Are the posted questions getting worse?

  • Brandie Tarvin - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 4:23 AM

    My "Joy" job of the month. Building a SQL Server Jobs Dictionary in MS Word for our team to know what jobs we have and what they do. If nothing else, it'll help us determine what is still needed post-migration and what we can get rid of.

    Each job has its own page. In case anyone is interested, here's my "template."

    Job Name:
    Job Frequency:
    # of Job Steps:
    Job Definition:
    Important Job Notes:


    Step 1: <name>
    Type:
    Definition:
    Special Execution Options: 
    Log File:
    Log File Properties: Append output to existing file
                         Include step output in history
    <copy step 1 template for all steps)

    Package Details
    Package Name:
    Configuration File Name:
    Important Package Notes:


    Package Server Location: <servername>, \Stored Packages\MSDB\<foldername>
    Config Server Location:


    SourceControl Location:
    Config local box Location (what's in the package):


    Files Involved
    Names:
    Data Source:
    Data Destination:
    NAS Inbound:
    NAS Inbound Archive:
    NAS Destination:

    Process Owners:
    Contacts:


    Are you storing those in any kind of a DMS/SCS/VCS/CICD system? My thought that it is vital to strongly link the document instances to the source and the version control systems in a centralized manner, otherwise, the effort is futile and will gather dust buried in the corner like any ol' dinosaur.
    😎

  • Eirikur Eiriksson - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 7:16 AM

    Are you storing those in any kind of a DMS/SCS/VCS/CICD system? My thought that it is vital to strongly link the document instances to the source and the version control systems in a centralized manner, otherwise, the effort is futile and will gather dust buried in the corner like any ol' dinosaur.
    😎

    SharePoint.

    Edit: I should mention, this project was someone else's idea (higher-ranked) to do. In addition to this, we need to create an excel sheet of all our feeds with source, destination, purpose, etc. And redo our business flow map. And anything else this person thinks we need to do in order to put together centralized documentation of everything that's going on. Part of the issue is too often the one person who has knowledge of Job XKY is out of the office and for the first time in years, the business users are having a crisis that requires the people at the office to track down everything related to the process. We're trying to get ahead of the curve by having a one-stop shop that all troubleshooters can access and see at a glance what the problems are.

    The problem with this process? Half the people in the office hate documentation and will never update it when it changes, so will constantly complain that the documentation is out of date and they don't trust it. That they themselves are the reason it's out of date and untrustworthy seems to escape them. Happens with our TFS code all the freaking time.

    Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

  • Brandie Tarvin - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 7:19 AM

    Eirikur Eiriksson - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 7:16 AM

    Are you storing those in any kind of a DMS/SCS/VCS/CICD system? My thought that it is vital to strongly link the document instances to the source and the version control systems in a centralized manner, otherwise, the effort is futile and will gather dust buried in the corner like any ol' dinosaur.
    😎

    SharePoint.

    Edit: I should mention, this project was someone else's idea (higher-ranked) to do. In addition to this, we need to create an excel sheet of all our feeds with source, destination, purpose, etc. And redo our business flow map. And anything else this person thinks we need to do in order to put together centralized documentation of everything that's going on. Part of the issue is too often the one person who has knowledge of Job XKY is out of the office and for the first time in years, the business users are having a crisis that requires the people at the office to track down everything related to the process. We're trying to get ahead of the curve by having a one-stop shop that all troubleshooters can access and see at a glance what the problems are.

    The problem with this process? Half the people in the office hate documentation and will never update it when it changes, so will constantly complain that the documentation is out of date and they don't trust it. That they themselves are the reason it's out of date and untrustworthy seems to escape them. Happens with our TFS code all the freaking time.

    This is in my mind, a recipe for a disaster, without the documentation being a part of the acceptance criteria for testing and deployment, this kind of an effort will fail. The fact that a documentation is there is not enough, it has to be a part of the whole jobs life cycle.
     😎

    Far too many times have I seen more damages caused by outdated documentation, which carries the perceived role of authority, than the lack of documentation, which in they're absence, carry no perceived authority or responsibility. 
    My approach to this problem is to standardize the documentation, derive and compile the testing specifications and code from the documentation and enforce those as a threshold for TFT/UAT and deployment. All changes are subjects of the that life cycle!

  • Eirikur Eiriksson - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 7:51 AM

    without the documentation being a part of the acceptance criteria for testing and deployment, this kind of an effort will fail. The fact that a documentation is there is not enough, it has to be a part of the whole jobs life cycle....
    My approach to this problem is to standardize the documentation, derive and compile the testing specifications and code from the documentation and enforce those as a threshold for TFT/UAT and deployment. All changes are subjects of the that life cycle!

