Re: OTLT again
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 14:26:26 GMT
Message-ID: <mQold.2181$b73.85_at_trndny04>
>
> But the real discussion ought to be about user defined attributes. Is
this
> a good idea or a bad idea? If it's a good idea, then we can focus on the
> best way of implementing it. If it's a bad idea, we can focus on the
best
> way of talking the people who set the requirements out of asking for this
> feature.
>
It is generally a bad idea to give users the ability to create their own (fill in the blank). They will create a _______ for a one-time only (or rare) purpose, and then you are stuck with it and the accompanying overhead. If something is needed, it should be requested, evaluated, and added or not. You can easily lose control of a system if you don't manage it.
A corollary of this is, NEVER have a place for "miscellaneous", "other", etc. I can guarantee 100% that it will be misused, destroying all hopes of extracting meaningful data in the future. If the users determine that they need to enter certain data, and there is no place to put it now, create a specific place for it. Received on Sat Nov 13 2004 - 15:26:26 CET