CodeStore.net comments on "Tip: Confirm All Destructive or Irreversible Actions"

Reply from Alastair

Alastair — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 08:57:09 -0600

I prefer the lesson learnt approach... :)

"We deleted all the documents, is that what you wanted?" [Yes / No].

User selects:

Yes - then delete the docs

No - pop up dialog.. "Luckily for you, we can save your bacon. Don't worry pop around to [enter developer name] with an undo fee of [enter suitable amount] and we will make sure you don't get fired (this time)."

Reply from Emilio

Emilio — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:20:38 -0600

Sometimes the users can not have the right to delete documents , so I several times develop an agent with this:

Field form:= form + " Deleted"

It removes the document from the views without deletion.

Simple and you easily can restore it.

Reply from Jerry Carter

Jerry Carter — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 07:53:47 -0600

Brilliant. I'll have to use that.

Reply from Fredrik Malmborg

Fredrik Malmborg — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 06:26:50 -0600

So to sum this up, put up an evil confirmation box that says.

"Database is now empty, you deleted everything !"

With buttons "Undo" and "Leave empty"

Where "Undo" is a cancel and "Leave empty" is an OK. Because you did not run the deletions yet you just wanted some attention.

Reply from Tom Weeghmans

Tom Weeghmans — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 01:55:31 -0600

I agree that it's good practice to add a prompt in such an agent. But additionaly I prefer to only allow someone with a [Super] role to access/run this type of agent.

Reply from Jorge Coelho

Jorge Coelho — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 19:35:52 -0600

I've actually seen this type of feature employed on a financial site I use here in the US call Mint.com. Any time I've tried to delete an account I manually have to type 'DELETE' and click OK in order to proceed. It's not so much a CAPTCHA as it is an acknowledgement that the person has actually read the message. I agree that this method provides all the fair warning needed. If they still manage to perform some irreversible action after having to type in a specific phrase then they deserve what is coming. Logging their name into the Notes Agent Log tagging them as the offender would be a good option at that point :)

Reply from Andrew Magerman

Andrew Magerman — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:47:29 -0600

Once upon a time, I created an agent of DESTRUCTION. It got me into such deep doo-doo that I vowed always, always to make agents have reversible effects.

i.e. no more deletions, only soft deletions.

i.e. change a field? Note the value of the oldfield into a backupfield whose item name includes a primitive timestamp.

If I really need to do a quick and dirty one, then I set up the visibility of the agent to just myself, or a group to which I am sure not even power-users will belong to.

Reply from Vladimir Kocjancic

Vladimir Kocjancic — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:57:18 -0600

Surely a message stating: "All your base are belong to us!" should be plenty :D.

Reply from Roman Kopac

Roman Kopac — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:42:37 -0600

Captchas tell humans and computers apart not idiots and those who read. ;-)

Reply from Jerry Carter

Jerry Carter — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:15:30 -0600

See - there WAS a reason to create the BLINK tag and shame on Iris for omitting it from Lotus Notes dialog boxes.

Reply from Jerry Carter

Jerry Carter — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 10:14:18 -0600

I like to use a prompt box that, in order to confirm the act of destruction, requires the user to type in the MD5 hash of their first dogs name. If they never had a dog, they can use the base64 encoding of their own name. But they must enter it in binary.

Reply from Thimo Jansen

Thimo Jansen — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 06:19:28 -0600

Where possible I prefer an undo option and skip the modal confirmation.

Here the inline notification that an action was performed provides an option to undo that action. This saved the user who knows what he/she is doing from having to click the confirmation, while still being save to use.

Reply from Jake Howlett

Jake Howlett — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 06:12:20 -0600

You could always make them have to enter some kind of captcha. In extreme cases (such as the above, which would delete all documents) we could use an InputBox with a prompt like "This will delete all documents, please type 'go ahead' in this space in order to continue". if they press ok it goes in to a loop until the captcha is passed. if they press cancel if exits.

Reply from Mike

Mike — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 05:51:05 -0600

All based on the assumption that users read message boxes!

So many times I've had users complain in this sort of situation and when I asked if they were prompted before it continued, they always say "Yeah..something popped up. I always click Yes without reading"

They quickly see the sight of me grinning in a "I'm covered should this go to court" style :-)

Reply from Jake Howlett

Jake Howlett — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 05:45:54 -0600

Doh. Worked better when typing in the monospace font this textarea uses.

Reply from Jake Howlett

Jake Howlett — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 05:45:08 -0600

How about this:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!! This will delete all documents !!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply from Dragon Cotterill

Dragon Cotterill — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 05:41:38 -0600

Add a few more exclamation points in there just to be sure. You can !never have enough of them.