Powerful and Free Office Suite

By Stephen Bucaro

Open Office is a free open-source office suite that not only
competes with Microsoft Office, but can open and save Microsoft
Office file formats. It was created using code developed by Sun
Microsystems for their Star Office product. Open Office includes
a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, drawing
application and several other applications. There are versions
for Windows, Linux, Mac, and Solaris.

Open Office is easy to use because the interface is similar to
other office suites. Naturally, the first thing I had to try was
the drawing program. Within seconds I was able to create 3D
textured text and complex textured 3D objects.

Why switch to Open Office? Because now is the time to free
yourself from Microsoft's Monopoly. If you are not prepared to
jump right to Linux, Open Office makes a good transition. You
can work with Microsoft Office file formats in Open Office. Then
when you switch to the Linux, you can continue to work with
Microsoft Office file formats in Open Office.

At the OpenOffice.org website, www.openoffice.org, there are
links to download version 1.0, and version 1.1 beta2. Version
1.1 adds PDF and Macromedia Flash export; DockBook, PDA
offic-file formats, and flat XML and XHTML.

When you click on the link to download a version for your
operating system, you are taken to a chart of FTP servers
hosting the download. For example, if you are located in the USA
you would click on the Indiana U link.

If your operating system is Windows, you download a 60 MB zip
file. With a 56K modem, it might take three hours to download.
You'll need a zip file extraction utility to uncompress the
download. The most popular zip file extractor for Windows is
WinZip. You can download the WinZip trial version from
www.winzip.com

The Linux version comes in a 70 MB "tarball". With Linux, you
can open a terminal window and use the "tar" command to
uncompress the download. Both versions come with an easy to use
setup program. If installing on a multi-user system, like
Windows 2000 or Linux, make sure you are logged in with
Administrator rights before you install the program.

During installation, Open Office may inform you that it can't
find a Java runtime environment. Certain features require a Java
Runtime environment to function. I don't know what features
those are (not the 3D textured graphics) You could go to Suns
Java Website, java.sun.com, to download and install the Java
Runtime environment before you install Open Office.

You can continue to work with Microsoft Office file formats
without the excessive cost and frequent crashes. Open Office is
easy to use and you can even create 3D textured text and complex
textured 3D objects. Download this powerful and free open-source
office suite today.

The Universal Serial Bus

Ports are connectors provided on a computer to comunicate with
peripheral devices such as modems and printers. The RS232 serial
port introduced in 1969 could transfer data at a speed of 20
Kbps (kilobytes per second). The parallel port introduced in
1981 could transfer data at a speed of 150 Kbps. Later
improvements increased the speed of the parallel port to 4 Mbps
(megabits per second). Serial ports and parallel ports are
frequently subject to resource conflicts.

In 1996 the Universal Serial Bus (USB) was developed to replace
the serial and parallel ports. Today, the USB port is used to
connect scanners, digital cameras, and external storage devices
like CD-RW drives. USB 1.1 can transfer data at a speed of 12
Mbps. USB 2.0, introduced in 2000, can transfer data at a speed
of 480 Mbps.

Besides much higher speed, a main feature of USB is that you can
plug and unplug devices without restarting the computer. The
controller will sense the device and reconfigure. Installing a
USB device is as simple as plugging it into a USB port.

Another feature of USB is that a single controller can support
up to 127 devices simultaneously. A USB device can provide a
port for another device, allowing you to "daisy chain" devices
together, or you can use a stand alone hub. USB uses a single
IRQ, I/O address range, and DMA controller to poll the devices
for data.

The USB cable has four wires, two for communications, and two
that can provide up to 500 mA (milliamps) of power to the USB
devices. This means devices that only need a small amount of
power don't need to have a separate power supply and power cord.

As you can see from the above specifications, USB 2.0 is 40
times faster than USB 1.1. But most operating systems do not yet
have native support for USB 2.0. Microsoft has released USB 2.0
drivers for Windows XP. You can download them from the Windows
Update site: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com.

