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Re: Fixing antediluvianisms in Emacs' UI
From: |
Ilya Zakharevich |
Subject: |
Re: Fixing antediluvianisms in Emacs' UI |
Date: |
Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:18:13 -0000 |
User-agent: |
slrn/0.9.8.1pl1 (Linux) |
On 2010-07-08, David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> wrote:
> I think the point was that the manual was not deficient concerning the
> information it provides, but in not making Xah Lee want to read it.
> In a way, it is a losing battle.
Why consider it in military terms? The question at point is that
Emacs' UI is lacking. So just fix it: make it self-documenting, as
any good-UI program should be...
Looks like some vestiges of 80s' mentality still remains in Emacs
design: at the time, a common misconception was that problems with UI
may be "fixed" by updating the manuals. Well, even if one still
believes in this way, it is a dead end: Emacs' manual IS quite good
already, so the improvements achieved in this way would have a trace
value only.
Now, after the flood of "grandmother revolution" [*], we know OTHER
ways. "Self-documenting" means the program guides the user how to use
it. Emacs is now flexible enough so that with most tasks, this may be
easily achieved.
[*] this is how as one of the designers of Plan9 called the major
event of 90s: achievement of understanding of UI design so good
that UI accessible to "grandmothers" may be created. He
attributes this breakthrough to effort of M$; I tend to agree...
> People expect software to just work without reading manuals.
That's right. And when we can EASILY cater to their expectations, we should.
The question at point: ISearch. Lemme sketch one possiblity of adding
self-documentation to ISearch (people with better UI-design experience
must be able to find something yet better):
a) Change the prompt (configurable; verbose by default;
self-documentation should mention how to disable verbosity):
Isearch (F1 for help):
b) bind F1 F1 to "Open manual on basics of Isearch";
c) bind F1 to open a shrink-wrapped buffer with "Quick info" on
ISearch. This info should include the `current state' (case
sensitivity etc) - plus information where this state "comes
from": e.g., whether the particular setting is mode-specific. It
should also state how to toggle "I" in ISearch, toggle case-fold,
switch direction, regexpness, by-word, different ways to quit,
etc.
Should also state how to start Isearch in `a particular state'
(with some toggles pre-loaded).
Does not look difficult to do, does it?
Hope this helps,
Ilya
- Re: Rapidly navigating buffers using search, Stefan Kamphausen, 2010/12/08
- Message not available
- Re: Fixing antediluvianisms in Emacs' UI,
Ilya Zakharevich <=
- Re: Fixing antediluvianisms in Emacs' UI, Pascal J. Bourguignon, 2010/12/08
- Message not available
- Re: Rapidly navigating buffers using search, Ilya Zakharevich, 2010/12/08
- Message not available
- Re: Rapidly navigating buffers using search, Xah Lee, 2010/12/08
- Message not available
- Re: Rapidly navigating buffers using search, Xah Lee, 2010/12/08
- Message not available
- Re: Rapidly navigating buffers using search, David Kastrup, 2010/12/08
- Message not available
- Re: Rapidly navigating buffers using search, Jeongtae Roh, 2010/12/09
Re: Rapidly navigating buffers using search, Uday S Reddy, 2010/12/08