everything's not lost.

not a case from myself but what a co-worker just forwarded me.
situation: XML file can’t be viewed by an external company.

*slightly pissed programmer* “the file can’t be displayed!!!111″
*slightly amused supporter* “how do you view xml files usually?”
“with a doubleclick”

thanks. made my day.

a few days ago i got the request to export specified data for a customer. only the data has been specified, not the format itself. so i offer a excel or a xml file. i usually do excel, because it’s easier for me to export (plain copy & paste from the query analyzer). this time, the company that will get the data from the customer requested a xml file, because “they don’t accept excel”. works for me.

soon after they got the data, the customer called me and asked, if i can change the sort order of the data.

“can’t they do it on their own?”
“nope…”
“you know, that wouldn’t be a problem in excel”
“i know…”
“and they told you to request a xml file from me”
“i know…”
“and they can’t handle a xml file?”
“nope…”

works for me. but keeps me wondering.