RE: Triggers or Journals?

[NSmith@xxxxxxxxxxx]

All good points, Evan.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Evan Harris [SMTP:spanner@ihug.co.nz]
> Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 2:39 PM
> To:   MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> Subject:      RE: Triggers or Journals?
> 
> NSmith wrote:
> 
> >Journals just monitor what is going on, whereas triggers can be written
> to
> >be an active part of the process.
> 
> Agreed. But the original question was about audit trails and IMHO it is 
> almost impossible to beat a journal for audit trail purposes. The trigger 
> has to be added to all the files and maintained, if it does something
> extra 
> you need to make sure the audit trail is not compromised etc etc. Once the
> 
> file is journalled you have the audit trail no ifs, buts or maybes.  A 
> journal will also take care of anything a trigger does to a file without 
> any thinking on the programmers part so a trigger in one file that updates
> 
> another will produce an audit trail for that file if it is journalled 
> without any additional thought.
> 
> >For example, if you require only uppercase data in a field, and someone
> >enters lowercase, the trigger could convert it before letting the record
> >pass.  Or, it could default values into a field when it doesn't like what
> is
> >being written.  Or, if you are using Ref. Constriants, and a record is
> >written which violates that constraint, the program will get a "hard"
> crash.
> >A trigger could test for the same rules and stop the update and send an
> >error message to the program which could handle the error a little more
> >elegantly.  Triggers are also great for "housekeeping" chores, like
> >timestamping, assigning the next sequential key, etc.
> 
> Agreed, but IMHO opinion it is better to separate these chores from the 
> chore of producing an accurate audit trail every time. Also, in those 
> instances where you ONLY need the audit trail why add a trigger and the 
> extra maintenance that implies when you can just use a journal ? The two 
> functions are quite separate in my mind.
> 
> >If written properly, the same program being used as a trigger can be
> called
> >by a program directly to perform the field editing functions before
> writing
> >the actual record,  thereby giving the maintenance program a "heads-up"
> on
> >what the trigger is going to find and consolidating all editing in one
> place
> >for consistency.
> 
> Agreed, this is the kind of thing that triggers excel at.
> 
> >As far as uses for audit files, I've found them invaluable in researching
> >problems and for reconstructing point-in-time statuses.
> 
> Just my take on things
> 
> Cheers
> Evan Harris
> 
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Chris Bipes [SMTP:chris.bipes@cross-check.com]
> > > Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2001 11:28 PM
> > > To:   'midrange-l@midrange.com'
> > > Subject:      RE: Triggers or Journals?
> > >
> > >
> > > Does any one else have any thing else to add?
> > >
> > > Christopher K. Bipes  mailto:ChrisB@Cross-Check.com
> > > Sr. Programmer/Analyst        mailto:Chris_Bipes@Yahoo.com
> > > CrossCheck, Inc.      http://www.cross-check.com
> > > 6119 State Farm Drive Phone: 707 586-0551 x 1102
> > > Rohnert Park CA  94928        Fax: 707 586-1884
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
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This message originates from Lincare Holdings Inc. It contains information 
which maybe confidential or privileged and is intended only for the individual 
or entity named above.
It is prohibited for anyone else to disclose, copy, distribute or use the 
contents of this message. 
All personal messages express views solely of the sender, which are not to be 
attributed to Lincare Holdings Inc., and may not be copied or distributed 
without this disclaimer. 
If you received this message in error, please notify us immediately at 
MailAdmin@lincare.com or (800) 284-2006.
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