Re: help with a strong word

Subject: Re: help with a strong word
From: Kathleen Frost <frostdoc -at- EARTHLINK -dot- NET>
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 17:19:13 -0400

>>Yes, we must document this, and yes, there will be warnings all over it,
but we need a title that clearly says "don't do this" without actually
saying "don't do this."

All suggestions welcome!

-Kevin
=============

Other than saying "Don't do that!" I do have a work around that we used at
my company recently. This option is just simply don't tell the user how to
do something unless you can control how they do it.

We have clients that asked, innocently, I hope, that we create a feature so
they could bring up what their clients (the end users) were seeing so they
could troubleshoot problems. Fine, and helpful, if used prudently. But,
while it won't blow up the system, if it was used by someone with enough
criminal intent, could cost the company more money than I'm going to see in
my lifetime, including hitting a lottery or two along the way. :)

We first buried the controls for the function deep in a separate control
file. Then, as a safeguard, we require that at least two high officials in
the company with the appropriate security be involved to activate it. One
must set the correct flag in the correct file and reboot to get the option
to appear in a settings module that is password controlled. Then a company
official with the proper authority can reset the feature for individual
products. Then the original administrator must reset the flag so the option
can't be seen or changed by anyone else.

We didn't even put the instructions in the documentation because of the
risks. We simply said it was "possible to do this feature and if you want
it, contact your Relationship Manager for details and instructions." Then
we leave it to the Relationship Manager in our company to deal with the
client, explain the risks and cautions, and then, if the client still wants
the feature, we tell them, with the precautions, how to do it.

Kathy Frost
FrostDoc -at- Earthlink -dot- Net

From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=


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