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Subject:Thank god, it's only a bug... From:"Karen E. Black" <kblack_text -at- hotmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 05 Nov 2002 21:17:02 -0500
I've been documenting some new functionality in one of our existing systems
(background: sales proposal -> business requirements -> technical design ->
development...oops, where are the functional specs??). I was trying to get
through what was supposed to be a 3-step process today (much of the new
functionality was "mentioned" in the business requirements, but the mentions
just got carried forward as cut-and-paste paragraphs to the technical
design). I couldn't get it to work (my deadline's Thursday to document 6
modules) so I ran over to QA to ask if it had been tested and could they
show me how it worked (3 steps, mind you). They explained it with
background, foreground and middle ground, and I kept asking, "But how does
it work? What does the operator do? What's supposed to happen NOW?" So they
tried it a few times, got wrinkled foreheads, a bit of green smoke came out
of their ears, and one of them ran to get the developer. She explained it
all again (my nods are getting bigger and bigger, "yes, I know that part,
but what does the operator do NOW??").
So she tries it too. "Oh. That's not supposed to happen." QA guys say, "It
was working when we tested it." But nobody would look me in the eye. So I
say, "So you do this and this and this, then you go to the next one?" "Yes,"
they all say, relieved.
It doesn't work, but I've got it documented correctly.
"It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical
need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as
some kind of recreational activity." --Dave Barry
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