Version 2.0 of the Auto FE Updater
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From: David W. Fenton on 4 Feb 2010 21:17 "Tony Toews [MVP]" <ttoews(a)telusplanet.net> wrote in news:op9km5dloal8ovnu84tnpqc4ijj8ijn2pv(a)4ax.com: > Yes, you could've had the > utility create a shortcut on the server which you could've then > clicked on from each PC. > > I'm going to have to think about how to redesign the web pages so > it's clearer on how this works. Um, mumble, mumble, I didn't read the web page... -- David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/ usenet at dfenton dot com http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/
From: David W. Fenton on 4 Feb 2010 21:20 "Tony Toews [MVP]" <ttoews(a)telusplanet.net> wrote in news:36okm510i92msfrrh57o5b85b83eqs320h(a)4ax.com: > Salad <salad(a)oilandvinegar.com> wrote: > >>Didn't you have a .LNK file that was created that one could send >>to a person's email? > > Yes, assuming David had a laptop available while he's at the > client site and in which he uses Outlook or other MAPI supported > email client.. Neither of those is the case. Well, Pegasus Mail does MAPI, but not reliably (though the problems with it are actually the fault of Outlook, which I use as PIM but not for email). > But he is correct in that his situation where he doesn't > necessarily have email available needs to be explained better. So > I've updated the pages a bit but I'm not at all sure that it's > clear enough. They could have been brilliantly explained on the web pages and it would have made no difference, because I didn't read them! I consider a wizard something that doesn't need instructions -- hence my confusion when the wizard wouldn't run from the other workstations.. -- David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/ usenet at dfenton dot com http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/
From: David W. Fenton on 4 Feb 2010 21:30 "Clif McIrvin" <clare.moe(a)nevergmail.com.invalid> wrote in news:e1lgEcTpKHA.5588(a)TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl: > "David W. Fenton" <XXXusenet(a)dfenton.com.invalid> wrote in message > news:Xns9D14BAB8D5919f99a49ed1d0c49c5bbb2(a)74.209.136.97... > ><snip> >> But I'm setting up the workstations for them, so I'm going from >> machine to machine running the utility to get the shortcut on the >> desktop. If I could get the wizard to run, I could select the INI >> file and run it to create the desktop shortcut. >> >> Now, obviously, in large organizations, this wouldn't be helpful. >> But I was at the client last Friday setting it up and there were >> 4 workstations to set up. The first was the one I created the INI >> files on, but the other three required me to pass the full >> commandline. I guess, obviously, I could have created a shortcut >> or batch file on the server to run the thing without launching >> the wizard, but I was expecting EASE OF USE, which meant that I >> expected it to behave the same way on the other machines as it >> did on the one where I ran it the first time. > > Hmm... > > I've been working with Tony a bit in the area of documentation for > the Auto FE Updater. Your comments caught my attention as > indicating that we may have shortcomings in communication. I didn't really read the documentation, because I've been using the updater for nearly 10 years (I think it was back in 2001 that I set up my first site with it). So, it really wouldn't matter how well-written it was! I knew about the wizard interface and since wizards don't require instructions (they are supposed to walk you through everything you want to do without any explanation other than what's provided onscreen or a quick click away from the wizard interface), I didn't think I needed to read anything. My confusion came from the fact that in one context the wizard ran and in another it didn't. Now, that is very likely nicely explained in the documentation, but because I thought the wizard was going to hold my hand through the whole process, it never occured to me that it was behaving differently by design. > Did you notice the bit about creating an email containing a > hyperlink to send the users for the initial launch from user > workstations (as opposed to admin workstations)? I'm curious if > you considered that and rejected that option because of the > simplicity of simply walking around the office to four workstions > and doing the setup yourself; or actually never even noticed that > option. If I had set it up remotely I would have emailed. But I was right there onsite and had to visit all the workstations to install A2003, anyway, so there was no point in using some other method when I could do it myself. I also wanted it to be as transparent as possible for the users, and while the email shortcut is easy, it's a step that's subject to the possibility of something going wrong. > In the short while that I've been working with this utility the > usage that you describe has never even occurred to me --- after > all, one main point of the utility is removing the necessity of > visiting individual workstations for doing the setup. I had to visit every workstation for other purposes, so I didn't see any reason to put any of the burden on the users when I could do it all myself. > To do what you describe, the method of choice would in fact be to > use the wizard to create a shortcut on the server, which you would > then invoke one time only from the user workstations. I understand this *now*, but at the time, I just shrugged over the fact that the wizard worked in one situation and not in others. It was really not that difficult to use START | RUN to run the updater with the relevant shortcut. Had I any sense at all, I would have written that shortcut to the server instead of manually recreating it, but I thought that the wizard might work on the next workstation. > EASE OF USE ... Ah, the wonderful world of anticipating > expectations >:-). > > Would you care to suggest what could be done differently in the > writeup to have helped you avoid this bit of frustration? Put in a password that if the user doesn't read it and provide the password from the documentation to the the utility then it won't run? There's nothing you can do about someone not reading the documentation. But perhaps the "error" dialog that pops up could be better designed. It's really quite monolithic and I didn't really read it, so even if there'd been hints as to what to do, I would likely have missed it. I think the wizard itself is a pretty non-standard UI design (it looks like something from 1996), and the error dialog is pretty monolithic. On the other hand, the thing is designed to be used by tech-savvy users. But sometimes we are tripped up by knowing too much... -- David W. Fenton http://www.dfenton.com/ usenet at dfenton dot com http://www.dfenton.com/DFA/
From: Tony Toews [MVP] on 4 Feb 2010 22:11 "David W. Fenton" <XXXusenet(a)dfenton.com.invalid> wrote: >> Yes, you could've had the >> utility create a shortcut on the server which you could've then >> clicked on from each PC. >> >> I'm going to have to think about how to redesign the web pages so >> it's clearer on how this works. > >Um, mumble, mumble, I didn't read the web page... <chuckle> Sorry David, I know I shouldn't chuckle but I'm still chuckling at your reply. Nevertheless you did bring up a perfectly valid scenario which I didn't explain well. I was so focused on getting out the very convenient email solution I hadn't stepped a ways back and considered other scenarios. Tony -- Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP Tony's Main MS Access pages - http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/ For a convenient utility to keep your users FEs and other files updated see http://www.autofeupdater.com/ Granite Fleet Manager http://www.granitefleet.com/
From: Tony Toews [MVP] on 4 Feb 2010 22:13
"David W. Fenton" <XXXusenet(a)dfenton.com.invalid> wrote: >I >consider a wizard something that doesn't need instructions -- hence >my confusion when the wizard wouldn't run from the other >workstations.. Ah, another good point which I hadn't thought of. I'm off for a week for family stuff and will think about how to make things clearer in that error message and the wizard, etc. Thanks muchly, Tony -- Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP Tony's Main MS Access pages - http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/ For a convenient utility to keep your users FEs and other files updated see http://www.autofeupdater.com/ Granite Fleet Manager http://www.granitefleet.com/ |