You can plug a USB 2.0 device into a USB 1.1 port, but you will
only get the 12 Mbps transfer speed. Similarly, you can plug a
USB 1.1 device into a USB 2.0 port, but you will only get the 12
Mbps transfer speed.

If your computer was built in 1997 or later, you probably have
USB 1.1 support. The USB Implementers Forum provides a free
utility download that examines your hardware to determine its
USB capability. You can download it from:
http://www.usb.org/data/usbready.exe If you have a computer with
USB 1.1 support, you can use an expansion card that provides USB
2.0.

Manufacturers of USB 2.0 devices provide drivers that work with
Windows 98 or higher. First you insert a CD that comes with the
product to install the driver. Then, when you plug in the USB
cable, the port will automatically configure for the device.

The USB standard requires cables to operate at a length of up to
five meters, but many hardware manufacturers guarantee their
products to work only with the much shorter cable that they
provide.

By Stephen Bucaro

Backup - How to Avoid a Disaster

Creating backups of important files on a regular basis is
probably one of the easiest and cheapest ways to protect hours
of work and personal files from all sorts of technical
disasters. Still, billions of dollars are lost every year
because of technical problems and loss of data. WinBackup is a
new backup solution from LI Utilities that makes it easier for
home users and small companies to create secure and
well-organized data backups.

Organizing Backups by Priority When running backups on a daily
basis it is very important that the backup process does not
interfere with the normal tasks performed on your computer.
Running a large harddrive backup of all files on your pc can
take anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour depending on
how fast your computer is and the number of files that need to
be copied. Since a backup operation will slow down your system
considerably while in progress it is often necessary to split
your backups into several backup jobs. By running more important
jobs more often and by backing up static files less often you
can easily reduce interference caused by backup operations by
90% or more. Not only will splitting and prioritising backups
make your system run much smoother, but you will also be able to
update important backups of emails and other data much more
often.

Scheduling Backups In order to keep you pc backups up to date
you will probably want to schedule backups to run automatically.
WinBackup uses a built-in scheduler that makes this task very
easy. Since WinBackup also supports any number of Backup Jobs
with separate scheduling settings you can make more important
jobs, like emails, run more often while large, infrequently
updated, files are backed up only every other week or so. Using
WinBackup you can even combine-scheduled backups with manual
backups to ensure that important changes gets backed up
immediately. Since you use the same Backup Jobs for scheduled
and manual file backups, running a manual file backup can be
done with a single mouse click.

Compressing Data Backups In most cases, compressing backups can
be a very good idea since many files that are commonly included
in backups (emails, text documents or images) can often be
compressed to 50% of their original size or less. If you are
using WinBackup, compression is enabled by default. In WinBackup
you can also find out how large the compressed file will be
before running the backup by looking at the estimated compressed
size value. This value is updated in real-time while you add or
remove files to the backup and can be very helpful when
determining if the backup will fit on the target harddrive or cd.

Secure Online Backups After creating a computer backup you will
probably store the backup on a CD, a shared file server or maybe
even on the Internet. In order to protect you files it is often
recommended that you use a password, or if the backup contains
sensitive information, you should use some form of encryption.
WinBackup supports both password protection and strong
encryption using the AES 128 or 256-bit encryption standard.
Encrypted backup files will be nearly impossible to open without
the correct password can safely be stored on CDs and public
servers. If you want to run online backups encryption is often
critical to protect your data from unauthorized accesses.

A Network Backup System Corporate users as well as home users
with local networks will often want to backup several computers
to a server and then backup the server to a CD, CDRW or DVD.
This can be achieved by scheduling the workstations to backup
their files to the server first, and then, after waiting for an
hour or two, a scheduled bakup job on the server stores all the
workstation backups to a CD Writer installed in the server. By
layering backups this way you can easily backup entire networks
and data can be restored by workstation users at any time since
the backup files for individual systems remain on the server.
This technique can be very efficient and can save a lot of time
for end users as well as IT departments.

