Re: Really basic data entry question [Beginner]


"Chris Uppal" <chris.uppal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:440ebe3e$1$1173$bed64819@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rhino wrote:

"Data script"???

Is this a term you invented yourself? Because if your teacher told you
this, you need a new teacher. In 25+ years in IT, I've never heard of a
'data script'.

Ah, but you are also the person who thought that splitting certain ranges
of
characters out of every line of an input file was an unrealistic excersize
for
a student. The guy[*] who had never heard of any real-world application
for
such an operation in all his years in the industry ;-)

You should reread that thread. I explained that I was construing that
question in a much narrower way than the rest of the group had. Maybe you
missed that?

([*] I assume for simplicity of grammar)

Your assumption is correct.

Because I can't picture any professional
organization doing it that way.

I can. I can also imagine the same organisation using the term "data
script".
It looks very like a format that was designed originally for data-entry
clerks
to type in. (In which case a file containing the same format text is quite
naturally called a "data script"). Obviously that would be quite some time
ago -- before these updstart SQL databases became fashionable -- but that
doesn't mean the term was never valid.

Agreed. I did not state categorically that this term was never used anywhere
at any time in the course of human history though; I simply said *I* had
never heard it. Have you heard anyone use the term 'data script'? Maybe this
is a common term in the UK?

By the same token, I've never once seen an input file that was laid out like
the original poster describes. Have you? It seems to me that such a file
would always be cleaned up at least a little bit along the lines I
suggested, even if it wasn't properly normalized.

And some teachers are quite old too,
you know. What's more, they may know a lot that we (who hardly ever have
to
deal with bandwidth/latency/RAM issues when simply processing data) miss
out
on.

Agreed. I still remember learning from 'old-timers' when I was getting
started and use some of their lessons to this day, although I've found that
I had to discard many as being inapplicable to modern computing. But basic
values like clarity, avoiding 'cutesy' code, documenting your work are key
parts of what I do.

Aside from the terminology nitpick over 'data script', my concern was
basically that the assignment wasn't very representative of what a real life
IT person would encounter in a real IT organization. Frankly, I think that
makes the assignment almost pointless. It's a bit like learning how to build
ramps so that you can jump your car over a narrow river; yes it's possible
but it isn't how most people use a car so it makes more sense to learn
something useful, like how to drive in heavy traffic. I think the original
poster's teacher was largely wasting the original poster's time. In the end,
I didn't feel right about reinforcing that foolishness by helping the
student solve a silly question.

--
Rhino



.

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