It wasn't me. You can't prove anything.


2005-08-01

Scripting (boring)
I do a lot of VBS (Visual Basic Scripting) at work. It is painfully tedious. The worst thing is, I'm quite good at it. I can get scripts to do those things that computers are supposed to do out of the box, but don't. Most of the programming I do is the following.
* Moving files around
Nothing complex really. Find out if a file is on a server. If it is, copy it to a place on the local computer.
Replace files that are out of date.
Find files that are lost.
* Manipulating shortcuts
Man, people love moving shortcuts around. The vendors should be reprimanded for never putting them in the right spot.
Creating shortcuts on the fly.
* Modifying the registry or configuration files
Windows does not exist without the Registry. It is just a database full of settings and every move you make is stored somewhere in it's bowls.
* detecting trouble and heading it off
Users have an amazing ability to mess things up. Sometimes they don't even mean too. It is my job to write code that trys to intercept problems by the above skills and head them off at the pass.
* answering questions for the users
I have become the front line support for software installs. The art (not science) of software distribution takes years to learn. It takes longer to get any good at it.
That's it. There ain't much more. Of course, I also do database programming and data migration. I support an antiquated VMS database that, though not one line of code has changed in nearly ten years, finds new ways to confound the users. Oh, and answer every random question in the place.
Such is me.

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