Timeline for Users forgetting to regenerate PDF before sending it
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
28 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 2019 at 14:42 | comment | added | Falco | @VolkerSiegel in essence there are no absolutes and it all depends on the context and user expectations. If the "View/Print" button saves the file to a folder called "Internal-Software-Folder-Files-in-this-folder-belong-to-the-system-and-may-be-deleted-if-outdated" - surely there is no problem in deleting the file? - As far as I did understand the OP the files are usually transferred from the folder to a usb-key, email or home-folder of the user. So the folder is only a temporary place, so the user can copy it somewhere else. | |
| Jul 9, 2019 at 14:38 | comment | added | Falco | @VolkerSiegel If you have enough reputation you can click on the score and it changes to two numbers up/down-votes. - I really don't like your second comment implying something like you being smarter than all the upvoters and somhow showing off your diploma, please be reminded of the "be nice" policy here at stackexchange. | |
| Jul 9, 2019 at 8:26 | comment | added | Volker Siegel | @Falco That it is a professional software makes the issue more severe, because it means higher expectations to get the basics right. One instance of it would destroy my trust in the software, and in the company or department that wrote it. | |
| Jul 9, 2019 at 8:20 | comment | added | Volker Siegel | @Falco How can you see the number of down votes? (I added one, so it should have changed.) Is it a moderator feature? Your point is valid even with down votes. The up votes may be more based on the level of computer science background of the users. I studied computer science withe German degree Diplom, similar to Master, at FU Berlin. | |
| Jul 9, 2019 at 8:08 | comment | added | Volker Siegel | @Falco It would be right to say: ""It is ok to delete the local preview-copy, as long as the information is stored practically not accessible for the user!"". The application can create a temporary file, open it in the external view/print program, and delete that file immediately. It is still accessible for viewing and printing, except for access by the file name. | |
| Jul 8, 2019 at 17:37 | comment | added | Khalil Hanna | I think to get rid of the old file is not a good idea. Personally, if you want to apply this approach, the better way is to prompt the user for replacing the new instead of the old in exporting. Because you don't know maybe you got an emergency case and the system can't export, so you need to still access the old file. Some other systems use to save versions of the same file, so you can refer to the version through a unique generated number or date and time of exporting, and this is good for tracking changes over your invoice and this is useful for payments. | |
| S Jul 8, 2019 at 16:22 | history | suggested | Koray Tugay | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
corrected spelling
|
| Jul 8, 2019 at 13:18 | comment | added | RonJohn | @Falco I can more than live with that... :) | |
| Jul 8, 2019 at 13:10 | comment | added | lucasgcb | @Falco If the core of the answer is good it doesn't deserve the downvote, and the comments are for improving it. That said, the answer isn't "delete the file", bringing up "deletion" here is suggested so the user doesn't mix it up, but this can be achieved by versioning and otherwise archiving the files (moving them). Deleting things is not something you do lightly, ever, specially if you want automation in the middle. | |
| Jul 8, 2019 at 12:36 | comment | added | Falco |
@RonJohn You are right, I inferred some things from the information the OP provided and personal experience with similar software. Citing the OP ERP software for small businesses...a view/print button - the button is not called "Save" and an ERP-Software with an invoice-screen usually saves revisions internally. - But of course this special software could be operating differently. Maybe we can compromise on "It is ok to delete the local preview-copy, as long as the information is still stored easily accessible for the user?"
|
|
| Jul 8, 2019 at 12:31 | comment | added | Falco | @lucasgcb 27 upvotes and no downvotes for this answer which states the file should be deleted seem to indicate otherwise... | |
| Jul 8, 2019 at 11:11 | comment | added | Mick O'Hea | Maybe rename it instead of deleting? Prefix the name with something like "OBSOLETE" which will show at a glance that the file is out of date? | |
| Jul 8, 2019 at 11:01 | comment | added | lucasgcb | Just in case the 50 other comments aren't clear, Don't delete!!! keep it versioned and move it elsewhere. What if they mess up the form and want the old pdf?? I'd despise this deleting system much more than the current one. | |
| Jul 7, 2019 at 18:47 | comment | added | RonJohn | @Falco you act as if you know this custom software. | |
| Jul 7, 2019 at 17:17 | comment | added | Falco | @RonJohn I disagree, in a business setting "deleting information" is will defined - and removing a redundant Copy of outdated information is not the same as deleting information. The information is versioned in the invoice system, the saved PDF file is just a temporary snapshot in transit as long as it is not transferred to a user owned folder or sent via mail | |
| Jul 7, 2019 at 17:14 | comment | added | Falco | @VolkerSiegel I disagree, this is a business setting. The file never belongs to the user, the file is just a means for the user to fulfill a business workflow. The software needs to support him as good as possible - in the best case the software would send the invoice directly via mail - but if this is not easily possible, the software needs to support the workflow in any way leading to the desired goal | |
| Jul 7, 2019 at 13:05 | comment | added | Volker Siegel | To emphasize it once more: Deleting files is fundamentally wrong. It is not just a bad idea. The file is no longer managed by the application. It is now a normal file belonging to the user. Deleting it is as bad as deleting some random file of the user. The whole point of generating a PDF is to give it to the user. (That a new version has the same file name is also wrong, but not as fundamental. That is just a really bad bug.) (This is not meant aggressive, also not cynical.) | |
| Jul 6, 2019 at 16:36 | comment | added | RonJohn | @BennySkogberg your comment assumes that it's possible for this system to open two different versions of an invoice at the same time in two different windows. That may or may not be true. | |
| Jul 6, 2019 at 16:33 | comment | added | RonJohn | @Falco "If there is an existing invoice, the pdf-file needs to be deleted from the folder as soon as something is changed on the order" is about as deleting old information as you can get. | |
| Jul 6, 2019 at 14:54 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Jul 8, 2019 at 16:22 | |||||
| Jul 6, 2019 at 12:53 | comment | added | Falco | @RonJohn this is not deleting old information. The user is just exporting a copy of the information in the system. This copy will be overridden anyways if the user changes something, so it is not a problem to delete it, since it is only a snapshot copy | |
| Jul 6, 2019 at 12:51 | comment | added | Bergi | @RonJohn Given that the "View/Print" button also overwrites the previous version, that's not much of an issue: if they wanted to compare old and new documents, they'd have to move/copy the old file anyway. | |
| Jul 6, 2019 at 12:05 | comment | added | Benny Skogberg | @RonJohn Versions of an order should reside in the system. Not the document where users need to compare manually. Automate!!! | |
| Jul 6, 2019 at 12:03 | comment | added | grahamj42 | Your customers will be in big trouble with their accountants, auditors and the tax inspector if it's possible to generate different versions of an invoice (facture) with the same number, or to cancel an invoice without a corresponding credit note (avoir). On the other hand, if it's just a quotation (devis), it's not so serious, but they must have different references, so everyone is clear which one has been accepted. | |
| Jul 6, 2019 at 7:07 | comment | added | RonJohn | Deleting old information is a horrible idea. The user very well might want to compare the old and new invoices. | |
| Jul 5, 2019 at 22:09 | comment | added | raumkrieger | Especially as this would be a change to the workflow and not a new process, I think this solution would only result in a lot more support calls wondering why the system isn't generating PDFs anymore. | |
| Jul 5, 2019 at 21:59 | comment | added | Karl-Johan Sjögren | This is really the best solution. Removing the old file as soon as it isn't valid any more stops users from getting an obsolete file and when they can't find it in the folder they'll hopefully remember that they need to generate it again. | |
| Jul 5, 2019 at 13:59 | history | answered | Benny Skogberg | CC BY-SA 4.0 |