Lars Ruoff wrote:
I would vote for not accepting the patch since the same "Continue
without saving" is shown not only when performing "File->Quit". It is
also shown when trying to start a new capture when for instance
previously captured data has not yet been saved. "Continue..." rather
implies continuing with the user requested operation without saving.
/ Peter
Yes, but fact is that it is misleading to many.
And "Quit without saving" would be misleading if you were, for example,
starting a new capture without having saved the previous capture.
*I* would vote for a patch that would make the labeling of that button
be appropriate for the operation that provoked the alert box to be
popped up in the first place, whether by being different for different
operations or by doing "Don't save" and "Save", OS X-style.
And besides that, at least in the Windows world, it is more common to have
it the other way round, i.e. the program would ask somthing like
"Save current file?" Yes/No/Cancel
on actions such as "New capture", "Load file" etc.
What do those Gnome/KDE UI guidelines say about that?
GNOME HIG:
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/hig/2.0/windows-alert.html
"Button Phrasing. Write button labels as imperative verbs, for example
Save, Print. This allows users to select an action with less
hesitation. An active phrase also fits best with the button's role in
initiating actions, as contrasted with a more passive phrase. For
example Find and Log In are better buttons than than Yes and OK."
KDE standards (I'm not sure they have something they consider a formal
HIG yet, although I think they were talking about doing one):
http://developer.kde.org/documentation/standards/kde/style/dialogs/simple.html#confirmation
"Instead of labeling the OK option "OK", it is better to provide
options that are named in a way that describes what will happen when
they are pressed. This is known as voice-active prompt. Only if no
clear verb can be found that describes the action should the option be
labeled "OK"."
(Their example also has "Discard" rather than "No".)
And, for HIGs for other major desktop environments:
OS X HIG:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/XHIGWindows/chapter_17_section_6.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20000957-20000961-BACJGAAI
(scroll down from there) The buttons in the examples aren't labeled
"Yes" and "No", they're labeled "Don't Save" and "Save".
Windows:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwue/html/ch09d.asp
That's the *only* one of those that says "Yes" and "No", so I guess
descriptive labels are a UN*X thing. :-)
