I never said I didn't have a section that reads "if you get this far, and things are falling apart, DO NOTHING on the system and call me" :) I try to document the normal procedures. I try to document the most likely errors. There's no way I can think of, let alone document, every possible situation. But I can try to keep the phone calls to me to a minimum Oh yeah, if necessary, I include a "presumed level of knowledge" section as well. --- Jared Still <jkstill@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On Fri, 2004-08-13 at 18:32, Rachel Carmichael wrote: > > My rule for documenting procedures is that it has to be clear > enough > > for either my mother or father to be able to follow the > instructions > > WITHOUT my being there to guide them. > > > > Leads to some VERY detailed, very simplistic instructions but no > data > > center I have ever worked with has complained. > > > > > Sorry, I disagree. If they want instructions that are that > detailed, with what to do in each case where something > didn't work as expected for some unforeseen reason, they > can hire someone to read Robert Freeman's recovery book, > the concepts manuals, and generally do my job. > > What I meant by assumed knowledge, are such things as 'setup > connectivity to the Oracle RMAN repository, the auxiliary > database and the target database'. > > I always rebel at writing documentation that is that > detailed. By the time it includes everything you might > need to know, you've rewritten the manual. > > There were lots of detailed steps included for the > database cloning operation (cloned from tape, to > test the recovery of the database) as those are > some pretty non-standard steps. > > Jared > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. > -- > Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ > FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > ---------------------------------------------------------------- Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send email to: oracle-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put 'unsubscribe' in the subject line. -- Archives are at //www.freelists.org/archives/oracle-l/ FAQ is at //www.freelists.org/help/fom-serve/cache/1.html -----------------------------------------------------------------