Windows Backups and File Sharing Problems If you have ever tried
to delete or rename an exe file that being executed, you
probably know that locked files can sometimes cause serious
problems. This is even more true when creating backups since
many of the files that you backup will probably be locked by
other programs when the backup operation is started. If you, for
example, are using outlook when a scheduled backup operation
starts, the whole operation could fail if the backup software
attempts to lock the email database. WinBackup never tries to
lock files and will continue a backup operation even if a file
could not be read. Any missing files will be added to the log
and will be backed up the next time the backup job is executed.
Since WinBackup doesn't lock files it will not prevent you from
using your computer for other tasks while a backup operation is
in progress. This is very important if you want to run scheduled
operations in the background while you are working.

Author: Emil Malmberg

DHCP

At my day job, we were tasked with creating a Windows NT 4.0
network from scratch with only minimal training on the operating
system. We were experts at working with OpenVMS and MacIntosh
systems, but none of us had ever seen Windows NT before. In
those days long ago we were very cocky, and very naive - how
hard could it be to set up a new TCP/IP network? After all, we
had mastered DECnet and Appletalk, could IP be any harder?

We soon learned the error of our ways - TCP/IP is far more
complex than we had originally believed. However, after some
head scratching and a few phone calls, we managed to get our
network up and running.

We didn't know any better, so we simply hard coded the TCP/IP
address into each workstation and server. In fact, we hard coded
everything, including the DNS and WINS server addresses, the
subnet and the gateway address.

For our purposes, this worked great for several years. We added
machines slowly and planned everything far in advance, so it was
no big deal to just add a new machine to the network. A few
simple edits to the network control panel was all that was
needed, and since our network was very static, we didn't have to
visit those setting very often at all.

As our company grew this scheme started to get more and more
awkward. Originally we had a nice, isolated, self-contained
network, but now we needed to get on the internet, we were
adding not only new workstations and servers at a furious rate,
but we had to deal with PDAs, handheld systems, standalone file
servers and hundreds of other computers.

To make matters even worse, where our network was very static,
now it was becoming dynamic. Computers would be added and
removed constantly - someone would plug his handheld into an
ethernet jack, get their email, unplug and be gone.

The static TCP/IP scheme that we had been using (a spreadsheet
with a list of machines and related addresses) was simply no
longer working. Fortunately, there was an answer - DHCP.

The acronym DHCP stands for "Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol", and it means exactly what it says. Once we discovered
this new tool we realized we had found the solution to our
problem - and we kicked ourselves mentally for not reading up on
this wonderful tool long before.

To use DHCP is so straightforward that the only excuse for not
using it is lack of knowledge. You create a DHCP server -
depending upon the size of your network this can be added to an
existing server (the network traffic is not usually very high)
or you may need to use a dedicated system. Some people use the
DHCP server that comes with Windows NT or whatever operating
system they happen to be running. We found the best solution was
to purchase a "DHCP appliance" - a small computer intended to
host DHCP and only DHCP.

Once you've got your DHCP server installed, you use an interface
of some kind (often just any browser such as Internet Explorer)
to define your network parameters. These include the range of
available TCP/IP addresses, the gateway address, the addresses
(primary and secondary) of your DNS or name servers, and any of
dozens of other parameters.

Now comes the really cool part. From this point forward, any
machine on your network can, if told to do so, get all of the
TCP/IP information from this DHCP server. This means you no
longer need to enter and/or change any of this data. It's all
handled for you. Windows 2000 Professional systems even use DHCP
by default, which means new workstations practically work out of
the box.

To make this all easy for home users as well, many hardware
firewalls include a DHCP server as part of the package. This
means if you get one of these firewalls (and it will tell you on
the box or instructions if it has a DHCP server built-in) you
can just plug computers in at home and not worry very much about
TCP/IP.

The bottom line is there is no reason not to use DHCP for your
workstations, laptops and handheld devices (it's not a good idea
in general to use it for servers). You can even use it at home
if you get the proper firewall.

Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster

KIDS BEWARE ON THE INTERNET

There are a lot of fun and educational things for children to do
on the Internet. There are also a lot of people and web sites,
so you need to be careful about where you do your surfing. It's
a rosy world out there and there's bubbling excitement to enter
into a Chat Room or log on to a Messenger Program and interact
with people and E-mail them too. Here are some rules to remember
whenever you are online.

# Do not give out any personal information such as address,
telephone number, the name and location of your school, or the
work address / telephone number of your parents, without
permission from your parents

# Do not respond in any way to messages that are mean or that
make you feel uncomfortable. Ignore the sender and end all
communication. It is not your fault if you get a message like
that and if you do, tell your parents right away so that they
can contact the service provider.

# Do not to click on any links that are contained in e-mail from
anyone you don't know. Such links could lead to inappropriate
web sites

# Tell your parents immediately if you come across any
information that makes you feel uncomfortable

# Do not enter contests without asking your parents first

# Always check with your parents before downloading any programs
to your computer

# Never send a person your picture or anything else without
first checking with your parents that this is all right

# Never agree to meet with someone you have "met" online without
permission from your parents.

# Do not give out your Internet passwords to anyone (even best
friends), other than your parents

# Talk with your parents so that you can set up rules for going
online. Decide with your parents when you can be online, the
length of time you can be online, and appropriate areas for you
to visit. Do not access other areas or break these rules without
their permission. If you agree to these ground rules with your
parents, there is no reason for you to get into trouble. You may
also get 'Blocked sites' features like Krowser to make you surf
through inspected sites.

Follow these rules, they are not there to stop you having fun,
they are there to make sure you are safe online. Be a good
online citizen and do not do anything that hurts other people or
is against the law. Always treat others on the Internet the way
you want to be treated.

Author: ilaxi

Your Electronic Filing Cabinet

The purpose of this article is to provide the beginner and
intermediate computer user with a clear understanding of the
computer's filing system: how electronic information is stored
and organized. Upon completion you will be able to master all
phases of file management, efficiently completing tasks such as
saving, moving, renaming and deleting files including storing
and backing up valuable information. End result will be an
organized and efficient filing system. All of the information on
your computer is stored in files. There are two types of files:
program files and data files. Your electronic files can be
likened to a paper filing system in a filing cabinet, both being
stored in a similar fashion.

In a filing cabinet paper documents are stored in file folders;
each given individual names. Information is grouped by subject
and all the data dealing with a particular subject is placed in
the same file folder and then placed in the filing cabinet.
These folders are then arranged in numerical or chronological
order, ensuring information is easily accessible.

Organizing and labeling files in this manner can be applied to
your electronic documents. Information is stored in individual
data files. Each document or data file has an assigned name.
Data files containing similar information can then be grouped
together in electronic file folders, and no two files in the
same folder can have the same name. Each folder is then assigned
its own label. The computer's filing cabinet is its hard drive
and floppy disks.

Windows Explorer is the file manager that allows you to view and
maintain your computer's filing system and keep it current.
Using Explorer, you can copy, move, delete, and rename files.
You can create new folders and subfolders to contain your
growing data.

The main window of the Windows Explorer is divided into two
display areas. On the left-hand side is the ALL FOLDERS pane
which displays all of the main directories and folders stored on
your computer. The right side or CONTENTS displays the contents
of your selected drives or folders.

You can use Windows Explorer to view the contents of your hard
disk. Load Windows Explorer by clicking on START, go to PROGRAMS
and then Click Windows Explorer. In the left pane, click the
letter that indicates your hard disk; usually this is a
represented by a (C:) The contents of your hard disk (drive)
appear in the right pane.

Folders can contain both files and more folders. Some of these
are associated with specific programs. These are the program
files placed on your system when you install a new software
program. Other folders can be set up by the user, these files
are called data files and can be stored in organized, logical
areas. To display the contents of any folder, click the folder
in the Directory Tree (left) pane so that it opens. Contents
will be displayed in the right pane.

