Re: [Pharo-dev] consideration of Smalltalk "DoIt"

Wed, 16 Jul 2014 07:49:23 -0700

Torsten Bergmann wrote: 
Hi Esteban,

I think the 

 Do/Evaluate it  Print it Debug it

Actually I quite like "Do/Evaluate it" as an option. 
* It would read well as a menu item
* It doesn't add much width to "Evaluate it", and won't change the overall menu width (due to "Extended search...")
* It aligns with contemporary usage in other languages
* Retains some heritage, and doesn't invalidate existing documentation.

With such I'd feel comfortable using "evaluate" in documentation.

menu naming is a tribute to Smalltalk history as it was already part of ST80
(see http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/wolfgang.kreutzer/cosc205/images/stShot13.gif)

In this case the text is seen not only as text but as a real _expression_ - maybe 
that's the reason for the "it" and also the reason for having this in a separate
menu group divided by a separator line.

I would not change it, even when it is not consistent or make some people feel
uncomfortable for three reasons:

 1. The do it/print it/debug it is part of nearly any Smalltalk or Pharo tutorial/books
    so this is what people would expect it to look like

 2. The Cut/Copy/Paste is known from any other UI based operating system and application,
    so this is what people would expect it to look like

and the strongest reason:

 3. If you change "Print it" to just "Print" people would expect something
    is coming out of their printer device! ;)

In addition, you are not printing the selected text but the ""result"" of executing the _expression_.

I don't think we should lose the "it".  I think it gives the feel that the selected text is being treated as more than just text, i.e. as code.

cheers -ben

We can change anything in Pharo - but not so easy the expectation of users.

Bye
T.



  
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 16. Juli 2014 um 16:01 Uhr
Von: "Esteban A. Maringolo" <[email protected]>
An: "Pharo Development List" <[email protected]>
Betreff: Re: [Pharo-dev] consideration of Smalltalk "DoIt"

2014-07-15 23:32 GMT-03:00 Eliot Miranda <[email protected]>:
    
On Jul 15, 2014, at 1:50 PM, "Esteban A. Maringolo" <[email protected]> wrote:
      
Why make a distinction between copying text and
evaluating/profiling/debugging it? I only saw this in Smalltalk.
        
??  I'd be more than annoyed if copying the text "rm -rf *" evaluated it too...
      
Well... it would be sending the object at the variable rm the message
selector #- with  rf as argument :)

I'm not sure if I understood what you meant. But I'm talking about
consistency, it is we use "verb + it" for everything, or we don't.

Ej:
A)
Do/Evaluate it
Print it
Debug it
Copy it
Cut it
Paste it

B)
Evaluate
Print
Debug
Copy
Cut
Paste

Certainly the latter feels better to me. And I haven't seen a single
UI/UX guideline suggesting the naming of commands like A.

But again, maybe i'm lost in translation here.

Regards.

Esteban A. Maringolo

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