Decisions, decisions ...
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I've spent an hour this morning on an odd bug report - full data wasn't being entered to the DB, and the log just showed an "out of memory" exception. Turns out the problem was that some goon was storing RIFF data in a JPG file extension ... Windows works it out fine, Paint doesn't mind it, but PaintShop Pro just says "no" - and GDI+ throws an unhelpful memory exception which my app logs and decides it can't do anything useful with. To make it even more fun, this is done in a background worker thread so the UI isn't interrupted by thumbnail generation, and though it's technically part of the presentation layer it's not really a good place to be trying to communicate directly to the user ... And this is a ten year old app, and a brand new "problem" that I should handle rather better than I do currently. Which is effectively "ignore it" and hope I sort it all out from the logs later ... So ... what do I do about it? Fix it properly, which is going to involve some major changes to large chunks of software to get error reporting up to the right layer; bodge round it to get some reporting that at least the DB doesn't get some-but-not-all data added; or ignore it because it's not really my fault and I can blame some unknown idiot? I'd love to go with the last one, but ... if it happened this time, it'll happen again ... :sigh: Sod it. I hate this ... Mind you, I just thought of another option: hunt down the moron who thought "RIFF and JPG are the same thing really" and exterminate him with extreme prejudice. Tempting, tempting ... :-D
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt -
I've spent an hour this morning on an odd bug report - full data wasn't being entered to the DB, and the log just showed an "out of memory" exception. Turns out the problem was that some goon was storing RIFF data in a JPG file extension ... Windows works it out fine, Paint doesn't mind it, but PaintShop Pro just says "no" - and GDI+ throws an unhelpful memory exception which my app logs and decides it can't do anything useful with. To make it even more fun, this is done in a background worker thread so the UI isn't interrupted by thumbnail generation, and though it's technically part of the presentation layer it's not really a good place to be trying to communicate directly to the user ... And this is a ten year old app, and a brand new "problem" that I should handle rather better than I do currently. Which is effectively "ignore it" and hope I sort it all out from the logs later ... So ... what do I do about it? Fix it properly, which is going to involve some major changes to large chunks of software to get error reporting up to the right layer; bodge round it to get some reporting that at least the DB doesn't get some-but-not-all data added; or ignore it because it's not really my fault and I can blame some unknown idiot? I'd love to go with the last one, but ... if it happened this time, it'll happen again ... :sigh: Sod it. I hate this ... Mind you, I just thought of another option: hunt down the moron who thought "RIFF and JPG are the same thing really" and exterminate him with extreme prejudice. Tempting, tempting ... :-D
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
OriginalGriff wrote:
this is a ten year old app
Left it to mature a bit then :-)
“Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.” ― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather
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I've spent an hour this morning on an odd bug report - full data wasn't being entered to the DB, and the log just showed an "out of memory" exception. Turns out the problem was that some goon was storing RIFF data in a JPG file extension ... Windows works it out fine, Paint doesn't mind it, but PaintShop Pro just says "no" - and GDI+ throws an unhelpful memory exception which my app logs and decides it can't do anything useful with. To make it even more fun, this is done in a background worker thread so the UI isn't interrupted by thumbnail generation, and though it's technically part of the presentation layer it's not really a good place to be trying to communicate directly to the user ... And this is a ten year old app, and a brand new "problem" that I should handle rather better than I do currently. Which is effectively "ignore it" and hope I sort it all out from the logs later ... So ... what do I do about it? Fix it properly, which is going to involve some major changes to large chunks of software to get error reporting up to the right layer; bodge round it to get some reporting that at least the DB doesn't get some-but-not-all data added; or ignore it because it's not really my fault and I can blame some unknown idiot? I'd love to go with the last one, but ... if it happened this time, it'll happen again ... :sigh: Sod it. I hate this ... Mind you, I just thought of another option: hunt down the moron who thought "RIFF and JPG are the same thing really" and exterminate him with extreme prejudice. Tempting, tempting ... :-D
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
Is this a system you support or a personal one ?
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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OriginalGriff wrote:
this is a ten year old app
Left it to mature a bit then :-)
“Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.” ― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather
It's matured quite well: only up to V2.35, last change in 2020, and 90% of the changes over the years have been updates rather than bug fixes.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Is this a system you support or a personal one ?