Files are normally arranged alphabetically. You can also arrange
files by type, date, or size. Click the View menu, and then
select Arrange Icons. A submenu comes up from which you can
choose different arrangement options. This feature can be useful
in finding files, when the name is not clear.

A paper filing system is maintained on a regular basis as
business changes and grows, so should you regularly maintain
your computer's filing system. You will want to discard
documents as they become out of date. You will find the need to
move folders and/or documents to another location. You may even
want to rename a file. Windows Explorer provides many commands
that help you create and maintain a filing system specifically
suited to your personal needs. Below are listed some of the
commands on the file menu that will aid you in keeping your
filing system in order.

Important File Menu Commands for File Management 1. New -- To
create a new folder of subfolder 2. Delete -- To delete a file
or folder 3. Rename -- To change the name of a file or folder

To save a file click on FILE in the menu bar, select SAVE. In
the dialog box type the name you want to give the file and click
on the Save button. The document is now saved on your hard disk.

To create a new folder in Windows Explorer click once on hard
drive icon (usually (C) to make it active. In this way the new
folder won't become a subfolder of another folder). Click FILE
on the menu bar, select NEW and click FOLDER. A new folder will
be created. The new folder is highlighted so you can type in a
name for the folder. Notice in the left pane of Windows Explorer
that there are plus signs to the left of some of the folders. If
you click on a plus sign it will change to a minus sign and
several subfolders are displayed under the the folder icon.
Still some of these folders may have a plus sign indicating
subfolders within then. Click on the different folders in the
directory tree, and watch how the tree will continue to expand
and display its different branches of folders and subfolders
Files can be easily deleted. First select the folder in which
the file is being stored by double clicking on it. Remember the
folder will be on the left side of the Explorer window. The
files will now be displayed in the right pane. To delete the
file, click on the file icon or the file's name. Click FILE on
the menu bar and click the DELETE command. A dialog box appears
asking you to confirm that you want to delete the file and send
it to Recycle Bin. This is an safeguard to double-check your
command to delete the file. Click the Yes button to confirm your
decision. The file will be removed from your folder and placed
in the Recycle Bin where it is stored should you decide to
restore the file at a later time. The dialog box and the recycle
bin both protect against deleting a file by mistake.

When renaming a file there are a few things to consider. Files,
like folders, can contain up to 255 characters excluding the
\/:*?"<> characters.

Do "NOT" change the last 3 characters (extension) of the
filename. Windows looks at this extension to associate the
document with a specific application.

To change a file name, first select the particular file. For
example: say you have a file named "FOLLOWUPS" and you would
like to change the name to "FOLLOWUP LETTERS". Select the
"FOLLOWUPS" file in your contents window (right side of Explorer
window). Click on the File menu and select RENAME. The file name
becomes encircled indicating you can now type in the new name.
You can now type in "FOLLOWUP LETTERS" and you have successfully
changed the file name.

Until you become an advanced user I would suggest that you avoid
moving program and system files. However, your personal data
files you can rearrange to to meet your filing needs. Select the
file or folder you want to copy or move. You can do this with
more than one file or folder at a time. To select nonadjacent
items, hold down CTRL key and click the items you want to
select. For adjacent items hold down the Shift key while you
select the items.

On the Edit menu, click Copy to copy the file, or click Cut to
move the file. Double-Click the folder in which you want to
place the file that is being moved or copied. On the Edit menu,
click Paste. The file will now appear in its new location.

The drive and folder containing the files to be copied are
called the source drive and source folder. Respectively, the
drive and folder to which the files are to be copied are called
the destination drive and destination folder.

The method of copying files to a floppy disk is the same
procedure as copying a file to a folder. Select the file to be
copied, go to the Edit menu and click Copy: Select 3½ Floppy:A
as your destination drive by double-clicking on its icon. On the
file menu select paste and the file will be copied to the floppy
disk. It is a wise to make backup copies of your important files
on a floppy disk. In the event of a computer crash or should you
accidentally delete an file, valuable information will not be
lost. To find files in Windows Explorer, click on TOOLS in the
menu bar. When the tools drop down menu appears select FIND and
then click on Files and Folders. The Find: All Files dialog box
appears. Type the name of the file you are trying to locate in
the Named box. Click the Find Now button. Windows is now
searching for the file indicated by the rotating magnifying
glass under the New Search button.

