Re: Deleting Chunk..

In article <64p680$d35@cssun.mathcs.emory.edu>, clem@informix.com (Clem Akins) wrote: > > Good call, Scott! I already gave him that lecture. I like to think I > put a little different spin on it than "<you> are too stoopid", but > the basic rant was the same. > > Let me paint a little more of the picture. You are welcome to make any > changes you like in your data, anywhere on your disks. After all, it is > *your* data. And if the truth were known, I did the same thing when I > was a customer. I enjoy the challenge of unravelling the beauty of the > data structures in memory and on disk. There is a considerable joy in > running on the very edge, too. Like the unfettered freedom of the # > prompt when you are logged on as root. Using dd and daring c routines > can be like a drug. > > The trick here is that you alone take the full responsibility. In > my role as a support engineer I like people to just color within the > lines, to use the products in a conservative manner that gives a nice, > stable, predictable result. If a customer called me and asked for help > in patching up a chain of pages which he could no longer access due to > a database inconsistency he intentionally introduced with dd, my > cold-hearted response would probably be "Restore from archive." I would > expect that customer to laugh along, give a little "oops" and learn > from that lesson. > Agree. But if the Informix support is not able to repair the database (assuming that I have not messed with it), I would have to restore it from my archive anyway. > This is something that we all experience. Many people in this forum are > developers and consultants, and as such we all fear the consequences of > our customers and users generating inconsistencies. How many times does > the question "How can I keep users out of dbaccess?" arise? This is > exactly the same question at a different level. > > >} PS. Don't forget LEVEL 0 ARCHIVE and save your tbconfigs before doing > >} anything. > > Exactly. Just remember that those precautions are all that stand between > you and that unemployment line. ;) > It is good that you brought up those points. At least, the folks who need to mess with the Online, whatever their reasons, have to be aware of the risks involved, and the precautions that need to be taken. Thanks for bringing that up. Cheers! Rgds Alvin -- Alvin Koh Email: AlvinKoh@WriteMe.COM