On 8/27/10 11:02 AM, Ken Kixmoeller f/h wrote: > Just wondering what others have done in *user interface* to save users > from doing something that the application needs to do, but "you just > shouldn't" except in extraordinary circumstances.
Make it technically hard for them to accomplish (so they only do it when necessary). My favorite is making it a program argument. For instance, in my VFP apps I'd allow an argument of 'rebuild' so when my app was run and if 'rebuild' was one of the args, it would go into rebuild mode which would: 1) warn the user 2) ask them to make sure all other instances of the program are shutdown 3) ask them to confirm 4) check to make sure we have exclusive access. If not, bail. 5) do the rebuild, present a status dialog 6) when user clicks 'okay', the application exits. Every dialog before the rebuild includes a cancel button, which exits immediately. If they didn't make a desktop shortcut, they'd need to do something like opening Terminal, cd'ing to the program directory, and typing "program.exe rebuild" to even see this run mode in action. So they'd have to know about it in the first place, which means they are above-normal-user level already. Of course, making things hard likes this tends to mean I get called to do the job instead, which actually is probably the better outcome for all involved. But on the other hand they are still in control, which is also better for all involved. Paul _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
