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The diminishing power of Delete (was: Don't say what you CANNOT do in documents?)

Subject: The diminishing power of Delete (was: Don't say what you CANNOT do in documents?)
From: "Mike O." <obie1121 -at- yahoo -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 07:16:05 -0400


Geoff Hart wrote:

I can't begin to calculate how much time I've wasted trying to do something seemingly logical and obvious that the software simply didn't support or supported in another way or a way that was different from all the other software I was using.

My pet peeve is 'delete.' Nowadays, database-based systems almost never truly delete records... they just change a status flag, and the item has new and unexpected behaviors based on its Deleted status. But still, the client applications continue to have so-called "Delete" commands. The Delete key is beginning to lose some of its awesome power...

IMHO, if you are documenting one of these bogus Delete commands, you definitely need to document that you *cannot actually delete anything.* You need to:

- Explain that Delete doesn't really mean delete,

- Explain how to undelete, if possible.

- Explain the expected behavior of the "deleted" object, For example, if you Delete a user, can they still log in? Do they still appear in audit trails? etc...

Managers are sometimes flipped out when I explain this to them: "What do you mean, Delete doesn't delete?" Next week I plan to tell them that when they delete an email it isn't really deleted either...

Mike O.


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References:
Don't say what you CANNOT do in documents: From: John Posada

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