Tech Underground Diagnostic Code (TUDC) v1.0

The TUDC is intended to be used as a terse format for reporting scales and
causes of problems so that IT troubleshooters can talk amongst
themselves in a secret and cool code when discussing solutions or handing
clients off to backups, etc.  Much as truckers and CB enthusiasts and
police officers have their codes, so shall we.  Its format is simple:
                                                                                
        AB.CD
                                                                                
Each code is a two-digit number appended to another two-digit number by a
period.  The first number gives information about the current condition:
                                                                                
A: status
 0 unknown
 1 permanent failure
 2 temporary failure
 3 success

B: scale of condition
 0 unknown
 1 peripheral (anything less smart than a computer: keyboard, hub)
 2 individual computer (anything as smart as a computer: router)
 3 entire LAN (from here to the connection to the IP provider)
 4 entire WAN (from here through and including the IP provider)
 5 entire Internet (global network)
 6 entire interplanetary super-network
                                                                                
So if my scanner isn't working, I have a 21.  If it's been smashed with a
hammer several times, it's an 11.  When the consultant comes and fixes it,
it becomes a 31.  If my whole office has lost internet connectivity, we
have a 23.  If I'm debugging the Mars Rover over TCP/IP and my connection
drops, we have a 26.

So now we know roughly what the category of the problem is.  But we don't
know what the cause is - the internet could be down because all the NICs
are broken, or because all the computers are off, or because all the
cables were unplugged, or because one important cable was unplugged, or
because SBC is down, or because an email virus is crippling the 'net.  So
we need a number that describes the root cause of the problem.  That's CD:
                                                                                
C: root cause category
 0 unknown
 1 hardware
 2 software
 3 wetware
                                                                                
D: scale of root cause
 0 unknown
 1 peripheral (anything less smart than a computer: keyboard, hub)
 2 individual computer (anything as smart as a computer: router)
 3 entire LAN (from here to the connection to the IP provider)
 4 entire WAN (from here through and including the IP provider)
 5 entire Internet (global network)
 6 entire interplanetary super-network

Again the scale is expressed in an ever-broadening holarchy.  If the
office Internet is down because the router broke, it's a 23.12.  If the
internet is down because of a huge Internet-wide worm, we have a 23.25.
If it's because somebody unplugged the hub, we have a 23.31.
                                                                                
                                                                                
Objections anticipated:
                                                                                
--Wetware problems are always also either hardware or software, dude!
                                                                                
.30s (wetware problems - caused by somebody doing something stupid) always
take the form of either hardware or software problems too, so how do we
know how to code them?  We code according to the suspected resolution.  So
if we think the way to fix the root problem is through education, wetware
is to blame.  If a software solution fixes the problem, it's a .20.  If
hardware must be repaired or replaced, the problem is a .10.

--This code is not specific enough.
                                                                                
Correct - it's very general.  Luckily, it's crazily extensible.  Just add
a digit or two either after AB or after CD (depending on what you're
describing) and we could have specific sub-codes for each type of
condition and root cause.  Go crazy.  Make it your own.