Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!ames!ncar!tank!mimsy!fe2o3!rusty
From: rusty@fe2o3.UUCP (Rusty Haddock)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.elm
Subject: Re: Save Tagged Mail _Fast_!
Summary: suggestion for 2.3?
Keywords: calm
Message-ID: <214@fe2o3.UUCP>
Date: 24 Aug 89 20:55:44 GMT
References: <1989Aug23.121938.2967@DRD.Com> <2969@mace.cc.purdue.edu> <1989Aug23.225206.538@DSI.COM>
Reply-To: rusty@fe2o3.UUCP (Rusty Haddock)
Organization: My lil' 4.2BSD machine at home
Lines: 37

In article <1989Aug23.225206.538@DSI.COM> syd@DSI.COM writes:
   >...
   >.	"Can't invoke /usr/local/bin/jove for composition!"
   >This is also a common problem.  If jove returns a non zero status,
   >thats an error status, some editors, by mistake, return non zero status
   >when there is nothing wrong.  In this case, either fix the editor,
   >or wrap it in a shell script that has an exit 0 to clear the return status.
   >-- 

I'm glad that someone else has this same problem.  I have it happen with
'vi'; not always but usually after a long winded message.   I haven't found
a way to recover after elm chokes.

I'm not sure I care for Elm's cavalier approach to losing a composition, any
composition, especially a lengthy one.  The way I see it, Elm just says
"Editor did not return in the way I expected so YOU LOSE!"  Such a catastrophy
should be dealt with in a way that gives the user an option.  Something as
simple as

	Your editor returned a status indicating a possible error with
	the editted file.  Do you wish to continue with what the editor
	saved? [Y/N] _

would be much more sympathetic to the user and certainly not as...  `hostile'.
How many statements in C would this really take to implement?  Four?  Five
maybe?  Even if Elm did manage to stash away my (usually lengthy) composition,
errors like this should not be handled in their current manner.  Actions like
this, when taken by a program, can upset the program's users (knowledgable or
not) and that's not one of the basic ideas behind the design of a user
interface.

Thanks for reading.

			-Rusty-
-- 
Rusty Haddock		o  {uunet,att,rutgers}!mimsy.umd.edu!fe2o3!rusty
Laurel, Maryland	o  "IBM sucks silicon!" -- PC Banana Jr, "Bloom County"