I hope the subject makes sense and sparks interest. It's literally the way my boss expressed the project, and I think the parallels are relevant.

For those of you wondering what the heck a bathroom checklist is, in many restaurants, there is a whiteboard on the back of the door to the bathroom with a list of times. The idea is that the bathroom should be checked for cleanliness at certain intervals (usually each hour) and the empoloyee responsible writes his initials next to the time at which he cleaned/checked the bathroom. This creates personal accountability, which is exactly what we want.

The purpose of this program is to aid users in checking that they indeed have access to various sources of data, which are sparsely used yet came in handy in critical situations.

We want the people in our group (8 people) to check that they a) still have the credentials to access the information to which they're expected to have access b) still know how to get to it (practice).

The idea is a public web page, editable by the users themselves, which lists for each user the data sources, and the date they last checked when they attempted to access it. Making the information public will presumably be increased incentive.

I've thought it over a bit, and discussed it in the Chatterbox last night. So far my ideas are as follows:

One feature would be that in the event of a report of a failed test, I am immediately notified via email. Perhaps my boss would want to be, too, though probably not.

Another feature, and a good reason to use Perl rather than a simple Wiki page, would be that the program would generate timestamps rather than having the user have to enter the date on which the data access was last checked. This will work on the assumption that the data access was checked immediately before clicking the appropriate button. Do you think this could be problematic?

One issue I need to look into is how easy it would be to detect who is visiting the page, and thus automatically cater to that particular user, rather than letting any user edit any other user's settings/test results. This is not a trust issue, as we all trust each other, but more of a convenience and error-avoidance measure.

A great option would be to have a program automatically remind each user via email to check their data access. I think an interval of about 4 weeks would be appropriate. Not sure if I want to make the interval configurable. Simple on/off switch for now is best, I think. Reactions? That feature would require a separate script to run in cron once a day and check to see who needed a reminder, and email as appropriate--adds complexity.

Finally, perhaps the user test result reporting page and the user options page could be combined into one to simplify the system.

TIA for your thoughts and responses! I know I am not the best at explaining things, and the concept may seem strange to some (if experience in the CB last night are any indication) so feel free to ask questions.


In reply to A web-based checklist in the manner of the checklists in the bathrooms of fast-food restaurants by OfficeLinebacker

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