Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!linus!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka From: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng Subject: Re: Request for human interface design anecdotes Message-ID: <2585@mmintl.UUCP> Date: Wed, 25-Nov-87 19:47:09 EST Article-I.D.: mmintl.2585 Posted: Wed Nov 25 19:47:09 1987 Date-Received: Mon, 30-Nov-87 00:42:10 EST References: <2572@mmintl.UUCP> <1721@spar.SPAR.SLB.COM> <3911@pucc.Princeton.EDU> Reply-To: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) Organization: Multimate International, E. Hartford, CT. Lines: 33 In article <3911@pucc.Princeton.EDU> TDTRUE@pucc.Princeton.EDU writes: |In article <2572@mmintl.UUCP>, franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) writes: |>One of my favorite human interface design errors is in VM/CMS, where "i", |>typed on a line by itself, destroys your image. It stands for "ipl", you |>see. This happens even if you enter it on the command line of the editor. | |Although VM/CMS has a number of flaws in its user interface, the |one mentioned is not currently one of them. Within the editor |(XEDIT), 'i' puts you in 'INPUT MODE' to continuously enter lines |of text. Input mode is relatively new to XEDIT. I think it had just become available shortly before I switched jobs and stopped using the system. |XEDIT also lets you set things so that a user must explicitly issue a |command to the operating system. Yes, and CMS lets you set things so that a user must explicitly issue a command to CP. Unless these are the default, they don't help the naive user. They aren't the default. |Outside the editor, 'i' or for that matter 'ipl' will just give |you the error 'OPERAND MISSING OR INVALID'. Of course, if you |put any text after the I, the system will try to IPL with what |you gave it . . . . My memory may be faulty on this; I thought I remembered it clearing memory first, and then checking for the operand. On the other hand, what you describe does sound familiar. It's bad enough, anyhow. -- Frank Adams ihnp4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka Ashton-Tate 52 Oakland Ave North E. Hartford, CT 06108