Learn English – Appropriate word for non-regular procedure

adjectivessingle-word-requests

One can think of a routine or common procedure to be applied (here it is in case of technical sequence of operations) on any system.

When some exception occurs – the common/ normal routine is NOT followed by another one is followed. I want to use an appropriate word for this.

Few words i have thought of myself that doesn't quite fit.

  • alternate procedure sounds like a replacement so doesn't indicate that it should be used only for exception.

  • exceptional procedure is not appropriate because exceptional is quite often connotative to "great"

  • non-standard non-regular or irregular is not appropriate because this secondary method is also standardized for the given situation.

I want one appropriate word (as an adjective to the process) that indicates that it is not a "normal" procedure but to be used under some exception.

Best Answer

There's always the idiomatic expression "Plan B" or the "backup procedure"

Really, though, if it's extremely important to not use a generic descriptor like alternate, generic, custom, exceptional, etc., you might as well just say name the procedure in terms of what it does, for example, the "recovery procedure."

PS If you're talking about software one standard word for this is the "exception handler," because exception has a specific technical meaning. Also "error handler."

In that vein, you could also try the "exception handling procedure" or even "excursion handling procedure." "Excursion" has the technical meaning of "deviation from normal" in operations science.

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