In summation:

Windows Explorer is the application program that allows you to
view the contents of the computer, the hierarchy of folders on
the computer, and the files and folders in each folder.

Windows Explorer allows you to manage your electronic filing
system to suit your preferences. You can copy, move, rename, or
delete files and create back-up files on a floppy disk. As you
create new folders, strive to develop a filing system that will
allow easy access to all your computer projects.

As you create new files and folders, you many want to move them
or copy them to a different location. Until you become an
advanced user avoid moving program files.

When trying to locate a file remember you can use the Find
command in Windows Explorer. You can also use the Find command
on the start menu, which will also open the Find Files and
Folders dialog box.

About the author:
Doran Roggio is an Internet Marketer and Computer Consultant.

Testing

One of the hardest tasks for any IT department is that of
testing. This is, in my experience, the area where we have the
greatest failures (next to estimating the cost and length of a
project) and where we have incredibly room for improvement.

I have been in the business for a long, long time, and the lack
of testing never fails to amaze me. There have been times when
I've received "finished" programs from developers which didn't
even run! Obviously the code had never been tested, at least not
in any meaningful way.

Before any testing can begin (and obviously this should also be
done before coding starts) you must have a thorough analysis and
design. You see, a program or system must be tested against the
specification and a set of standards. It cannot be done
arbitrarily or randomly.

Your specification explains what your systems are trying to
accomplish. The specification might say something like "a
standard URL will be accepted in the address field". Your
standards would state that all buffers must be checked for
overrun conditions, URLs in a valid format, and so on. The
standards apply to ALL testing, while the specifications apply
to the specific program or system.

A very critical fact (which seems to be completely unknown to
Microsoft) is the marketing department is not in charge of
testing. To be done correctly, testing actually requires
top-notch people who have been specially trained and who are
highly motivated to do their jobs well.

You also cannot make a hundred thousand copies of a product and
send it out to tens of thousands of beta testers without a clear
set of goals, expert supervision and constant management and
expect to get anything meaningful back. Beta testing is vital to
a project, but it does not and cannot replace professional
testing staff. Another fact which seems to be invisible to
Microsoft is the purpose of beta testing is to test, not to
market a product. Marketing is an essential part of a product
plan, but it has absolutely no place in the testing plan.

What are some of the common testing mistakes?

Testing to prove a program or system works - I know you want
your programs to work, but the purpose of testing is simply to
test, not to prove you are the best programmer on the planet.
Testing needs to hit a program hard, right between the eyes.
Your job as a tester is to ensure that the program meets the
specifications, and that any deficiencies are found and properly
recorded.

Trying to prove a program does not work - Again, the purpose of
testing is to test, not to prove anything. You should always
have a well defined testing plan and follow that plan.

Using testing to prototype a product - Prototyping is an
extremely useful part of the analysis and design phases of a
project. The purpose is to give your users and customers a way
to see what something will look and feel like before
implementing a project. Once design is done prototypes should be
thrown away and not used again.

Using testing to design performance - Performance goals must be
understood before a project leaves the design phase. By the time
a project is implemented (much less tested) you should
completely know how it will perform (minus the possibility of
bad programming, which is a different problem which testing is
designed to uncover). Testing will, however, validate that the
product does perform as indicated in the specifications.

Testing without a test plan - I don't know how many programmers
I've seen that just wade right in and start testing. Come on
people, how can you test something if you don't have a plan?
What are you trying to prove?

Testing without a specification - Remember, the purpose of
testing is to prove that a system or program meets the
specifications. That's all. It's very difficult to do that
without a specification right in front of you. Of course, this
assumes that you have a specification to begin with ...

