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Discuss Content Posted by Jeff Moden
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Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a...
170 posts, Page 2 of 17
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Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help
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Opus
Opus
Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 7:20 AM
SSC Journeyman
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Tuesday, April 09, 2013 10:27 AM
Points: 95,
Visits: 287
As someone who generally posts more questions than answers, I thought this was a great article. Any way to make this required reading before someone creates their first post? This would have saved me a lot of time and those answering my questions, as you stated. Nicely done.
Post #426367
Loner
Loner
Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 7:35 AM
SSCrazy
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 7:05 AM
Points: 2,726,
Visits: 2,925
Actually I tried to answer that question, it was quite a challenge !!!
Sometimes it is hard to write a question, I read a question that is a page long with tables and query and everything, I just don't have patience to read a page long question.
Post #426374
Steve Jones - SSC Editor
Steve Jones - SSC Editor
Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 7:42 AM
SSC-Dedicated
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 1:47 PM
Points: 31,406,
Visits: 13,722
We can recommend it, but not sure many people will read it. Lots of people want to get an answer, post quickly, don't think about reading anything, including the sign-up screen. :)
Great article, Jeff!
Follow me on Twitter:
@way0utwest
Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help
Post #426382
Jeff Moden
Jeff Moden
Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 7:52 AM
SSC-Dedicated
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 8:21 PM
Points: 32,893,
Visits: 26,765
You raise a point that goes beyond just posting on forums - In the general office situation this is also common:
Funny that you should mention that, Bad Dog... We've been having a bit of a debate on one of the threads about the differences between a "Programmer", a "Good Programmer", and a "Great Programmer". I think you've identified a couple of areas we missed :)
--Jeff Moden
"
RBAR
is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for "
R
ow-
B
y-
A
gonizing-
R
ow".
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
Stop thinking about what you want to do to a row... think, instead, of what you want to do to a column."
For better, quicker answers on T-SQL questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/
For better answers on performance questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SQLServerCentral/66909/
Post #426391
Marie Wilkinson
Marie Wilkinson
Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 7:52 AM
SSC Rookie
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 8:33 AM
Points: 42,
Visits: 110
I've never posted a problem because I have been too intimidated so this was a wonderful 'how-to'. Thanks.
Post #426392
Jason Selburg
Jason Selburg
Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 7:56 AM
SSCrazy
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 7:55 AM
Points: 2,582,
Visits: 3,552
Loner (11/27/2007)
Actually I tried to answer that question, it was quite a challenge !!!
Sometimes it is hard to write a question, I read a question that is a page long with tables and query and everything, I just don't have patience to read a page long question.
My preference is to have the question summarized first. Then break it into details. This gives the reader the ultimate goal upfront and if they're interested they can read further.
______________________________________________________________________
Personal Motto: Why push the envelope when you can just open it?
If you follow the direction given
HERE
you'll likely increase the number and quality of responses you get to your question.
Jason L. Selburg
Post #426396
Jeff Moden
Jeff Moden
Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 8:01 AM
SSC-Dedicated
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 8:21 PM
Points: 32,893,
Visits: 26,765
I suspect that the very process of presenting and describing a problem often makes the solution suddenly pop into the head.
Well said and absolutely true... the "Old School" method of writing down the steps to be done define the old "Divide and Conquer" method which is very effective in solving problems. Once done, those steps also make pretty good comments in the code.
--Jeff Moden
"
RBAR
is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for "
R
ow-
B
y-
A
gonizing-
R
ow".
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
Stop thinking about what you want to do to a row... think, instead, of what you want to do to a column."
For better, quicker answers on T-SQL questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/
For better answers on performance questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SQLServerCentral/66909/
Post #426403
bc_
bc_
Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 8:01 AM
Ten Centuries
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Monday, May 13, 2013 9:42 AM
Points: 1,304,
Visits: 7,118
in response to "Mr. or Mrs. 500"--
it wasn't just you, i couldn't see the bad code example either. seems to happen quite frequently in these articles with code snippets...
burke
bc
Post #426404
Jeff Moden
Jeff Moden
Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 8:09 AM
SSC-Dedicated
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 8:21 PM
Points: 32,893,
Visits: 26,765
GilaMonster (11/27/2007)
Nice. I'm also a little tired of people looking for a free lunch. Problem is, those who need it most will likely not be the people who read it.
Heh... I know exactly what you mean, Gail. I've even had people post that it's my
job
to give them an answer on the forum despite the fact they've posted no code and no data and the principle behind their question defies every good rule of RDBMS usage. Of course, if you ask them why they want to do such a {bad} thing so you can help them find a different/better way, they either get real indignent, provide correct but undetailed answers like "It's for a Report" or they simply go away.
--Jeff Moden
"
RBAR
is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for "
R
ow-
B
y-
A
gonizing-
R
ow".
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
Stop thinking about what you want to do to a row... think, instead, of what you want to do to a column."
For better, quicker answers on T-SQL questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/
For better answers on performance questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SQLServerCentral/66909/
Post #426409
Jeff Moden
Jeff Moden
Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 8:17 AM
SSC-Dedicated
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 8:21 PM
Points: 32,893,
Visits: 26,765
Doug Wittich (11/27/2007)
My pet peeve besides those given already: Poor choice of subject. So many "Newbie needs help" and "help me" threads abound. I'd much rather see a topical subject.
Spot on, Doug, a doubly appreciated (but I had to get that one out of my system :D )... I've got 3 more articles in the works (2 accepted but not scheduled and one 2-parter in the process of being written) that cover more topical topics like...
Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins
Performance Tuning: Concatenation Functions and Some Tuning Myths
Very High Speed Running Balances, Running Counts, Ranking, and Percentiles (this will be the 2 parter... haven't totally settled on the name, yet).
But, I also remember when I was a "newbie" and, if I see that they're actually trying without the arrogance that some show, have a bit of a soft spot for them. Thought I'd post something to help the "good ones" get better answers to their questions. And... it wasn't just for newbies. Sure, it was for them and some of the people who regularly ask questions like the one in the article, but it was more for me... I've gotten pretty tired of spending more time setting up test data than it takes to solve a problem and I'm sure some of the other heavy hitters would agree with that! :)
I'm hoping that some of them will actually take the time to post test data correctly so we don't have to spend so much time on not answering the question.
--Jeff Moden
"
RBAR
is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for "
R
ow-
B
y-
A
gonizing-
R
ow".
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
Stop thinking about what you want to do to a row... think, instead, of what you want to do to a column."
For better, quicker answers on T-SQL questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/
For better answers on performance questions, click on the following...
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SQLServerCentral/66909/
Post #426413
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