Re: [HIG] Policy questions

[Matthew Thomas <mpt mailandnews com>]

Gregory Merchan wrote:
> 
> I guess I send in my votes. :-)
> 
> On Mon, Oct 22, 2001 at 01:19:15PM -0700, Adam Elman wrote:
> > Policy questions:
> >
> > 1. Menu item names: "Quit <appname>", "Close <appname>", or just
> > "Quit" / "Close"?
> 
> Just "Quit" / "Close". Preferably no "Quit" as suggested in Matthew's
> document.

Unsurprisingly, I agree. :-)

> > 2. "Select None", "Deselect All", or nothing?
>...
> Seems like "Undo <action>" as "Undo Select All" (caps?)
> is the least ambiguous. It should return the app to the state
> (including selected data boundaries) that it was before the "Select
> All" command was issued.

No, Undo and Redo should only apply to actions which change the content
of the document -- inserting, deleting, moving, formatting, and so on.
It should not apply to operations such as Select All, scrolling,
changing the zoom level, or setting other view options, as these things
do not change the content of the document (though for maximum
productivity they should be saved with other metadata when a file is saved).

However, even given that I still think `Select None' is unnecessary.

>...
> > 3. "Edit->Preferences" ok as an alternative to "Options" menu?

No, as a replacement.

>...
> > 4. Letter or Fkey shortcut keys?
> 
> Letter. (Modulo F1 and F10 as stated elsewhere) (See note below.)

Agree.

> > 5. Mnemonics for "OK" and "Cancel" in a dialog box, or just enter
> > and escape?
> 
> No letter key access for OK and Cancel.

Agree. :-)

> I cannot think of when Escape might be needed within a dialog.
> (Maybe to dismiss a tooltip?)

That would mean that Escape would have a different effect depending on
whether you pressed it 1.999 seconds or 2.000 seconds after focusing a
particular control (i.e. just before/after the help tip appeared).

> I don't know what is a reasonable condition for Enter. The options I
> see are:
> 
> In a single-line text widget:
>   1)
>     Enter advances focus.
>     Tab cycles completions when available,
>       otherwise advances focus.
> 
>   2)
>     Enter activates OK if and only if the only focusable widgets are
>                          the entry and the dialog action area buttons,
>       otherwise advances focus.
>     Tab cycles completions when available,
>       otherwise advances focus.
>...

I predict that either of these would frustrate users considerably. In
addition, the more usable a theme was (i.e. the more contrast it made
between the default button and non-default buttons), the more unstable
it would look as focus was moved between controls.
 
>...
> > 6. Drag-drop with right mouse button: show a menu?
> 
> No. I've accidently started a drag in Nautilus a few times (very few,
> since I hardly use it) and that's the most annoying thing. (I expect
> the menu when the mouse button goes down, so I start moving for items
> and end up dragging.)
>...

Right. This is one of the most annoying features of Windows, leading to
an infamous Mozilla bug
<http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=49844>.

-- 
Matthew `mpt' Thomas, Mozilla UI Design component default assignee thing
<http://mozilla.org/>