Re: Query/400 to RPG program

Whoa friends and neighbors, 

The data in the DB belongs to the same group that owns the DB, OS, WS,
and every other group of initials you can come up with.  Case in point,
when a user leaves the organization he/she does not take the customer
base with her/him and go home, the data stays with the owner(the
Company).

I will also add, IT is responsible for getting the data to those with a
Need To Know.  To turn the users loose with the ability to manipulate
data in any way is beyond question,  ask yourself this question:

When the data is mishandled, who gets thumbscrews placed on them?

I for one, only care for the thumbscrews when I mishandle the data. 

Mark A McCarty
New Campaign/Polo Leathergoods 

STEVEN_J_RYAN.NDOA@notes.denso.co.jp wrote:
> 
> I know I'm going to regret this, but......
> 
> It is NOT the users data.  It is the companys.  It is the users
> responsibility to keep their data correct & up to date, but not theirs to
> own.  Ownership means control.  The last thing you want is your users
> controlling the data.
> 
> I worked at a charity once who's philosophy was that it was the user's
> data.  this was because they used lots of Voluntary labour, and were simply
> thankful when people showed up.  They had 2 ways of making money -
> donations or selling goods.  Each function was controlled by a separate
> department.  Because each department controlled their own data, and had
> their own goals to meet, they refused to co-operate in sharing data.  If a
> customer changed addresses, they would have to tell us twice (or more),
> because each department would refuse to pass the data onto the other.
> 
> Now I know this is an extreme case, but we all have similar stories where
> users don't consider the impacts of other's in the company when they
> add/change/ remove data.  For the good of the company, IT must control the
> data, and assess each request for access to it on it's own merits, to
> ensure the maximum benefit for the company as a whole.  We don't (or at
> least shouldn't), allowing each users to determine what PC to put at their
> desk, and what programs it will run.  Similarly, we shouldn't let them
> believe that it is 'their data' to do with as they choose.
> 
> This doesn't mean I'm against queries, or users accessing 'their' data on
> an ad-hoc basis.  But even the most intelligent query user is going to make
> common query errors at 10 times the rate of the average programmer.  Do you
> have any idea how quickly an AS/400 will crumble under a misjoined query
> (e.g. join the 500,000 line Order Detail History & 200,000 line Order
> Detail comment files at item level, instead of Order/Item level) run
> intractively.  If not, you should try it once or twice.  You'll soon decide
> that query in the wrong hands is a dangerous tool, and needs to be
> carefully controlled.
> 
> Rob Berendt <rob@dekko.com> on 26/02/2000 01:20:54
> 
> Please respond to RPG400-L@midrange.com
> 
> To:   RPG400-L@midrange.com
> cc:    (bcc: STEVEN J RYAN/DIAU)
> 
> Subject:  Re: Query/400 to RPG program
> 
> It is still the users data.  Your statement about the shipping department
> and payroll is not a good example because the payroll department are the
> users of that data, not the shipping department.  You're right.  It is our
> responsibility to set up the databases and security in such a way as to
> make
> sure the rules are enforced and such.  However there is a market out there
> for Query, etc, and GUI based query packages.  Therefore the users, and the
> management who authorizes these purchases, wants the users to have access.
> Do we want them to blame the 400 for not being flexible enough to perform
> ad hoc queries versus some PC based package, when it was really our fault?
> 
> qappdsn@attglobal.net on 02/25/2000 10:02:03 AM
> Please respond to RPG400-L@midrange.com@Internet
> To:  RPG400-L@midrange.com@Internet
> cc:
> Fax to:
> Subject:  Re: Query/400 to RPG program
> Rob,
> I'm not picking on you, but you made a false statement that I've heard
> often
> enough to push my button! <g>
> It is -not- the users data.
> Users are employees and it is their employers data. He who foots the bill,
> owns
> the goods.
> IMHO, the role of IT/MIS is a stewardship role answerable to the employer,
> not the
> user.  At the same time, it is to the best interest of the employer to have
> IT/MIS
> permit access to corporate data.  The tenant of the IT/MIS department is
> the
> keeper of the keys.
> A data base should not be open for public consumption.  It's not the
> shipping
> departments business to inquire as to what the A/P clerk is getting paid.
> So restrictions are necessary.  That's our job to enforce, it's the
> employer to
> decide, it's the user to live with.
> J. Kilgore
> 
> Rob Berendt wrote:
> > What is so bad about Query?  Is this some sort of programmers union
> > uprising?  'The users are access their own data without going through
> > us!  Wait, lets remove the easy maintainability of Query and put it into
> RPG!'
> >
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