Sometimes I feel the rare urge to share my (little) knowledge around here. I did it few times, and all them ended the same way: tired of feeling leeched, I moved away until my next "it's-Christmas-Time" travel to Timewasteland.
The old times' mistakes are still here. With a brighter and better look (and bulkier navigation), with a "gamification" of your "reputation"... but the same bunch of lazy leechers and point-hunters roaming around.
Let me clear it: I like freshers. You can learn a lot from freshers: they have no prejudices, and their doubts could lead you to learn new things. But when a fresher doesn't make any effort to solve his own questions, he becomes a leecher.
And I like to have a way to stablish someone's reputation. But when the reputation system can be tricked too easy, all the system fails.
Let me try to explain it with a fictional sample pairs:
Fresher post: after some search, I reach MARA table where the materials are stored, but I need to find their descriptions. Can you lend me a hand, please?
Leecher post: how can I find the material description in my ABAP program? Code sample will be appreciated.
"Normal" User: check table MAKT.
Tutor wannabe: did you tried to use the "where-used" button with the MATNR data element? (and a small explanation about how to do it). I will recommend BAPI*MAT*GET* (the true one, if able) function module. If you need to retrieve more material details, will be better to use this kind of functions.
Point-Hunter 1: dear, use table MAKT, check this code (and a full report of ABAP no one cares for)
Point-Hunter 2 (ten minutes later): you can find them in table MAKT (and another code sample)
Point-Hunter 3: (fourteen minutes later): hey, materials' description are in table MAKT (and a little SQL)
(we are lucky: none of the hunters put a wrong answer to the question... I've seen DANGEROUS answers from people with zillion points)
Few minutes later, one of the point-hunters will have his prize: a "new correct answer" tag, probably other users will have the "helpful question" one and, if we are lucky, the thread will be tagged as solved and will have a chance to rest in peace.
There is something wrong in the forum software that sorts the answers with a weird criteria. I'm sure everybody has noticed it, and maybe some point-hunter deducted how the system does and (ab)uses of this weird behaviour.
SCN should be a place to learn. A site where you receive lessons about how to fish for your answers, and not a place to hunt for points.
But while hunting will be more often than fishing here, things will continue been wrong, and to search this place for solutions will be a hard task.
I will continue been around for a while, but each time I spend less time "helping" and I fear soon I will start another of my "seeyouSCN" periods.
Have a good time,
Vic
