roseembolism (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
roseembolism) wrote2005-05-23 04:49 pm
roseembolism) wrote2005-05-23 04:49 pm
Database Nostalgia
I’ve been working with an interestingly ancient database program at work- supposedly it dates back to the 70s. It’s interesting because in order to access individual records, I not only have to enter the date range, but I have to enter logic operands for the name.
No kidding, as part of the process I have to do this:
Fname
(name)
And
Lname
(name)
Done
And then alt-command my way through a couple of other screens before I can print.
The weird thing is, once I realized I could just use the alt key and do everything from the keyboard instead of using the mouse, it goes faster than working with the new mouse-oriented database. I’m also finding the report setup to be broader and more flexible than the new one…at the cost of being less user friendly.
But that’s OK, I’m not in a friendly mood. I kind of like it attitude of “I don’t care if you’re too stupid or Windows oriented to understand me, I’m not going to give you the pretty graphics. Deal. Oh, did you forget to set ‘Special Condition’ before typing print? Ok, just for you I’ll print ALL of the reports. Sucker.”
If it’s going to be me vs. the machine, I like the parameters set out clearly.
No kidding, as part of the process I have to do this:
Fname
(name)
And
Lname
(name)
Done
And then alt-command my way through a couple of other screens before I can print.
The weird thing is, once I realized I could just use the alt key and do everything from the keyboard instead of using the mouse, it goes faster than working with the new mouse-oriented database. I’m also finding the report setup to be broader and more flexible than the new one…at the cost of being less user friendly.
But that’s OK, I’m not in a friendly mood. I kind of like it attitude of “I don’t care if you’re too stupid or Windows oriented to understand me, I’m not going to give you the pretty graphics. Deal. Oh, did you forget to set ‘Special Condition’ before typing print? Ok, just for you I’ll print ALL of the reports. Sucker.”
If it’s going to be me vs. the machine, I like the parameters set out clearly.