Joerg (Jogi) Sievers Weblog

A specification template preassigned on improving quality

On OpenOffice.org the quality of created specifications (...) revealed between 5 and 60 defects per page (1 page = 300 words) [1]. Too much variation and I am a member of a team which has analyzed the root causes. The first ouput is a suggestion for a new specification template which makes it much easier to write and to test specifications.

As a tester (and also as the writer of a specification for OpenOffice.org) you find all relevant documentation you need in it. Also the UI elements can be tested now easily because the specification writer needs two clicks to add an UI element and all necessary properties will be added to the specification. The specification writer and the tester won't forget a property in future.

With the ruleset to be complete, clear and simple it should be now much better to get a consistent quality of specifications to optimze the engineering work on features for OpenOffice.org.

[1] http://specs.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=dev&msgNo=17

Gesendet von jogi ( Jan 06 2006, 09:50:00 AM MET ) Permalink Kommentare [1]

2006: No more documents with a proprietary file format!
I received many files at the end of this year:

• An address list about the involved companies which are building our new house in .doc-format.
• Again an address list from a citizen's initiative to get a better local train to Ahrensburg also in .doc-format.
• A Christmas joke presentation how to put a beer crate as an advent calendar to the wall... as .ppt-format

I gave none of the senders the information that I am owner of an office suite which is able to read the proprietary file format.
I was lucky: OpenOffice.org 2.0 was able to load the files. I wrote the senders that it makes much more sense to use a format which nearly all can read on their machines (OASIS OpenOffice.org XML or PDF) without buying an expensive office suite. There is hope to get next year less proprietary file format documents... Gesendet von jogi ( Dez 30 2005, 04:25:00 PM MET ) Permalink Kommentare [1]

No solution from Apple - first time since 13. Dec. 2003

I own Apple computers at home since the 13. December 2003 - an iMac G4 including Apple Care Protection Plan was my first. I have switched from OS/2 to Mac OS X at home to have a UNIX® based system (secure and stable) and a great Graphical User Interface (GUI) like the Mac OS has it all the time.

Today first time the Apple Care hotline said "archive and install" as a solution because they see no chance to find the reason why I have a ghost user on my system. See at the screenshot

where you can see on the right a user name portage which isn't available at the left (preferences and file system).

Okay, after updating from pre-installed Jaguar to Panther to Tiger release of Mac OS X and from an iMac G4 to an iMac G5 (I have cloned the operating system via FireWire cable), now I have to spend some time to re-install the whole system.
For me who works with Solaris™ operating system every day it is nothing special to have a solid and secure system. However, the most users on this planet do not own a Sun workstation or an Apple computer. This majority of users re-install their system more often and have more experience in it.

Gesendet von jogi ( Nov 12 2005, 03:00:00 PM MET ) Permalink Kommentare [3]

Giants of the sky and oceans: A 380 and QM2 in Hamburg

Today two giants arrived at Hamburg, the home town of StarOffice™:

• The Airbus A 380 - the world biggest zivil aircraft

  

  Congratulations to Airbus for creating such a great aircraft and welcome A 380 (MSN 002) to Hamburg!

• The Queen Mary 2 of the Cunard Line - the world biggest passanger ship.

Gesendet von jogi ( Nov 08 2005, 10:15:00 PM MET ) Permalink

A Testing Glossary

As a software tester often you do not find the correct words to argue your decisions. I use a German and English glossary in the public net which is based on that what international qualification scheme ISTQB® Certified Tester (International Software Testing Qualification Board) also uses.

Gesendet von jogi ( Nov 08 2005, 08:15:00 PM MET ) Permalink

Using WebDAV or .mac with StarOffice/OpenOffice.org

Did you know that it's easy to read or write something on your .mac or any other WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning) account without using Apple's iDisk Utility - yes, without using a Mac OS or Windows (only for these platforms you can get the iDisk utility)?

