answering Andrews database questions was Rhino and the Database

Andrew,

The database originally had no "subjective" text field for exactly
these reasons. Also it originally allowed users to "create" records,
but NOT to "edit" them. Also done to prevent problems as you (and
other posts in this thread) mention.

Due to some "mistakes" made by some early "adders to the db", these
settings were changed. This was to allow a person creating the record
to correct his/her own mistakes; and not have to wait for an admin.

Yahoo does not allow editing to be separate from deletion. Yahoo also
does not allow editing only by the creator of the record or an admin.
So the settings were changed, in the belief that we are all members
here who can be trusted.

Any untoward comments will be removed as soon as they are discovered.
And all the trusted people here currently have that ability. So the
trade-off is, make it harder to add entries, and gain some protection
FOR those entries; or trust the people here with the more "open"
setup. I choose trust, until it is broken...

I added the text description field at the request of those who felt
it was needed. Due to the way that yahoo sets up the fields (and has
yet to answer whether this text field can be made "wider"), I posted
at the time of the settings change that the "text" entries should be
kept short, and would be watched for misuse. And if the "keep it
short and NON-subjective" was not adhered to, the text field would be
dropped... (I have posted previously that the text field is used as
it should be in the discriminator entry.

I check it at least once per week (often more than this) to "clean
up" and do "maintennance".

And as I suspected, the text field IS being misused. But I am just
editing the entries to 4 lines max; and trying to eliminate
subjective evals, and "feature" lists. This is for starting info
only; like the dining guide I have compared it to...

Like all growing things, it is fragile at this point and needs
nourishing. As it grows, we can try to correct any problems which
arise.

I don't know about its searchability; or if atomz will work/help.
Yahoo has been pretty unresponsive. I have posted in some "moderator"
groups for answers.

Hope this answers your questions.

Ballendo

P.S. There is no way to identify the creator of each record. So
signatures will be of little help. This is a VERY limited tool that
yahoo provides. I have tried to set it up, and define the database in
such a way that it is useful; even with these limitations. Apparently
many feel that it is, if my offlist mail is any indication. It just
needs to be more complete, so that as full a picture is given to
those who DO use it to begin their search.

If it becomes corrupt, or is misused; then it can be "closed" and all
records will need to be created by myself or moderators. I hope we
don't need to do this... One of the reasons for doing this was to
give some of the people who are nameless, a way to contribute to the
group.

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "Andrew Werby" <drewid@a...> wrote:
> I just put an entry about Rhino into the database, but I had some
questions about that. Is the database searchable? It seems like it's
set up to do that, but it wasn't obvious how that works. As it grows
to hundreds of programs, this would be increasingly useful. Would a
program like Atomz http://www.atomz.com/ help, and could it be
plugged into the Yahoo site?
> Also, it looked like any list member can go in and "edit" the
entries,anonymously. I can't blame Fred for being reluctant to open
his products up for disparagement, when it seems perfectly possible
to change the comments to "This is an overpriced piece of junk" or
some such. Shouldn't these entries at least be signed, so we know
whose opinion is being expressed? Or would we all be jointly liable
for any slanderous comments posted there? ]
>
> Andrew Werby
> www.computersculpture.com