Stupid coder tricks: Invoking apocalypse.

[EyeMWing]

The data entry component to my app. It now includes a lookup where it locates the data they just entered in a reference DB and allows them to spot-verify that they're making changes to the right person, since illegible handwriting and/or people not knowing their ID number often leads to data being entered for the wrong person.

Of course, I also (finally) implemented "undo" 😛

My coding style involves lots of error messages being coded for conditions that should never, ever, ever, EVER be true. Things like "If you are reading this message, the apocalypse is upon us. RUN!". It keeps me sane. I call them "easter eggs." You'd call them a waste of time and binary.

But anyway, I went ahead and installed the new JARs. Within about 15 seconds... "TONY, WHY IS THIS ERROR MESSAGE POPPING UP?" I walk over and it says on the screen...

If you are reading this message, the apocalypse is upon us. RUN!

Uh-oh. Fortunately, that message isn't as fatal as it sounds. The program still functions as it did pre-update in that condition. All you have to do is ignore it. So instead of resting on my laurels, I busted out the code and started trying to figure out why it worked on the devbox, and not on the deployed boxen. Turns out, I FORGOT TO INSTALL THE DAMNED REFERENCE DATABASE. That error is a "File not found" for a required file.

 

[emmpee]

very professional. maybe you should've used "file not found" instead?

 

[ISAslot]

hehe, I often write my messages as if the program thought it was human, ie

"I could not understand your sorry excuse for valid input"...

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: emmpee
very professional. maybe you should've used "file not found" instead?

It actually DOES print that, in the console 😛
My snide remark gets spit into the GUI. Point is, I'd mistakenly decided this was an unreachable error. Never tested it for that because of the ladies pressuring me to make their life easier ASAP (so the code is still rather dirty, and testing consisted of my typing in 3 lines, making sure it worked twice, and then installing it for them to give a trial-by-fire). They were THOROUGHLY impressed when, about 5 minutes after the error appeared, I dropped the neccessary data into their application folders over the network and it "magically started working". Yeah, I have ninja women-impressing skillz0rz.