Just my $0.02 worth: It seems to me that it should be "Save Copy As..." instead of "Save Copy", and that "Import/Open Copy..." should just be combined into the normal "Open..." feature. As a user, I would expect "Open" to open any file format if it could automatically be determined, and prompt me (perhaps with a preview of the contents) if it cannot determine the format. If additional UI is presented as a result of it being a non-native format, that's okay with me. Thanks, MikeE -----Original Message----- From: Nils Barth [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2001 1:04 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Suggestion: Change "Export..." to "Save Copy..." On 2001-08-23-14:08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > You have it right, with the addition that both functions > allow the file to be saved in a different format. In > the case of "Save As...", the format of the working > document changes. So if I "Save As..." TEST.ABW to > TEST.RTF, the next time I use plain old "Save", it will > also save as RTF. In the case of "Export...", the > format of the working document does not change. > > I still prefer the clarity of "Save > Copy...". "Export..." is confusing to some users, and I > doubt they are of the church secretary variety. The > only advantage that "Export..." has is that there is a > parallel "Import..." command. And I don't see why that > couldn't be changed to "Open Copy...". Could I second this? I mentioned this before (suggesting one change `Export/Import...' to `Export/Import Copy...'), and `Save Copy.../Open Copy...' seem more transparent. Saying "We'll just have good documentation" is a cop-out -- functions should have clear names if possible: documentation is support for good design, not replacement. If obscure names didn't matter, we could call these functions `Z:Z:Z:' and `QMQMQM', and have people look it up in the documentation. That is, `Open Copy...' `Save Copy...' give the user a very good idea of what the menuitem will do, one which can be confirmed/clarified/supported by the documentation, while `Import'/`Export' are unclear and require that one guess, and then check out the help system. For the record, I had to experiment with the `Import' function in order to figure what it did. -- -nils
