Re: First UI component needing replacement.

[Dylan Griffiths <Dylan_G bigfoot com>]

colin z robertson wrote:
> Well, I'm not so sure. Ken Fox's proposals for aggressive computer
> intervention have some strong implications for how the rest of the
> dialog functions. However, there appears to be a consensus against the
> majority of his proposals.

Yes.  I tried to use the file dialog in XEmacs (haven't tried GNUEmacs)
today, because he said he was taking these from Emacs.  I found them to be
completely incomprehensible.  My biggest problem with programs like emacs,
vi, etc, is that they do not allow the user to sit down, and learn them. 
They follow no common conventions, and they behave in often irrational
seeming ways compared to other programs which follow a common code.  Even
the newest computer user can sit down and use something like Notepad (if
they have a concept of text, files, and directories, as well as know how to
type/use the mouse) because it advertises its capabilities through menus,
and lets the more advanced users bypass that by advertising the shortcuts
next to the menu options.

If we have that, plus we add the ability to alter the behaviour (such as the
"advanced" file dialog a user can pick attributes on, building their own
custom dialog when they know enough), we will cater to the advanced
"anti-Mac" interface people, too.  I think this would put Gnome on the fore
front of human interaction technology.  And That's A Good Thing (tm) :)
 
> I'd suggest a default of requested autocompletion. If it's off by
> default users will never discover it, and I think many users would
> like it. (User testing, perhaps?) And I think it should be discussed
> now. The last thing we want is application developers making their own
> customised dialogs with non-standard implementations of
> autocompletion.

That's what I had decided would be best, too, since I love being able to ask
bash for help while drilling around the directories (yes, typing /usr/bin
isn't hard, but /usr/doc contains menu interesting long, mixed case
filenames :)).

The only problem is what keyboard shortcut to use, and how to advertise this
to the user so that they will learn to use it, rather than happen upon it by
accident.

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