I strongly encourage programmers to write 'throwaway' programs that investigate the files associated with a system. The idea is to obtain answers to such questions as
o How many As? How many Bs? o More Ds than Es after controlling for Cs? that characterize the objects being manipulated by a system. Answers to such questions are often crucial to making goof design/implementation decisions, and the notion that only official, 'approved' programs should be in use is at war with the use of such investigational programs. What needs to be understood here, and in many such situations, is that every organization has its own survival and aggrandisement as a primary objective. Auditors generate, among others, specious requirements that are obstacles to IT performance. Many of the programs of the American DEA are obstacles to any resolution of 'the war on drugs'. Etc., etc. These deleterious initiatives help to perpetuate the organizations that advance them. John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