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
Both: but I don't think I can charge anyone for my time on this. And a "proper fix" is going to involve significant UI changes which always raise user hackles ... there is nowhere I can report problems like this in the current UI layout, damnit. Should have thought of that way back when. :sigh:
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I've spent an hour this morning on an odd bug report - full data wasn't being entered to the DB, and the log just showed an "out of memory" exception. Turns out the problem was that some goon was storing RIFF data in a JPG file extension ... Windows works it out fine, Paint doesn't mind it, but PaintShop Pro just says "no" - and GDI+ throws an unhelpful memory exception which my app logs and decides it can't do anything useful with. To make it even more fun, this is done in a background worker thread so the UI isn't interrupted by thumbnail generation, and though it's technically part of the presentation layer it's not really a good place to be trying to communicate directly to the user ... And this is a ten year old app, and a brand new "problem" that I should handle rather better than I do currently. Which is effectively "ignore it" and hope I sort it all out from the logs later ... So ... what do I do about it? Fix it properly, which is going to involve some major changes to large chunks of software to get error reporting up to the right layer; bodge round it to get some reporting that at least the DB doesn't get some-but-not-all data added; or ignore it because it's not really my fault and I can blame some unknown idiot? I'd love to go with the last one, but ... if it happened this time, it'll happen again ... :sigh: Sod it. I hate this ... Mind you, I just thought of another option: hunt down the moron who thought "RIFF and JPG are the same thing really" and exterminate him with extreme prejudice. Tempting, tempting ... :-D
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
Tell them that the software is "out of support". If Microsoft can retire Windows editions after 10 years, why can't you retire your program? :-\
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
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I've spent an hour this morning on an odd bug report - full data wasn't being entered to the DB, and the log just showed an "out of memory" exception. Turns out the problem was that some goon was storing RIFF data in a JPG file extension ... Windows works it out fine, Paint doesn't mind it, but PaintShop Pro just says "no" - and GDI+ throws an unhelpful memory exception which my app logs and decides it can't do anything useful with. To make it even more fun, this is done in a background worker thread so the UI isn't interrupted by thumbnail generation, and though it's technically part of the presentation layer it's not really a good place to be trying to communicate directly to the user ... And this is a ten year old app, and a brand new "problem" that I should handle rather better than I do currently. Which is effectively "ignore it" and hope I sort it all out from the logs later ... So ... what do I do about it? Fix it properly, which is going to involve some major changes to large chunks of software to get error reporting up to the right layer; bodge round it to get some reporting that at least the DB doesn't get some-but-not-all data added; or ignore it because it's not really my fault and I can blame some unknown idiot? I'd love to go with the last one, but ... if it happened this time, it'll happen again ... :sigh: Sod it. I hate this ... Mind you, I just thought of another option: hunt down the moron who thought "RIFF and JPG are the same thing really" and exterminate him with extreme prejudice. Tempting, tempting ... :-D
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
In your thumbnail generation process, can you not verify it and if not a valid JPG, return a thumbnail image with text that says "invalid image file" or "don't be such a plonker" or some such? If the thumbnail process is storing the image somewhere prior to dumping to the database, just copy a similar "invalid" image ins place. That way nothing gets screwed up in the database, the user gets notified, and all the changed code is in the right place - image processing.
Telegraph marker posts ... nothing to do with IT Phasmid email discussion group ... also nothing to do with IT Beekeeping and honey site ... still nothing to do with IT
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In your thumbnail generation process, can you not verify it and if not a valid JPG, return a thumbnail image with text that says "invalid image file" or "don't be such a plonker" or some such? If the thumbnail process is storing the image somewhere prior to dumping to the database, just copy a similar "invalid" image ins place. That way nothing gets screwed up in the database, the user gets notified, and all the changed code is in the right place - image processing.
Telegraph marker posts ... nothing to do with IT Phasmid email discussion group ... also nothing to do with IT Beekeeping and honey site ... still nothing to do with IT
Hmm ... That's a much better approach. And pretty simple to implement as well. Excellent idea! :thumbsup:
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Hmm ... That's a much better approach. And pretty simple to implement as well. Excellent idea! :thumbsup:
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
You're welcome. Where do I send the invoice? :laugh: :laugh:
Telegraph marker posts ... nothing to do with IT Phasmid email discussion group ... also nothing to do with IT Beekeeping and honey site ... still nothing to do with IT
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You're welcome. Where do I send the invoice? :laugh: :laugh:
Telegraph marker posts ... nothing to do with IT Phasmid email discussion group ... also nothing to do with IT Beekeeping and honey site ... still nothing to do with IT
"FAO Boris Johnson, 10 Downing Street, London SW1A 2AB" He's as likely to pay it as I am! :laugh:
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I've spent an hour this morning on an odd bug report - full data wasn't being entered to the DB, and the log just showed an "out of memory" exception. Turns out the problem was that some goon was storing RIFF data in a JPG file extension ... Windows works it out fine, Paint doesn't mind it, but PaintShop Pro just says "no" - and GDI+ throws an unhelpful memory exception which my app logs and decides it can't do anything useful with. To make it even more fun, this is done in a background worker thread so the UI isn't interrupted by thumbnail generation, and though it's technically part of the presentation layer it's not really a good place to be trying to communicate directly to the user ... And this is a ten year old app, and a brand new "problem" that I should handle rather better than I do currently. Which is effectively "ignore it" and hope I sort it all out from the logs later ... So ... what do I do about it? Fix it properly, which is going to involve some major changes to large chunks of software to get error reporting up to the right layer; bodge round it to get some reporting that at least the DB doesn't get some-but-not-all data added; or ignore it because it's not really my fault and I can blame some unknown idiot? I'd love to go with the last one, but ... if it happened this time, it'll happen again ... :sigh: Sod it. I hate this ... Mind you, I just thought of another option: hunt down the moron who thought "RIFF and JPG are the same thing really" and exterminate him with extreme prejudice. Tempting, tempting ... :-D
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
Welcome to my current life. Over the last several years my group has gone from 17 people in three departments to 5 in a single department. We're still supporting everything. I spend more than half my time debugging and fixing other people's crap, and many of the problems are like the one you describe. People who took shortcuts, made stupid assumptions, or were just :elephant:ing sloppy. I spent close to a year debugging a problem in some embedded software that was caused by the original author not re-initializing some control values on an Ethernet error. It was the kind of excreta that doesn't happen in a robust, conscientious design.
OriginalGriff wrote:
hunt down the moron who thought "RIFF and JPG are the same thing really" and exterminate him with extreme prejudice
The worst offender was a guy who spent over 20 years working on a single product, and had written it so that he was the only person who could maintain it. He passed away a couple years ago. It's mighty tempting to drink a potful of coffee and go express my opinion on his grave.
Software Zen:
delete this;
