Brian, Mike, Thank you, you have nailed the chief objections we have been struggling with as well. Our attempt to align usage across the business has received the strongest objections from the code guys because "Microsoft does it". We will look at the MSDN site as well.
Regards, Gregory H. McClure Lexmark Product Safety 859 232 3240 office 859 232 6882 fax On Wed, Mar 4, 2015 at 7:32 PM, Brian Oconnell <[email protected]> wrote: > Software, where not safety-critical, is a different subject. Microsoft has > published several design guides (most are on the MSDN site) and has several > long web pages that instruct and admonish programmers about the proper use > of the various dialog boxes and how to phrase and title the dialog strings. > Code monkeys seldom read this stuff. > > The general level of recommended escalation is typically > 1. info/notification msg > 2. warning msg > 3. error msg > 4. system exit > > Warnings resulting from a programmatic process are appropriate even where > safety is not involved, as there could be an impending loss/corruption of > data - analogous to equipment damage. For most programming language > compilers, a message that is not a result of normal progress, is considered > a 'warning' or an 'error'. Warnings can be specifically ignored/overridden, > but errors (by definition) can halt the tool-chain sequence. > > Most software shops have formal policies for messages emitted by the > elements of the tool-chain. It becomes a really big thing for security > and/or safety-critical code where MISRA C or Ada is implemented, as > suppressed warning flag settings must be approved by quality managers. > > Brian > > > From: Mike Sherman ----- Original Message ----- [mailto: > [email protected]] > Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2015 1:09 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [PSES] Signal words, definition and usage > > Re "use the signal words for other purposes than potential injury": > 1. Windows 95, I think it was, broadly corrupted the exclamation > point/triangle hazard symbol by placing it in their pop up system error > boxes. I'm glad to see that this is no longer practiced. > 2. I once had a discussion at a former employer with software GUI > programmers, who similarly used the word "warning" for software system > error messages that again had nothing to do with safety. > My argument was that we, as the manufacturer, had to have a consistent > vocabulary across our entire user interface---labels, manuals, GUI, > training materials---and I reserved the words DANGER, WARNING and CAUTION > for personal injury issues. The software programmers then switched to ALERT > or other words for software issues not related to safety. > > Mike Sherman > Graco Inc. > > - > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc > discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to < > [email protected]> > > All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: > http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html > > Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at > http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in > well-used formats), large files, etc. > > Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ > Instructions: http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to > unsubscribe) > List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html > > For help, send mail to the list administrators: > Scott Douglas <[email protected]> > Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> > > For policy questions, send mail to: > Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> > David Heald: <[email protected]> > - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> David Heald: <[email protected]>
