[Sigia-l] Registration form field character limits

[Billie Mandel]

Jonathan Baker-Bates:

> Why these limits can't simply be system maximums based on technical
parameters
> (and therefore hopefully very large), I know not.

They can.  But someone (i.e. you) has to actually make the decision to
set these default values, before this can become the default within
*your* development process.  

The developer, when creating a database, has to assign a type to each
field (i.e. this is an N-character numerical field, this is an open text
field with no limit, etc). If you don't tell the developers explicitly
what type to set a certain field (either in your functional/wireframes
or in your development standards), they have to guess.  So they're not
necessarily telling you that "you must set a limit," but that "you must
tell me what this field type is."

That whole problem -- where "documentation is vague, so developer has to
guess what the implementation consequences are for a particular feature,
and s/he might guess wrong" -- is why folks like us have jobs.  Let's do
those jobs well, shall we? 

Happy Friday,

- Billie