[OT] - RE: [oclug]MS Access clone

[Shad Young]

On Tue, 2003-01-21 at 11:16, Strosberg, Bill wrote:

> 
> All:
> 
SNIP
> I was asked this week to develop an reporting interface to a complex grant
> review process web database that would summarize and generate results,
> including some sophisticated statistical calculations - that part was great
> - BUT - they wanted the output in MS Word format so they could send it as an
> email attachment to the reviewing audience and grant applicants.
> 
> I coughed and sputtered uncontrollably for a few seconds and then said "But
> but but .... the results generated from the PHP/SQL report query are already
> in HTML on the web server.  Can't people just browse to it, and look at
> current and accurate results to the second?" The users said this would be
> too tough on the reviewers, and that the users (after having filled out the
> web-based forms) would probably have an easier time with a Word format
> document attached to am email.  So, in this wonderful Microsoft-driven world
> I am generating the report as HTML and then importing the generated HTML to
> Word, writing it out to a .doc file and then attaching it to send via email
> to the same people that filled out the web forms on-line.  This sh*t from
> users just make NO sense!

Given what you just described I think your growing disgust with MS is
justified and your frustration about it seeming to be inescapable is
understandable.

I want to make it clear that I do support your statements in principal.

Shad

-- 
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"Fortune should have the arbitrant of one-half of our actions, but she
leaves the other half, or a little less, to be governed by ourselves." 
- Machiavelli
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