On Tuesday, December 23, 2003 at 09:51 Edgar wrote: > I will probably never cease to be amazed by the apparently omnipresent > expectation that all software must be either self evident or otherwise > self explanatory.
Actually, I disagree...at least about what I think the expectations of most users of TheBat! are. I don't expect an email program to teach me how to type, what a POP3 server is, how to write correctly, etc. I _do_ expect it to contain complete documentation about custom features and ways it differs from what I expect. I don't think people expect software to be self-evident, but they do expect _the_documentation_ to be explanatory, just like they expect the instructions for their new power drill or their new television to be. Myself, I don't expect there to be no learning required, but I do expect this: the documentation for the program should cover all of its features and most especially the features that are unusual or unique. Users who know how to operate email programs--in general--should not have to discover the features of TheBat!--in particular--by experiment. Moreover, some things are complex enough that a user who is exploring the program will never hit upon them randomly. To use an analogy, the owner's manual for my car doesn't discuss how to drive, or what gasoline is, but it does tell me where the gasoline tank is filled on _my car_, and it does tell me about ways in which my car might handle differently from other cars I'm used to. The same is true with the manual for a typewriter. It doesn't tell the user how to type, but it does tell the things about this particular model of typewriter that are different from what the user learned before. Most software documentation I've seen is pretty disappointing, and while the help files for TheBat! are useful, they're just as imperfect as many others are. Tony ________________________________________________ Current version is 2.02.3 CE | "Using TBUDL" information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
