Re: [gtk-list] Re: usability problems in Open File dialog

[Sergio Kessler <sak perio unlp edu ar>]

Eric Harlow <linuxgeek@yahoo.com> el día Sun, 15 Nov 1998 18:36:41 -0800 
(PST), escribió:

>
>The "open file" dialog is also the "save file" dialog and sometimes
>you need to create directories to save your file in a particular
>place.  You can always "hide" the "create dir" button - you should be
>able to rename it. 

Ok, I've expressed myself bad, it should be the 'file selection dialog'

And no, I'm not saying that you should get rid of the buttons,
the buttons _must_ be there, but in other way, this buttons
should be displayed _without_ taking many attention from the user,
because they do not represent _much_ used functions.

And, btw, putting 'dir' is a bug, it should be 'directory' or
'folder', not 'dir'.


>---Sak <sak@perio.unlp.edu.ar> wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>> 
>> I want comment some usability problems that I see
>> in the Open File dialog in gtk.
>> 
>> First, you know what is a 'dir' (as in 'create dir' button),
>> but a new user maybe not, Jacob Nielsen, the guru of
>> interfases and usability always say 'never use abbreviations
>> in your interface'.
>> 
>> In some places directories are called directories and in
>> others places are called folders, this is not good, it
>> must be a directory or a folder, not both (ok, this is
>> a problem in Gnome, not gtk).
>> 
>> 
>> The main function of a open file dialog is open files,
>> not create directories, rename files or delete files,
>> actually this buttons are at the same degree (or more)
>> that open and cancel buttons, they are competing at the 
>> same level for the user attention, they are interfering 
>> with the real important buttons (open & cancel), altough 
>> is good to create a directory, their action must be less 
>> visible than the action 'open'.
>> 
>> IMO, buttons with only pixmaps and hints will be better,
>> (for translation too).
>> 
>> 
>> When you select a file or a directory with the defaults
>> colors (blue with yellow around) the letters pqgyj doesn't
>> look well.
>> 
>> A open file dialog must show all possible files in a
>> fixed area, here windoze do it a little better, he can
>> show more files in the same area and the large file
>> names aren't a problem, unlike gtk. In gtk seeing a
>> complete large file name is a problem, unless you 
>> resize the window, wich you can't do much in 640x480.
>> 
>> Also, it would be good a mechanism to change the view,
>> for example I'm opening a file and want to know the
>> files dates (or sizes) to see what is the newer file.
>> 
>> Hope this help,
>> 
>> -- 
>> Who is the General Failure and what f* do reading my disk !?
>> ---
>> Sergio Kessler
>> 
>> -- 
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>> 
>> 
>
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