Re: actual proposal

[Bowie Poag <bjp primenet com>]

> > "Close" is ambiguous. An [ OK ] button closes a window. So does a [
> > Cancel ] button. 
> 
> first of all, "Close" is not in the very least ambiguous. it does exactly
> what it states - closing the popup-window. I do not think you can get much
> clearer.

Lets use a creative example which illustrates what im getting at.

Here's your way of doing it, visualized:

+---------------------------------------------------+
| The action you have chosen will now be performed. |
+---------------------------------------------------+
|                 [ Close ]                         |
+---------------------------------------------------+

Here's how it SHOULD be done, instead:

+---------------------------------------------------+
| The action you have chosen will now be performed. |
+---------------------------------------------------+
|                   [ Ok ]                          |
+---------------------------------------------------+

One indicates approval of condition. One does not. 

Saying [ Close ] within an application context is like telling a robot to
"put down" an item. You havent said what -happens- to the item. You have
not indicated your approval, or disapproval; Such circumstances should
be avoided within application design. 

See..when you say [ Close ]...Its indeterminant staement. This is why i'm
not a big fan of using [ Close ] within applications. Our imaginary
robot's idea of "put down" may be to simply release the item from its
grip, letting it smash on the floor, versus *placing it* somewhere.
Mission accomplished, as far as the robot is concerned -- The object was
"put down".

Applications should, if anything, *AVOID* the use of [ Close ] as a choice
of action, and use conventional [ Ok ] and [ Cancel ] options instead. 

> "Cancel" buttons is a dialog by my terminology and is not subject to this at
> all.
> I really should have put this sentence in much earlier to make it clearer.
> my bad.

Write a few "actual proposals" , Tom, and you'll learn how important
precise wording is, and you wont get yourself into this kinda trouble. :) 


> > Unnecessary and unenforcable. Depending upon the context in which the
> > pop-up appears, something either must be OK'ed, or Cancelled.
> 
> this is the same misunderstanding. an example: the "About..." popup. you do
> not "ok" an about, do you? you don't cancel it either. same thing with error
> messages - have you never wondered why you HAVE to hit "ok" in response to
> "really bad error, I'll eat your disk now" ?

An "About.." pop-up *IS* a place where you would want to use [ Close ] ,
but what you've suggested is more the exception than the rule. More
commonly, any kind of user notification is one which is going to suggest
an approval or disapproval. This isnt conveyable with [ Close ]. Thats my
only beef in this issue.

> 
> THESE are the cases I was talking about. the cases with (quote) "no
> interaction", where you just need a way to get rid of the window after
> reading its contents.
> I do consider "ok'ing" or canceling something as an interaction, in case
> that part was unclear.

Its not a case of to-may-toes versus to-mah-toes. Or even ketchup versus
catsup, for that matter. :) One is a better selection than the other,
because of its sensitivity to context. [ Close ] is completely
context-insensitive, if you will.

Bowie