September 16, 1999
Dear Everyone:
(As soon as I finish the line above, the
Microsoft
Office Assistant
pops up and offers to help me to write a letter.
I haven’t figured out yet how to stop it from doing that.)
Things are beginning to heat up at work.
The new software has arrived.
In fact, I’ve already installed it on half-a-dozen PC’s and
started playing around in it.
I also ran into a little problem, due to not realizing that if I
do B before doing A, it can goof things up somewhat.
But I just sent an email to “DBA Dan” and asked him to wipe the
database clean, thus eliminating the boo-boo.
Then I could start over.
Apparently, we’re not supposed to do that.
Technically, it invalidates the warranty provided by the vendor
that makes the software. It
stands to reason, if they did an actual conversion and we went in
afterward and started making changes to the data outside of their
application, they couldn’t guarantee the quality of the data.
However, this is only “play data” at the moment.
Just junk to use in testing the application to see if it meets
our expectations. So I’m not
too worried about them lowering the boom on us before we even get
started. Besides, I wanted
to see what would happen if I tried importing some information.
I quickly learned a few things. Importing people and departments isn’t too difficult. Importing Record Series isn’t that easy. And importing boxes is going to take forever. Last Monday afternoon, I decided to try importing the boxes from a file that I just happened to have on hand anyway.
I got all the criteria lined up properly, saved the
profile and started the import.
The system correctly identified that the file contained 666,841
entries and started pulling them in, one at a time.
At the beginning, the system was ripping through the data at a
rate of 1-½ boxes per second.
After 24 hours, it was closer to 1 box per second.
After nearly 48 hours, it was more like 1-½ seconds per box.
At this rate, it will take more than a week to import all the
boxes; and that’s just the most basic information, not everything.
However, there are some variables that might speed
things up. Clearly, we’re
going to let the vendor do the actual conversion, probably at their shop
in “Idaho Falls”. No doubt,
they know a few tricks that I don’t.
And knowing how long it will take will allow us to alert our
customers as to what to expect when the conversion does take place,
probably around early November.
In the meantime, I have plenty of other things to
do, like
Information Protection Planning, which means coming up with a huge
document that shows all the inherent risks in using the application and
how we plan to deal with those risks.
And getting the application (three applications, really)
integrated in our computer environment.
And certifying that the application is
Y2K
compliant.
As for that business of trying to import 666,841
boxes…it tied up my computer for two full days before I pulled the plug
on it. (No, I didn’t pull
the plug on the computer; I used the
Task Manager
to shut down the import by closing the application.)
In the meantime, in order to do some other work, I moved into the
empty cubicle across the aisle from mine.
The outer walls of these cubicles are made of clear
plastic. So the cubicles
don’t seem quite so claustrophobic.
And I can see from my desk what the computer in the cube across
the way is doing. This way,
I can run something on one computer, keep an eye on its progress, and
still work on the computer in the other cubicle.
In effect, I’ve annexed the other cubicle.
I recently saw a list of “what do you usually steal out of
another person’s cubicle when they leave?”
You know, like grabbing the best tape dispenser before someone
else gets it. In truth,
several people have been into this cubicle since its former occupant
retired. In this case, I
haven’t “stolen” anything, just the cubicle itself.
Well, and the computer, of course.
I’m currently contemplating appropriate names for the annexed
computer.
All of this increased activity means that I will
have less time to work on “Jeannie’s”
database and go to
movies. In fact, last week I
didn’t work on the database at all, but I did take in a movie:
Dudley
Do-Right.
This is a pleasant bit of daffyness, but it lacks
the bite that the original
Jay Ward cartoons
managed. If you’re not a
true fan of
Brendan Fraser, or a die-hard believer in the original
Rocky and
Bullwinkle, you can wait for this one to show up on Saturday
afternoon TV some day. Don’t
worry, it won’t take long.
Love, as always,
Pete
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