Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!unmvax!nmtsun!warner@hydrovax.nmt.edu
From: warner@hydrovax.nmt.edu (M. Warner Losh)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: friendly messages
Message-ID: <1970@nmtsun.nmt.edu>
Date: 22 Feb 89 19:50:59 GMT
Sender: news@nmtsun.nmt.edu
Distribution: usa
Organization: New Mexico Tech Hydrology Program
Lines: 77

In article <5734@bsu-cs.UUCP>, dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes...
->Hmmm...I hope they don't take it too far.

This is agreed.  There is nothing more irritating than seeing:

	%BASIC-F-EXESTA, Execution of statement failed
	-BASIC-F-LETFAI, LET command failed
	-BASIC-F-RHSNOVAL, Right hand side could not be evaluated
	-BASIC-F-NOSTRING, String could not be created
	-BASIC-F-NOMEMORY, Memory allocation failure

When
	%BASIC-F-EXEABO, Execution aborted
	-BASIC-E-LETFAI, LET command failed at line 123 in GEORGE.xxx
	-SYSTEM-F-NOMEMORY, Memory exhaused

would do just as well.

It is informative and gives a clue where things died w/o going overboard.

(BTW, I have worked with a product on VMS that actually does the first thing
 whenever it encounters an error.  Guess the developers of that product
 didn't completely understand the error facilities they were using :-)

->TODAY (cryptic, confusing, not reassuring at all)
->   $ xyz=test_symbol; export xyz
->   $ sh
->   $ ^D
->   $
And totally uninformative.


->TOMORROW (warm, friendly, reassuring)
->   $ xyz=test_symbol; export xyz
->   %SHELL-I-SUPERSEDE, previous value of XYZ has been superseded
->   %SHELL-I-EXPORT, of XYZ has been exported
->   $ sh
->   %SHELL-S-SPAWNED, process SHELL_002 spawned
->   %SHELL-S-ATTACHED, terminal now attached to process SHELL_002
->   $ ^D
->     Process SHELL_002 logged out at 16-FEB-1989 11:11:16.41
->   %SHELL-S-RETURNED, control returned to process SHELL_001
->   $

I contest that this is user friendly.  It is informative, and lets you know
exactly what is going on.  Granted, there should be an easy way to globally
turn the chatter off.


->I'm not kidding.  I actually did "define xyz test_symbol", "spawn", and
->"logout" at the VMS prompt and saw roughly the above.

Ah, but if you place the following in your startup file on VMS, you can
get rid of the obnoxious messages:

$ DEF*INE :== DEFINE/NOLOG
$ SPA*WN :== SPAWN/NOLOG

(Which solves the immediate problem.)
-or-

$ SET MESSAGE/NOTEXT/NOID/NOSEV/NOFAC

Which tells the system not to bother you at all with any error messages.

[Rediculous example deleted]
This example is so rediculous, that any programmer that makes his programs
do this by default should be shot.

BUT the point is well taken:  Provide good error messages and a consistant
user interface, but please don't over do it.
->Rahul Dhesi         UUCP:  <backbones>!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!dhesi
--
Warner Losh
warner@hydrovax.nmt.edu		...!unmvax!nmtsun!warner%hydrovax
What happened to our innocence, did it go out of style?
My spelling and views are my own.  Only the letters have been changed...