Using StarOffice 7 or 8 or OpenOffice.org 1.1.x or 2.0 is available for Solaris™ (SPARC and x86), Linux, FreeBSD, ... and many others... and just using File - Open and typing

http://idisk.mac.com/{member name}/Public

will open the (unprotected) public folder of the .mac account. Under Windows you have to switch from the Windows system dialog to the internal dialog (Tools - Options - StarOffice / OpenOffice.org - Common) in StarOffice/OpenOffice.org.

Isn't it great? It is: Put your presentation - like I did - on your WebDAV account, travel to a conference and load the presentation from the WebDAV server directly into StarOffice/OpenOffice.org - available for many platforms, not just Mac OS and Windows... Gesendet von jogi ( Nov 05 2005, 09:00:00 PM MET ) Permalink Kommentare [1]

Low Bandwidth Sun Ray makes employees happy
Like Paul Shore I also own a Sun Ray @ Home package since ten months and I love that solution from the first day on.
Now a colleague has tested the solution via an ISDN connection instead of using DSL or cable (also known as broadband). The reason: No DSL available so far away from bigger villages in Germany...
Here some of his experiences...

1. Installation

   It was very easy to setup all needed components.

   • Connecting the VPN-router with 10/100 MBit switch
   • Connecting the Sun Ray with the VPN-router (Virtual Private Network)
   • Connecting power, keyboard, mouse, monitor
   • Open the Internet connection on my ISDN-router

2. Connection

   After 20 sec. the login screen appeared ... further 30 seconds later the GNOME desktop was usable. There was no need to:

   • change any router parameters
   • nor to install any software
   • or to change the firewall settings of my ISDN-router
   The only problem here: I've used not the original Sun Ray keyboard and so the key-mapping was wrong. But that can be configured of course.

3. Performance

   I've used both ISDN lines with a theoretical bandwith of 128 kBit/sec for both directions (upload/download). Some tests on another operating system showed me that I should be able to use around 110 kBit/sec in practice.
   I was surprised about the high performance of this connection.
   The resolution was set to 1280x1024x24Bit.

Sun Ray - the easy to use solution which makes employees happy - in the office and at home

Gesendet von jogi ( Nov 03 2005, 06:00:00 PM MET ) Permalink

"Open Office 2.0: Das beste Office der Welt" [PC Welt 12/05]
The German computer magazin PC WELT titled in it's recent issue (12/2005) on page 48 that OpenOffice.org 2.0 is the world best office.
A big compliment to the OpenOffice.org community! Indeed, it is but we need more titles like that
Gesendet von jogi ( Nov 03 2005, 08:30:00 AM MET ) Permalink

Enabling SMB volumes for OpenOffice.org 2.0 on the Mac
To enable SMB support for OpenOffice.org 2.0 on Mac OS X edit the file:

/Applications/OpenOffice.org 2.0.app/Contents/openoffice.org/program/soffice

and put a # in front of the two lines

SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING=1
export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING

to get

# SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING=1
# export SAL_ENABLE_FILE_LOCKING

Maybe it has other effects but if you need to use SMB volumes it's one workaround.
Gesendet von jogi ( Nov 03 2005, 07:00:00 AM MET ) Permalink

OASIS OpenDocument Format Arrived Also The MAC

After the release of StarOffice™ 8 and OpenOffice.org 2.0 (OOo) the notice that also a Mac OS X-Version has been released seems to be ignored by most news sources I have read or it was to small for my eyes

The OASIS OpenDocument Format is also read- and writable for Mac OS X users now with AbiWord and OpenOffice.org 2.0. OOo 2.0 comes as a well known .dmg (Disk Image) including

• One-Click installation
• with Fondu (a mac FOND reader on Unix) support
• including fixed problems with the web- and report wizards
• and system language detection (if more languagepacks will be available in one package)

Months before the release of OOo 2.0 Mac users have read that the Mac OS X port will be ready later as the rest of the supported platforms... great work by the Mac OS X porting team! Many thanks!

How to get it:

1. Select a mirror on http://distribution.openoffice.org/mirrors/
2. go into the directory http:///openoffice/contrib/rc/2.0.0rc3/
3. Download the English, French or German .dmg at the end of the list

Have fun!

Gesendet von jogi ( Nov 02 2005, 09:30:00 PM MET ) Permalink