"Xplo Eristotle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
[EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> Sjoerd Visscher wrote:
> >
> > > > - User can start doing what the command-item describes right away:
no
> > > > ellipsis
> > > > (edit preferences)
> > > > - User cannot start doing what the command-item describes right
away:
> > > > ellipsis
> > > > (open,save,print)
> > >
> > > This semantic swordplay is all irrelevant. I select the menuitem, it
> > > gives me a dialog to be manipulated before I can return to what I was
> > > doing, therefore the menuitem must have an ellipsis.
> > >
> > > Or, to put it another way, the negative-space argument: since
selecting
> > > the menuitem does NOT have an immediate effect on the application,
> > > requiring no further interaction, it CANNOT appear without an
ellipsis.
> > >
> > > That's all there is to it, people. You're not "changing" or "editing"
or
> > > "starting to edit" something, you're breaking the workflow to require
> > > user interaction, and that means you put an ellipsis. End of story.
> >
> > No, breaking the workflow has nothing to do with this.
>
> I disagree, but rather than try to explain why - a long, tedious effort
> which might well go to waste - I'll simply point you at the relevant
> interface guidelines, and assume that you know what "user interaction"
> is. Keep reading them until you realize that you're wrong.
(Too bad, I like long tedious discussions ;-))
Then I'll have to use quotes from the guidelines:
"The ellipsis character lets users know that they will have an opportunity
to provide more information before the command executes."
"The ellipsis character doesn't simply mean that a dialog box or window will
appear. For example in the Finder File menu, the Get Info command doesn't
have an ellipsis character and shouldn't. When you select a Finder object
and choose Get Info, a window appears displaying information about the
object. The window appearing simply completes the command. The command
doesn't require additional input from the user before it executes."
> > So an ellipsis should be used not too often, only for the comfort of
> > the user. If you use them too much, then it won't work anymore.
>
> And do you have any evidence that Mozilla overuses them?
No, just the preferences. Edit page doesn't have an ellipsis, so why does
edit preferences?
Sjoerd
