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List:       kde-look
Subject:    RE: Standard questions and answers
From:       "Glen Parker" <glenebob () nwlink ! com>
Date:       1999-09-16 15:10:52
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<snip, snip snip>
> If you would like to draft another rule which says when OK/Cancel is a
> better alternative for programmers to use to Yes/No, please do so and
> put it up for discussion. I'll use it if it gets the nod.

Well, I'm not a tech writer (or any other kind, for that matter), but over
the last couple of days, I think the whole thing has boiled down to a *very*
simple rule of thumb, as follows:

If you are confirming a direct action the user asked for, *probably* use OK
and Cancel.
Otherwise, Yes and No are *probably* fine.

In the case of confirmation because of possible impending doom (like an
ansaved file), you should *always try* to provide a direct means of
continuing in a safe manor.  "You have unsaved data.  Close anyway?", {OK,
Cancel} is bad because the question and answer do not match, and because
there is no way to solve the problem without cancelling - very annoying.  A
good percentage of base KDE apps depart from this - probably the only truly
common confirmation dialog, and it is very inconsistent.  This really needs
to be fixed.  Apps like kedit, kwrite, korganizer, etc. are good examples of
a clean close confirmation dialog.

Glen Parker
glenebob@nwlink.com

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