Sample configuration files (WAS Re: Docusign )

Cantor, Scott cantor.2 at osu.edu
Tue Aug 9 15:23:09 EDT 2016


> I would suggest full files so that we don't have to try and figure out "which file
> does this really go in?" and "Where the heck do I put this data into the
> file?"  Not all of us can instantly recognize by context which file the
> documentors are talking about.

That's what captions on examples are for. Full files are not a workable strategy for providing targeted examples of most features. There's too much noise, and it's difficult to cull the parts that are specific to a goal from the rest. You would have a broken system if you tried to use them, or be blind from staring at diffs.

Most technical requirements for vendor integration don't involve touching a dozen files and can be captured in very concise examples *once the requirement is articulated*.

People seem to want to skip that step, but you can't skip it. And it's *not* the same set of requirements for every IdP. For the vendors that have a very defined interface, it may be much more aligned, but that's the exception, not the rule.

> Right now anthing is better than what we have now, which is nothing.  Why
> should we all be duplicating each other's pain and suffering trying to beat our
> config files into submission?

I don't think the hours that have been spent to date, imperfect though the work may be, constitute nothing.

-- Scott



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