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From: mayer@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM (Niels Mayer)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: R5 wish list
Message-ID: <5677@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM>
Date: 28 Jul 90 02:30:18 GMT
References: <1963@lri.lri.fr>
Reply-To: mayer@hplabs.hp.com (Niels Mayer)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Labs, Software & Systems Lab, Palo Alto, CA.
Lines: 33
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The R5 Xtoolkit should give warnings when an invalid resource is accessed.

I don't care about the IMPLEMENTATION issues involved in doing this. From a
PROGRAMMERS PERSPECTIVE, it is completely unreasonable for a widget to
remain silent when you set the wrong resource (either at creation time, or
during XtSetValues())... It is similarly unreasonable to not give errors
upon XtGetValues() of an invalid resource.

From an END-USERS PERSPECTIVE, it is unreasonable for no errors to be
reported when a user sets the wrong resource in an .Xdefaults, app-default
or xrdb file.  How many times have you had to deal with a clueless user who
claims your program is buggy because they mispelled a resource name and
therefore the program didn't work right?

I know about the IMPLEMENTATION issues involved in doing such error
reporting. How many end-users want to have the internals of the Xtoolkit
and X resources mechanisms explained to them in response to the problems 
outlined above?

		User: "there's a problem with ... the patient died"
		Programmer: "bla bla constraint resource bla bla subclassing
			     quack quack quack 'foo*resname' bla bla
			     resource classes bla bla very flexible
			     bla bla bla quack quack quack..."
		User: "Oh, now I see, well, then I guess its ok"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	    Niels Mayer -- hplabs!mayer -- mayer@hplabs.hp.com
		  Human-Computer Interaction Department
		       Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
			      Palo Alto, CA.
				   *