On Thu, Dec 19, 2002 at 11:54:07AM +0100, Jean-Marc Lasgouttes wrote:
> John> This is where I give the URLs to all the guidelines again huh ?
>
> OK, first a note: these are guidelines for a good gnome or mac os
> interface. This means that they will be relevant when we do have a
> gnome or mac os port.
Uh, you asked for guidelines. We don't have any "LyX guidelines". What
guidelines did you expect me to point to ? The ones in my head ?
There are good reasons everybody copies the Mac UI guidelines (and then
fritz with it ...)
> Label the menu item with a trailing ellipsis ("...") only if the
> command requires further input from the user before it can be
> performed. Do not add an ellipsis to items that only present a
> confirmation dialog (such as Delete), or that do not require further
> input (such as Properties, Preferences or About).
>
> Note that our "about lyx..." has an ellipsis :)
Well observed - a bug.
> I can understand that about does not need ..., since one does not need
> further action to see the information. But for a preference panel,
> except if one is supposed to only want to _look_ at the information
> and not change it, I do not see why the ellipsis would be useless.
The ellipsis is all about surprise: if you see one, it means that
further interaction is required *when you would not expect it*. Who in
the world would not expect some sort of dialog when selecting
Tools->Preferences ?
> John>
>http://developer.apple.com/techpubs/mac/HIGuidelines/HIGuidelines-84.html#MARKER-2-83
>
> This one says:
>
> The ellipsis character doesn't simply mean that a dialog box or
> window will appear. For example in the Finder File menu, the Get
> Info command doesn't have an ellipsis character and shouldn't. When
> you select a Finder object and choose Get Info, a window appears
> displaying information about the object. The window appearing simply
> completes the command. The command doesn't require additional input
> from the user before it executes.
>
> I agree about what they say (which would indeed apply to "about"), but
> note also that in their "Do this instead" example there is a menu item
> "Publisher Options..." :)
So, their guide is buggy. The stuff is quite clear to me. If we had a
pre-prefs-dialog that said "Open the prefs Dialog ? y/n", then it would
require an ellipsis.
> I think you are misreading these guidelines.
I do not think so.
> http://developer.kde.org/documentation/standards/kde/style/menus/index.html
> which says
>
> Notice that every item in a menu that first opens a dialog requiring
> additional information must be labelled with a trailing ellipsis
> (...) (e.g. Save As..., Open...). There's no space between the menu
> item and the "...". A simple confirmation dialog is not considered a
> dialog that requires additional information.
>
> I do not see here anything validating your claims.
Please read it more carefully. In particular, "additional". The prefs
dialog is not "additional" information to editing the prefs, now is it ?
I make it two style guides that make it very clear I am correct, and
one that is perhaps a little vague.
The MS UI design guide spells it out in uncontestable language :
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwue/html/ch14d.asp
#
# Do not include an ellipsis for a Properties command. The user does not
# have to indicate what object to show properties for or what property
# to show. Even though the user can use this command to change options,
# the command's intended primary action is to display those options.
# Similar common examples include Options, Settings, Advanced, and
# Preferences.
Is that clear enough for you ?
> Have you read mpt too much lately? [in fact I tend to agree with
> you...]
Since you mention him.
http://www.geocrawler.com/archives/3/140/2000/12/0/4842651/
--
"ALL television is children's television."
- Richard Adler