    Hello, Preacher. My name is Choir. Nice to meet you. @=)

    Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

  • Brandie Tarvin - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 8:20 AM

    Eirikur Eiriksson - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 7:51 AM

    without the documentation being a part of the acceptance criteria for testing and deployment, this kind of an effort will fail. The fact that a documentation is there is not enough, it has to be a part of the whole jobs life cycle....
    My approach to this problem is to standardize the documentation, derive and compile the testing specifications and code from the documentation and enforce those as a threshold for TFT/UAT and deployment. All changes are subjects of the that life cycle!

    Hello, Preacher. My name is Choir. Nice to meet you. @=)

    My the source be with you my child:alien:
    😎

  • If nothing else, this whole process is a good exercise for me to learn about all the jobs I didn't have a hand in setting up and all the feeds that other people worked on. That's going to be helpful in the long term.

    Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

  • Brandie Tarvin - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 8:31 AM

    If nothing else, this whole process is a good exercise for me to learn about all the jobs I didn't have a hand in setting up and all the feeds that other people worked on. That's going to be helpful in the long term.

    Assuming the knowledge doesn't drive you mad.

  • Okay, let's see if I hack off a newbie......

  • Lynn Pettis - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 11:12 AM

    Okay, let's see if I hack off a newbie......

    Like putty in your hands ...

  • DesNorton - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 11:23 AM

    Lynn Pettis - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 11:12 AM

    Okay, let's see if I hack off a newbie......

    Like putty in your hands ...

    I have an urge to just copy / paste the syntax from the BOL article someone else linked...
    But I won't, I don't want to get dragged into that swamp...

  • jasona.work - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 11:27 AM

    DesNorton - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 11:23 AM

    Lynn Pettis - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 11:12 AM

    Okay, let's see if I hack off a newbie......

    Like putty in your hands ...

    I have an urge to just copy / paste the syntax from the BOL article someone else linked...
    But I won't, I don't want to get dragged into that swamp...

    Oh, don't be nice, be nike ....

  • Eirikur Eiriksson - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 7:51 AM

    This is in my mind, a recipe for a disaster, without the documentation being a part of the acceptance criteria for testing and deployment, this kind of an effort will fail. The fact that a documentation is there is not enough, it has to be a part of the whole jobs life cycle.
     😎

    Far too many times have I seen more damages caused by outdated documentation, which carries the perceived role of authority, than the lack of documentation, which in they're absence, carry no perceived authority or responsibility. 
    My approach to this problem is to standardize the documentation, derive and compile the testing specifications and code from the documentation and enforce those as a threshold for TFT/UAT and deployment. All changes are subjects of the that life cycle!

    YES!!!  YES!!!  YES!!!  YES!!!  YES!!!  YES!!!  YES!!!  YES!!!  THIS A BILLION TIMES YES!!!  +10000000000000

    This is why I am so passionate about the SQL Saturday presentations that I do.  I preach documentation.  Documentation is the ugly but critical stepchild when it comes to technology.  I even have a 'blog article where I refer to it as the "Rodney Dangerfield of technical professions.  It gets absolutely no respect.  Nobody wants to do it, but your organization is doomed to failure without it.

    +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
    Check out my blog at https://pianorayk.wordpress.com/

  • Ray K - Tuesday, September 25, 2018 1:50 PM

    YES!!!  YES!!!  YES!!!  YES!!!  YES!!!  YES!!!  YES!!!  YES!!!  THIS A BILLION TIMES YES!!!  +10000000000000

    This is why I am so passionate about the SQL Saturday presentations that I do.  I preach documentation.  Documentation is the ugly but critical stepchild when it comes to technology.  I even have a 'blog article where I refer to it as the "Rodney Dangerfield of technical professions.  It gets absolutely no respect.  Nobody wants to do it, but your organization is doomed to failure without it.

    Documentation does not have to be the Ugly Duckling of development, but only if it is an integral part of it. The abstraction of code generation from the development process, is of course a key factor, as if a developer has to write both, there will be difference in priorities and it doesn't take a genius to figure out which of those will be ignored.
    😎
    Are you by any chance in Pittsburgh for SQL Saturday this weekend?

  • When I was in college, I remember a cast party at someone's house where a participant stuck a bottle of Everclear into the freezer for at least 10 minutes, possibly more. Then pulled it out and poured shots. The idea was the time in the freezer supposedly gave it a little more of a kick. I took one sip, didn't like it. But the whole thing spawned a conversation about how Everclear doesn't ever freeze and would make the perfect fuel for one's car if it was the middle of winter and the driver had run out of gas.

    I tell this story because of this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2018/09/26/everclear-wants-you-to-think-its-a-craft-cocktail-ingredient-good-luck-with-that/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4322969685f7

    So, yeah. Let's have cocktail hour with the stuff that will run your car. That makes PERFECT sense.

    Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

  • Who has the Crystal Ball?

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