: 8/22/03 2:19 PM Subject: Re: [AccessD] A "Real World Example" of Piss Poor Programming Pra ctice 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 > > > _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com