Re: Layout Hell.: leave it

From: Peter Lacey (lacey_at_mb.sympatico.ca)
Date: 07/24/04 

Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 11:11:05 -0500

docdwarf@panix.com wrote:
>>a flat or CSV file to read into Access or whatever it si she needs.
>
> Mr Lacey, I'm not sure I agree. What was demonstrated was that a person
> with sufficient experience (in Mr Wagner's case a few decades and change)
> and the appropriate tools might generate a quick & dirty program to
> convert the files; until such time, however, as such a person is allowed
> access to the files the question of whether the generated program will
> actually *do* the job can be answered only conjecturally.

A few decades??? All you need is an input fd using the copybook for
field defs, an output fd with the same fields but just pic 9() instead
of comp etc., and processing to open the files, read the records, move
all the fields from input to output, and write. Any rookie could
program that. It is correct that unless the copybook matches one of the
tapes the program will bomb, but on the information so far presented we
can't be more specific.
>

> This is the problem that I saw... a person without the skills, without the
> experience and without the appropriate corporate resources ('I cannot talk
> to them for political reasons') was assigned a task. This reminds me of
> those Old, Bad Movies where The Hero is given a similarly impossible
> task... and when he walks back into his boss' office after successful
> completion he is greeted with 'You've caused us a *great* deal of
> trouble... you were supposed to fail.'
>

  You're probably right about the assignment. Carol is in an uneviable
position.

> Then again... perhaps I watch too many old, bad movies.
>
> DD

Hee hee. Have you ever seen "The Blob" with Steve McQueen? An exemplar
of old, bad movies, I'd say.

PL