It's getting repetitive
It's getting repetitive. Let me say it again. It's getting repetitive...
I keep rejecting the same kinds of contributions again and again - often from the same people, for the same reason.
It's getting repetitive.
So, as it's getting repetitive, I thought I'd mention here my (un)favourite list.
1) SMS type spelling
Do u no wht I mean?
This is supposed to be a site for professionals. Imagine your writing to your next boss. Would you use such a lackadaisical form of communication? Thought not. The fact is though, if you're applying for a job, your prospective employer might well have a quick scan to see of your contributions on SCN. Do you really want to make a bad impression?
There's another side as well. English is not the mother tongue of many contributors here. If you start using SMS (that's "Short Message Service") type abbreviations, then you make it really hard for those people to understand what you're whittering on about.
2) Posting links
I hate it when I see a post that just says
"link" - hope it helps.
Or
link
link
link
Try these.
At best all it shows is that the original poster could have searched for themselves. At worst, it's a really lazy answer. "Hope it works. Not sure, I didn't really look too closely, but I put some keywords into AFSE (A Famous Search Engine) and these were the first results. Maybe I'll be lucky and they're right and I'll get some points".
3) Use FOR ALL ENTRIES instead of INNER JOIN
How can I put this succinctly?
No. No.
No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No N...
That's it. No more discussion.
4) Binary search
Look. We all know (or should know) that if we're reading a STANDARD table then we might want to sort it and read it using BINARY SEARCH. But come on. Fifteen years ago an alternative became available - HASHED and SORTED tables.
Yet I keep seeing the same tired old responses "Use BINARY SEARCH with SORT".
No - use a properly designed, properly typed table, and you won't have to. They've only been around for fifteen years - why do people keep promoting this old technology! Or is half the world still on 31H?
5) SO_NEW_DOCUMENT_SEND_API1
Another very popular bit of ABAP. But again, it was replaced years ago with the CL_BCS set of classes. They're so much more powerful and so much more easy to use, if you'll put in some effort. And there's so many examples...
Here's a great blog about these classes, from eddy.declercq - Unknown thus unloved? Again, thanks to jelena.perfiljeva for the reminder.
6) Spec dumping
Thanks to jelena.perfiljeva for reminding about this one. Spec dumping. That's when someone, often a newbie (which makes you wonder how they got the job) have a report or some functionality. Instead of putting in some effort and applying the training they received (they did receive training didn't they? I mean, no-one, surely, wouldpretend to have experience when they haven't, would they...), they just dump the spec into the questions list.
So we get the stuff that should be within the grasp of anyone who didn't sleep through the introductory ABAP course
"Dear Sir. I am a newbie. I have to write a program that will output "hello world" to the screen. Please share sample code".
or the stuff that's way beyond their capabilities, should never have been given to a newbie, and you wonder why they were assigned the task in the first place.
"Dear Sir. I am a newbie. I have to write a program that will be used by mission control to launch and track a superluminal probe, destined for the Frogstar. I'm told it must be written in ABAP Objects. Please can someone teach me what the DATA statement means... rwds to good answers..."
If you've got a specific question, then we'll all be glad to pile in and help - assuming it's not a basic Frequently Asked Question easily answered by doing just a little research. But expecting us to do your job for you? Come on. I get paid by my employer to write programs for them. I should write programs for free for your employer? They might be a competitor!
7) Blogs and documents... that aren't
Please. Before posting a blog or a document, make sure that a) it hasn't already been covered elsewhere and b) it's not just a program. Here's a clue. If your content is 90% ABAP, then it probably isn't suitable for a blog or a document. If it is a step-by-step guide, even with screen shots, likewise. Both these cases assuming the content isn't already covered are far more suited to the wiki.
There are some exceptions to this. This blog A complete guide to OpenSQL statements - Step-by-step tutorial with screenshots doesn't say anything ground-breakingly new. However, I felt it was so well written and so comprehensive, that it did add real value to the community.
But there was nonetheless a risk - taking into account a) and b) above. You need to be aware that rejection of blogs and documents now carries a penalty! :shock: Not only do you lose any points you got from the content - including those from likes and four or five stars, but according to how many you've had rejected, you get a penalty of 1-80 points! Because I'm not really a grumpy old man, if you're unsure, feel free to drop me a line before publishing your content, and I'll have a look. That way, if it isn't up to scratch, I can tell you, and you won't lose points for simply trying to contribute. You can get my contact details from my profile.
😎 I'm a newbie so...
- The rules don't apply to me
- I don't have to do any research before posting
- This is my spec - please do my work for me
- You are obliged to help me... I'm a newbie!
OK, partly covered by 6), but I thought it merited it's own section. Yes, we were once all newbies. And I don't really mind basic questions, so long as they're not Frequently Asked Easily Searchable Questions (FAESQs). What I do mind is laziness. Come on - do a bit of research; show you've put some effort into it.
It's a bit like in the career corner, where people seem to insist that companies are obliged to give "freshers" without experience jobs, simply because they're "freshers".
9) Posting the same thing that just got locked or rejected by a moderator
Nobody has a right to post whatever they like. Posting the same content that you got rejected or locked, hoping the moderators won't notice is not only sneaky and rather disrespectful, it's also an action that can, in extremis, lead to your account being deleted :mad: and that would make me sad :shock: :sad: :cry: .
10) Not sharing all the relevant information - or sharing too much!
"I'm doing x, y, z and I'm getting an error. This is my source code, these are my resources. Can someone fix this for me?"
Yes, I'd be delighted to. IF ONLY YOU'D TELL ME ***WHAT*** THE ERROR MESSAGE IS!
Or "I'm getting a dump when I run a report. Pls hlp".
What are we? Telepaths!? Don't you think that perhaps this is vital piece of information' And it's not just errors, it's all kinds of questions where you have to drag the information out of the poster. It's almost as if they don't want any help - as though they're doing you a favour by posting their question.
Of course, the flip-side is those who post the complete text of all thirteen books of Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events", plus the unauthorised autobiography... instead of concentrating on providing the information that's actually relevant. And as for people who post all 20'000 lines of their program code and can't even be bothered to removed the 19'900 lines that are commented out...
11) Posting useless code
I've decided that this last one - mentioned in point 10) needs it's own entry. To put it simply - only post the relevant bits of code. To put it bluntly, if you can't be bothered to take out the useless stuff (like commented out code), then why should we be bothered to help you. Don't be lazy!
So there you have it
My bottom five six seven eight nine ten eleven types of posts. If I see this kind of content in the ABAP space, don't be surprised if it gets rejected... I'll try not to leave a sarcastic note, but sometimes it is so hard not to!
Update...
12) The dump dump
Copy-pasting the whole short dump text from ST22 and asking for "guidance". How about doing the job you're being paid for? How about applying a little analysis, a little critical thought to what the error says, and just perhaps, applying a little effort to think about what the causes might be? If that's too hard - then at least search before posting. And whatever you do - don't paste a screen-shot! In the extremely unlikely event that your question is actually worth something, and its resolution might help others, if you've pasted a screen shot it can't be searched!
13) The error dump
Copy-pasting the error message and asking what to do. How about doing the job you're being paid for? How about applying a little analysis, a little critical thought to what the error says, and just perhaps, applying a little effort to think about what the causes might be? If that's too hard - then at least search before posting. And whatever you do - don't paste a screen-shot! In the extremely unlikely event that your question is actually worth something, and its resolution might help others, if you've pasted a screen shot it can't be searched!
Now, some sharp eyed individuals might notice that 12 and 13 are so similar, they don't really merit separate entries. But you know what - they're so annoying, I thought it worth mentioning twice.
