Re: tabulated-list sort icon is reversed

[Robert Pluim]

Drew Adams <address@hidden> writes:

>> Perhaps it should be noted that Emacs is not alone in using the
>> arrow heads this way. The file manager on my Elementary OS system
>> (Patheon) uses ▼ (i.e., a down-pointing triangle) to indicate
>> sorting A-Z and 0-9, the Rhythmbox music player does as well, and
>> the same goes for the image viewer Geeqie (e.g., in its Exif
>> metadata window).
>> 
>> Could be a GNU/Linux vs. Windows / MacOS thing, I don't know. I
>> find Emacs' current way of doing things more intuitive, but that's
>> just me. I don't think you're ever gonna reach consensus on this
>> one.
>
> It's the case that MS Windows does it the other way around:
> ^ means values are currently sorted from low to high (going
> down the column). IOW, the triangle _reflects_ the current
> sort order - it is a depiction, in a way, of the sorted values.
>
> To me, that makes more sense. But I agree with this statement:

To me it doesnʼt. It explains why Iʼm always confused and end up
having to click at least twice when using Windows.

>> But I must also say that I generally only look at these indicators
>> to see which column is sorted, not to find out how it's sorted,
>> because I find it's quicker (for me) to just look at a few items.
>
> Still, for some kinds of data looking quickly at the topmost few
> values might not be as quick as looking at the column symbol,
> once you are used to its meaning.
>
> If this is mainly (only?) a platform thing then maybe Emacs
> should do something different for different platforms - dunno.

Please no. One of the fine properties of Emacs is that it generally
doesnʼt vary much between platforms.

Robert