Thursday, August 11, 2005

 

Rule 17: Logging

Two major problems

1. Users are very bad at reporting errors.
2. No one knows what systems attach to particular data sources.

There is a solution that fixes both.

When accessing data, you should go through a common code routine. This can then determine the following

1. spreadsheet name
2. database name
3. database server
4. database user
5. local user
6. local machine
7. timestamp
8. success or failure
9. name of the query

Now, this can all be logged to a very simple central database.

Any failures can be reported on easily. A simple asp website is enough to report.

Now if a database moves, you can tell which spreadsheets need changing.
You know about any errors in extracting data
You know who accesses what data.
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