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I'm still trying to find the proper etiquette around SO and would like to know what the appropriate course of action is when a given answer falls short of perfection, e.g. in this question.

The first answer was lacking proper object identification and didn't work for asker. Should I have created another answer, that would just add a few characters to the previous one, or should I edit another user's answer to include the changes (which are not just formatting or grammar).

In this case, the edit was from:

xlWBk.Sheets(1).Range("A6").EntireRow.Copy .Range("A7")

to

xlWBk.Sheets(1).Range("A6").EntireRow.Copy xlWBk.Sheets(1).Range("A7")

I know I'll encounter that case time and time again and would like more guidance.

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  • 2
    Downvote it and leave a comment to that answer about the errors.
    – juergen d
    Oct 11, 2012 at 18:40
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    @juergend - Why? When you can fix it with a small edit?
    – Oded
    Oct 11, 2012 at 18:43
  • @oded: I would not edit another users code segment for my part (except obvious misspelling or similar)
    – juergen d
    Oct 11, 2012 at 18:46
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    @juergend - That's your prerogative. Personally, when someone corrects one of my answers when I made a coding error, I am happy it happened.
    – Oded
    Oct 11, 2012 at 18:47

3 Answers 3

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I approach it at four levels.

level 1: Minor edit. typo or minor mistake in the answer

  • Do the edit and/or leave a comment.

level 2: I agree with the answer, but there is something wrong with the code.

  • Comment, don't edit. Let the original answerer and Op see the comment to decide if they agree.

level 3: Could be a right answer but I have a better one

  • Post a new answer.

level 4: This isn't a good answer at all.

  • Downvote and post a new answer if I can.
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Be wary of changing other people's code. They may have done something the way they did intentially, and you might unintentionally be introducing breaking changes. If you're fairly confident that you're right and it's a minor edit, go ahead, but if the answerer changes it back, don't push the issue into an edit war.

If their code is incorrect, leave a comment explaining why. If they don't address it, you should leave a downvote to prevent incorrect answers from getting attention.

If you have a better solution of your own, you can post your own answer.

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  • Before you have the permission to instantly edit, the poster of the answer has to approve it. That way he'll have a look at it. Not sure if that can still be enabled after you to get that Edit Questions And Answers privilege though.
    – luckydonald
    Aug 6, 2018 at 12:43
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In this case, it looks like an obvious omission and a minor edit.

So, for something that is a minor edit - make the edit and move on.

If an answer is much more deficient than this, or you believe you can give a much better answer, post your own answer.

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  • I agree with trying to edit, but if he doesn't have the privilege, there is like 80% of chance of getting rejected (unless the OP sees it first), so leaving a comment is advisable too
    – ajax333221
    Oct 12, 2012 at 3:28

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