Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site burl.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!gummo!whuxlb!pyuxll!eisx!npoiv!npois!hogpc!houxm!hocda!spanky!burl!rcj
From: rcj@burl.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.cog-eng
Subject: Re: Menus bad?
Message-ID: <299@burl.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 25-Aug-83 16:47:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: burl.299
Posted: Thu Aug 25 16:47:31 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 27-Aug-83 16:40:50 EDT
References: <1466@tekid.UUCP>
Organization: Western Electric, Burlington, NC
Lines: 23

I HATE menus, but of course, there are bad menus and BAD MENUS.
The system at the Greensboro, NC public library is one of the
worst that I have ever seen, get this:

a) All commands are delimited by <ESC>, not <CR>
b) The only way to rubout a character is to type \; it does NOT "echoe"
c) If I am looking for books by Isaac Asimov, and there are 56 matches
   for my library system, it shows them to me two at a time with the
   typical author/title/call-number/etc. information for each one; I
   hit <ESC> to continue.  I get to the 17th book and decide that I
   want circulation/bibliographical information on it, so I choose that
   option.  I have seen what I want to see about the 17th book; my only
   options now are to 'H'alt (abort the WHOLE schmeer), or to 'Q'uit
   (start back looking at the book names again FROM BOOK #1!!!!!!!)
   Now, I have to hit enough <ESC>s (8 of them, to be exact), with no
   typeahead, to get back to where I left off looking at the 17th and 18th
   books in the list.

Menus rot for non-novices,
-- 

The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3814 (Cornet 291)
alias: Curtis Jackson	...![ floyd sb1 mhuxv ]!burl!rcj