Consistency check
Humanity instinctively seeks consistency in life. Consistency of health, consistency of financial status, and consistency of emotions are some of the most influential ones to describe people’s current life status. On the goal of defining problems to solve, consistency, also on findings, is needed to build solution mechanisms.
Creating data was limited to basic tools and human hand skills for hundreds of thousands of years. First data were in wall of the caves where people were living and feeling secure enough about their life to do other things than basic human needs.
You wouldn’t expect a sentry soldier to write a poem.
People were carving stones by consuming much energy, materials, and time for creating basic data. A simple description of a deer was taking hours to just prove its existence in the area by carving. Data was simple enough without mentioning any event, time, or result. These carvings had to be well planned, before they started carving because of limited resources to harmony carved patterns.
The first numeric data of evidence was found in Democratic Republic of Congo in 1950. Ishango bone, is a bone tool and possible first ever mathematical device in humankind that dates to 18,000 BCE. Bone has tally marks carved in three columns the number of marks linked to odd numbers, prime numbers, and random numbers.
Pictographic proto-writing had been using to create data before Sumerian invented cuneiform writing system in 3200 BCE. Using cuneiform instead proto-writing to carve symbols on materials to create data significantly decreased the spent effort, but it was still taking a long time. Bamboo, birch bark, bones, shell, clay tablets, ostraca, palm leaves, papyrus, parchment, silk and wax tablets were used to carve data.
The printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg around 1140, a goldsmith by profession. His newly devised hand mold made possible for the first time the precise and rapid creation of metal movable type in large quantities. His work on the printing press began in approximately 1436 when he partnered with Andreas Dritzehn -a man he had previously instructed in gem cutting- and Andreas Heilmann, owner of a papermill. Because the printing process ensured that the same information fell on the same pages, page numbering, tables of contents, and indices became common. This allowed the exact citing of references, producing the rule, “one author, one work (title), one piece of information.”
There are patterns in the life. Pattern recognition is a useful skill to observe surroundings for needs. Visual comparison skill may have started be using with choosing natural creatures such as tree to chop down or animal to hunt. After enough experience, people were able to compare some kinds with help of remembering previously seen ones. One of the options for comparison is compare it with same kind; other one is compare it with different kind with comparison ability. Possibly the best option for visually comparison is seeing two of the same thing at the same time.
Data need to be checked before storing, during, keeping, and after using.
Consistency check is a tool to ensure data were fit to prebuilt business and data patterns. Data flow can be checked by business flow with help of timing. Detecting possible unexpected data flow need prebuilt well planning. For example, on a database, evidence of a user logging out, without logging in is a possible way to understand that logging in mechanism has an error on its storing data transaction or data flow mechanism. Evidence of missing logging in data can also indicate that a user has found a way to overpass logging in mechanism.
Using time on consistency check is very helpful. If system working with minimum two seconds of each logging in and logging out process and during checking, comparing substance of logging in logging out duration time could raise an alarm for that user data. Time can also be used together with other data; for example: if location data are available, comparing locations with possible minimum moving time can detect user’s identity is suspicious.
Control mechanism on consistency check shouldn’t be written with naturally expected flow. For example, a user temporarily holds an identity token that is being used to authorize a user to continue a process. During logging out, the identity token should also be checked even if the system allows the user to continue on their log-out process without a valid identity token. Unexpected failed results of processes need to be saved to investigate later.
Creating a visual timeline of events can be helpful to monitor data. Timeline can be designed with help of colors, graphical designs, and other visual assistants. Operators may find out absence of expected data easily with help of prebuilt expected data flow. Monitoring data systems can also be created with audio and vibration alerts.
1, 1,1, 1, 1, 2, 1.
Raw data may not look meaningful in some cases to the majority. On this data flow on above, number two can be easily detected in less than a second among numbers of ones. Expecting limited numbers of problems on incidents is a huge mistake. On same data flow on above, there is also absence of space between second and third number ones too. While event flows around people were naturally limited because of their ideal limits, people should be aware of these habitual limitations that lead to their decisions.
Six cox wax fox, while fix their tax had sex in the lax hex axe box.
Find disruption here on this data pattern: 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,I,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1.1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,X,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,11,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1.1,1,1,,1,1,1,1,1, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1⹁
An X which visually looks different than number one can easily be detected and problems can be marked as solved quickly. But on the same data pattern, there are more disruptions: additional space, I character instead of number of one, two dots instead of comma, and one reversed comma.
Seeing huge amounts of data without getting help from monitoring and administrative tools with predefined rules can sometimes mislead operators. Humans are emotional while computers don’t have moods. Daily mood of people may reduce their reflex, which may increase time to detect problems or lead to make bigger mistake on planned system without planning about movement well.
Keeping used scripts and reusing them is a common way in the software industry. Some scripts are not being updated and they become obsolete by time. Old rules in obsolete scripts may damage systems or data. Therefor sometimes rewriting scripts from scratch to compare them with existing ones can be best approach to ensure if script was well designed.
Just like pulling a hand from a hot oven quickly without thinking about hitting the elbow, people become more prone to making more mistakes while they are working under stress, not well rested, and feeling not well mentally. Therefor, there should always be a consistency check mechanism that protects the system with its data from quick but fatal error solutions.
References:
[1]: https://slack.engineering/data-consistency-checks/
[2]: https://www.msingiafrikamagazine.com/2021/03/the-ishango-bone/
[3]: https://www.laserfiche.com/ecmblog/10-ways-people-kept-records-before-paper/
[4]: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/31/world/uranus-neptune-colors-scn/index.html
[5]: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1632/the-printing-revolution-in-renaissance-europe/
[6]: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-herkimer-westerncivilization/chapter/the-printing-revolution/
Further Reading:
[1]: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/odm/8.10?topic=analysis-consistency-checking