Asking the developers to test their own programs - This is one
of the biggest mistakes (next to writing any code without a very
good specification) that you can make. How can a programmer test
his or her own code? First of all, programmers make lousy
testers - testing is a field all to itself and programmers are
almost never trained well in this area. Second, the developers
of a system have a conflict of interest - they want their
software to work. Testers need to approach with a more open mind.

Testing without a goal - If you don't have a goal in mind for
your testing, you don't know when you are done. What are you
trying to accomplish? Absolutely no bugs of any kind (not very
practicable)? The best goal is 100% compliance with the
specifications. This does pit the burden on the analysis and
design team - but that is exactly where the responsibility lies.

Expecting an unsupervised beta testing group to do anything
meaningful - Beta testers need well defined goals, constant
supervision and strong leadership to be successful. Without
these things beta testing is simply a numbers game which does
nothing useful at all.

Testing is not the appropriate time to make design decisions -
Something that I commonly see from Microsoft and other large
companies is they create a product and send it out to their beta
testers for feedback. Guys, come on. Beta testing is not the
place for this. Design decisions need to be made well before a
product is sent out for testing. You want to find out if your
users will like a feature? Create a prototype, send it to a
statistically valid sample audience and ask them for their
opinions. Clearly define it to the audience as a prototype and
survey them for their opinions afterwards. Don't send out a
poorly defined "beta test" to a hundred thousand people and try
and get their opinions on features. The only thing you are going
to accomplish is to get yourself slammed in the media. You also
find yourself making design changes in a product at the wrong
stage of the product life cycle. Design changes need to be made
during the analysis and design phases of the project, not AFTER
implementation.

So how is good testing done?

Analysis and design must be done first - No matter how large the
project, you will be much more likely to succeed if you do these
two steps thoroughly and completely before implementation and
testing. Many years ago I had a boss, name of Gary, who didn't
understand this simple rule. He asked me to start implementing a
warehousing system for a client without writing a specification
(over my objections). His concept of design was to spend an hour
or two asking the customer what was needed, then to start
coding, then to show the customer, make changes, code some more,
show the customer, make changes and so on until the customer
said "it's fine". Needless to say, the project took far longer
than necessary and did not do a great job of meeting the
customers needs. It was also very buggy and required an immense
amount of support during the first couple of years of it's life
cycle.

The only phase where the marketing department should be involved
is analysis - A well trained analyst understands that the
marketing department is a customer and must be included in the
analysis phase of the project. This is the only time (until the
product is through testing) that marketing should have any
input. If you don't follow this rule you will wind up with a
product which changes direction during testing, and thus
invalidates your test.

Understand that a specification is a contract - The goal is to
implement something that meets the specification. This is the
only way that I know of to produce a software project that (a)
gets finished at all and (b) meets the customers expectations.
Of course, this assumes that your analysis and design is top
notch. What does this really mean? It simply means that changes
to the design are only allowed during the analysis and design
phase. Period. If your customer changes anything at all after
the analysis and design, you must reanalyze, redesign and
renegotiate - always and without fail.

Let's say you are the contractor who has been hired to create a
new warehouse system. You do your analysis and design and it is
approved by the customer. You now have a contract and it is
important that your customer understands this from the
beginning. Okay, you begin the project and your customer decides
he wants to add bar coding. This seems pretty simple so you say
"sure". Wrong thing to do. You should say either "let's finish
the project as designed then add things" or "okay, we will need
to stop, see how that effects the project (at the customers
cost), then we will submit a cost and new delivery date".

Maintain standards - Testing measures the implementation against
the specifications and standards. Standards should be made known
to the customer as part of the entire package. These might
include things like all fields will be validated in specific
ways, all buffers will not overflow, screens will have a certain
look and so on.

Remember the purpose of testing - Testing should prove the
implementation meets everything included in the specifications
and standards. Testing does NOT mean the product is measured
against customer expectations (that's a marketing function which
should have been nailed down during the analysis and design
phase). You see, the specification MUST meet the customer
expectations before implementation beings. Then the final
product WILL meet customer expectations as the specification is
the expectation.

Richard Lowe Jr, the webmaster