Posting Guidelines - Please Read (especially for T24 questions)
Jim Idle
Once in a while, I get on my high horse and post a long email about posting to the list, which everyone immediately ignores. I always write a new email because otherwise old hands (as in people who have read one post, but obviously not all the way to the end) will see the "Posting Guidelines" and ignore them, because they already know right? It has been a while since I last did that, and we now have the very interesting member count of 1234 so now seems an auspicious time to
The first thing to mention is that the group has become a mix of people working with jBASE because they work at a bank using T24, and those that are using jBASE because I (or someone like me, no wait... someone working at jBASE), talked them in to it. All users of jBASE in whatever capacity are welcome here, but if you want to post a question that is SPECIFICALLY about T24, such as "How do I print a contract ID", then please note the banner at the bottom of every post:
+==============================================================+
| IMPORTANT: Type [T24] at the start of the subject line for |
| questions specific to Globus/T24 |
+==============================================================+
There seems to be some confusion over this, and of course if you joined the list then made your first post 10 minutes later, you might miss it. So, what this means is that if your question is something like "When I press menu entry 7, it deletes all my FOREX transactions." then you have a question about T24 itself and should start the subject of your post with [T24]. This allows the jBASE users that are not interested in T24 menus to ignore the post. Perhaps some people are too scared to want to know what kind of things are going on with their money inside banks, or perhaps they have other things to do. So, PLEASE take note of the banner and if in doubt, just put [T24] at the start of the subject. If you forget the [ and ] then nobody will complain, but try to remember because it allows people to set up email filters easily. Other than this, ask any question you like.
When you post a question, remember that the readers don't know that you are running jBASE 8.3 beta on a Google application server on your Mother's telephone and all passwords are set to 42. Hence you will be able to receive better guidance if you supply some information about the hardware, software and bugware you are experiencing problems with. jBASE comes with a nice utility that tells you (well, tells people that know what the output means) lots of interesting things about the software. This program does not give out any information that people could feasibly use to hack your system. If you run the program 'jdiag' at a command shell, it will print out a set of information that you can copy and paste at the end of your post. Also, mention your hardware and so on if it seems at all relevant to your question; it won't harm to mention it even if it doesn't seem relevant. Of course, by mention, I don't mean "Our hardware came in a very attractive blue box and the power supply is much quieter than our old one, Jen in accounting says it will look very nice with a geranium or two on top."
Help yourself by trying to describe your problem in as much detail as you can. You don't need to be an expert, that's why your posting here right? But, don't say "I pressed menu option 4 and it didn't work." try something more like "I took menu option 3 on our main menu and a black button on the keyboard lit up black on a black background and said 'Don't press that menu option again - Segmentation Violation - core dumped'"
Be respectful (sometimes even to me), and don't make your posts sound like you are Mr. Angry of Bolton, or that your problem is making you so mad that you might kill your mother. You can of course say things like "Please help me Obewan, you're my only hope," or sign off with Om Shanti Om and start a huge dance routine. A fairly detailed post with a clear question will usually be answered. Angry posts will probably be answered too, but perhaps not in the way you wished for. Complaints are fine, but try to complain respectfully and apologize after you have punched someone in the mouth. The only exception to these rules is if in fact you ARE Mr. Angry of Bolton or you have been reincarnated recently.
Don't email people off list unless invited to or you know them and feel that they don't hate you too much or have 6 fingers on your right hand and are offering them money. The list is the place to ask for help and if people have time they will try to help.
Please don't use the list to blatantly plug you own products. If you reply to a post, make sure that you are giving them some advice that is relevant. There are no rules about mentioning products other than you can't just reply with 20 paragraphs about the feature set of your product. If you really think that your product will help, then say so in a few lines and invite a personal communication. Also, if you are going to offer you paid for product as a solution, then make sure it is a technically sound answer, as some people on the list, and I am not saying who but they are very handsome and very clever and usually called Jim, will probably take you to task about it publically. Other than this, feel free to announce your (jBASE related) products on this list, but please put something in subject line that indicates your post is about a commercial product, such as [COMMERCIAL] or [HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE].
Job offers, Job advertisements. Given a few recent posts, it does seem reasonable, as others have suggested, that people making offers of jobs and opportunities should identify themselves rather than just try to harvest CVs/Resumes. So, please do so if advertising jobs or opportunities or we will just have to remove you from the list as a worthless individual who does not ware clean underwear and <spit> in your general direction.
Language barriers etc. Do your best to try and post in good English but don't be afraid to post because you don't think your English is good enough as usually someone will work out what you mean. Of course, I am talking to the Americans here. Similarly I must ask the Indian's on the list to go easy on the Americans as English isn't their first language. In other words, try to be a little bit culturally sensitive and make allowances for languages and ways of expression. Other than that the only rules are that Australians and quassi-aussies must turn towards London and salute the Queen before posting or the filters will catch it. [Apologies to all nations and cultures that I forgot to insult in this paragraph].
Finally, don't post jokes about me unless you actually have any talent for making jokes and are not called Dan... oh, and April 1 posts are reserved for me.
Disclaimer: Any resemblance to actual individuals is probably entirely intended, so don't send me personal complaints.
And now the main salient points of this post again for emphasis. This time in Serbian Latin of course:
Ponekad , JA napredovati moj visok konj pa fast jedan dug e-mail okolo postavljanje za određeni član foil. važan Tip [T24] na početku nad određeni član subjekt lan umjesto sumnja specifičan za Okrugao /T24
Jim.