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From: fisher@sc2a.unige.ch
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: Damn WordPerfect and HELP !!!
Message-ID: <1991Jun7.152436.457@sc2a.unige.ch>
Date: 7 Jun 91 13:24:36 GMT
References: <91156.050521U0DCB@wvnvm.wvnet.edu> <1991Jun5.170819.13464@eagle.lerc.nasa.gov> <3600@travis.csd.harris.com>
Organization: University of Geneva, Switzerland
Lines: 66

In article <3600@travis.csd.harris.com>, dana@hardy.hdw.csd.harris.com (Dan Aksel) writes:
> [...]  As a matter of fact I've delevoped a philosphy
> over the past couple of years: Screw the function keys, if the thing won't let
> me use a mouse then I don't use the program.  Let's see: F1 on WP does X.  F1 on
> WORD does Y.  F1 on Lotus does Z.  F1 on WORKVIEW does A.  F1 on dBASE III does
> B.  Get the point?  Even if it takes longer, I've become accustomed to learning
> the pull down menu approach to seek the commands I want.  I almost always know
> the NAME of the command I want, I just can't keep the keys straight.  Looking
> with the mouse is much more productive for me.  No I don't own a MAC but I do
> know enought about it to do some things (like get myself in trouble).

I've also developed a philosophy in the last few years: learn the function
keys!  Using WP, Alt-F10 is `call macro' (equivalent to {Menu}-Tools-mAcro-
eXecute, *not* T-M-E), in MS-Word, it's `record style' (equivalent to [ESC]-
Format-Style-Record).  Usually, I look at the screen, not at the keyboard :-)
using the menu, you see several drastic changes on it while you type,
resulting in eye-fatigue;  using the function key, you see only one screen
update.  This is a *very* serious issue for me!

Thus the basic philosophy to understand why WP was programmed the way it is: 
minimize screen movements!  (Yes, this is why in WP only the current line is
formatted during edit, instead of Word's irritating misfeature of constant
reformatting (and justifying!) the rest of the page...)  BTW: this is also the
advantage of pull-down menus:  the movements are standardized and predictable,
resulting in less stress to your eyes.

Maybe it's a cultural difference:  I've noticed that american software (with
the exception of WP) tend to overdo the chrome (colours, pop-ups, borders,
flashes).  To take an example:  talking with friends all over Europe, we agree
that the blinking attribute is an offence both to good taste and to our
health, and we never understood why it was even invented.  Programs using it
(US home grown only, so it seems) deserve to be trashed immediately.

Thus in the US `user-friendly' probably means on-screen menus and help, while
in Europe, it means also respective of the user's eyes, polite, and respective
of the most elementary good taste.  (take this whith humour :-)

Another disadvantage of menus is that they are subject to unpredictable
changes (I know it's [ESC]-Transfer-Load or [ESC]-Lit/ecrit-charge, but in
german? :-)  Of course, many people don't live in an international (or pluri-
lingual) environment, but this *is* the future!  Your nice macro will not run
on another language version if it uses the menu-letter...  (Yes again, this is
why all options is WP, including `Y/N' or `Name search', have a numerical
equivalent!)

One more thing to say about function keys: you'll need keyboard templates. 
The first thing I do when I learn or teach a software is to place the
appropriate template over the keys.  (Who wants a WP document containing
templates for WP and MS-Word?)

Disclaimer:  You see, I'm with WP since 1985 (version 3.0), long before the
Mac, the mere notion of pull-down menus or the idea of a mouse (I'm speaking
micro-computers here, the first trackman I saw was developed here in Geneva
back in 1970 or so).  Of course, when you entered your pirated copy of WP 3.0,
you had very little chance to find the `quit' key...  it was Alt-= ! (`help' 
was at Shift-F3, I believe...)  This single fact did probably more harm to WP
than anything else...  Since that time, function keys seem more natural to me,
and I know they are easier to implement, thus reducing overload for a
questionable user interface (GUI or MUI - graphic or menu user interface).

Disclaimer of the disclaimer:  When I say I'm ``with'' WP, it means a
satisfied customer, nothing else.

Enough said, thanks for the attention, though!

Markus Fischer