Fix My Triple-Post!

January 10, 2002 11:46 AM

Erk. How do I undo a mistake? I think I just posted a comment three times. It's not showing up on the thread, but when I click to "comments made by this user," in my profile, it does show up. Can I erase it, somehow?
posted by Badmichelle to bugs at 11:46 AM (9 comments total)

Well, the comment does show up three times on the thread. Unfortunately, there is no way of un-posting. Did you get an error the first time you posted, and then tried to refresh the page?
posted by Avogadro at 11:50 AM on January 10, 2002

A UNIQUE requirement on the comment field of the table would fix the double(or more) post problem, no? Or is that expensive? Any DBAs in the audience that can speak to performance and the unique constraint?

(what database does metafilter use, anyway? mysql?)
posted by malphigian at 11:55 AM on January 10, 2002

My comments don't show up at all when I look at the page (and I just went back and looked. I even hit refresh. The last comment I can see is from Jennak). I can see the comments in here just fine. Maybe I'll try re-booting my computer. Though if that means I'll actually be able to see my triple post ... maybe I won't. this is kind of embarassing.
posted by Badmichelle at 11:56 AM on January 10, 2002

(what database does metafilter use, anyway? mysql?)

I think that the answer is "yes", but you can read more about it in this thread. (I am not so much so good about anything beyond what I can see directly in front of me.)



Though if that means I'll actually be able to see my triple post ... maybe I won't. this is kind of embarassing.

Don't worry about it, badmichelle; double-posts (and the occasionally triple-post) occur more often than you would think. Just be careful with that posting finger. :-)
posted by Avogadro at 12:08 PM on January 10, 2002

*Bad Michelle! Bad, bad, bad Michelle!*
posted by ColdChef at 12:10 PM on January 10, 2002

She's just drawn that way.
posted by Kafkaesque at 12:25 PM on January 10, 2002

Metafilter runs on some version of MS-SQL Server (acording to lore, with Matt's resume to remind me). I think Matt suggested mySQL for an open source version because, well, it's free.


You can't create a Unique index on a text field.


Michelle, next time you're looking for your post on a thread, try holding down shift when you click reload.
posted by alan at 12:27 PM on January 10, 2002

You can't create a Unique index on a text field.

Yes, but it wouldn't be difficult to implement a function that checks whether or not the user submitting a comment had submitted the exact same comment within the last minute or so.

It would only be a few lines of code, and would remedy a lot of headaches.
posted by dcgartn at 1:21 PM on January 10, 2002

alan: try holding down shift when you click reload.

Or the CTRL key, if you use IE. I remember being stymied by this when parked in front of that browser: "Why doesn't this blasted thing Super-Reload when I tell it to? Argh!"

dcgartn: it wouldn't be difficult to implement a function that...

Cheaper and easier (working from the assumption that Cold Fusion isn't as braindamaged as the only time I looked at it years and years ago; I don't actually know the system at all): on posting, compare the text or an MD5 hash of the text of the user's last post to that submitted. Complain if equal. Its cost is one extra query per post and the cycles to hash/string compare, but doesn't require a bunch of painful "last minute or so" caching.

posted by majick at 6:42 PM on January 10, 2002