Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> Well, I've never seen that happen. Which version of Office is this?

I think it's new with 2003.  I find 2003 far more friendly than the earlier 
versions I've used.

> What you call "clever", I call "unpredictable". I like software that 
> behaves in exactly the same way every single time I use it. (And HCI 
> studies have repeatedly demonstrated that such behaviour greatly 
> facilitates learnability.)

Yet, oddly enough, when the IDE enforces repeatability across projects, you 
complain it's not flexible enough. ;-)

In any case, now you know how to turn off the features that most people 
actually want.

> Dude, do you have *any idea* how many people think that using an Excel 
> spreadsheet is an appropriate way to have multiple users input data into 
> the same file?? *shivers*

Yes, and it works pretty well when you set it up right. You have to tell it 
the file will be shared, and it works nicely.

I've seen entire online newspapers with buttloads of readers manage their 
content in an access database, bellowing "does anyone have the database 
open?" between cubicles every once in a while.

> Oh, OK. So stuff that geniunely *is* difficult to set up by hand then?

For me, yes. On the other hand, I expect you might consider any GUI 
interface to be "a wizard", considering the database really only takes SQL 
input and output, so I do set up tables with a wizard and such, if you want 
to call it that. And I write stored procedures that way, and draw pretty 
pictures, and all that. The database is secondary to the applications that 
use it. If I can use a tool that makes it look like it's part of my app, all 
the better.  It's nice to be able to add a column to the database and get 
back (1) a new database, (2) a new interface to the database, and (3) a 
script to change the schema of the production database from the old version 
to the new version, all in one step.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   "Ouch ouch ouch!"
   "What's wrong? Noodles too hot?"
   "No, I have Chopstick Tunnel Syndrome."

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