We need a referendum... on MEMO...

[Joe Chasan]

On Tue, Jan 16, 2007 at 12:17:48PM -0500, John Esak wrote:
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: joe at magnatechonline.com [mailto:joe at magnatechonline.com]
> > Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 11:58 AM
> > To: John Esak
> > Cc: Filepro-List at Lists. Celestial. Com
> > Subject: Re: We need a referendum... on MEMO...
> >
> >
> > < top postd for JE >
> >
> > firstly, how is this any different from <ESC> to get out of a popup
> > update? if you change one, you'd have to change both.  i am not denying
> > that i don't get calls from customers who complain things weren't saved
> > that turned out to be because they pressed <Del> to get out of a popup
> > box instead of <Esc>, but my point is that its not the only place in
> > filePro where this logic/design is used, and if you change one, you
> > [should] have to change them all.
> >
> > secondly, i'm sure there are users out there who put a hard-tab in
> > beginning of paragraph to indent, or as a separator between something
> > that makes sense to be columnar in their minds.
> >
> > -joe
> >
> 
> Okay, I see that you disagree.... but for such a strange reason.  Why in the
> world would you compare a MEMO field to a popup update?  TABS work
> *within*( a popup update.... they *do* exactly what they do everywhere else
> in filePro.  TABS in the MEMO do not.   You are only inside 1 field, TA's
> are supposed to follow the cursor path. In most HTML apps I've seen, you are
> in a text field... you press TAB... you are moved to the next field.  Why
> does filePro choose to funtion diffrently?  Yes, if you feel the idea of
> columnar data is that important... then make a special key in the MEMO
> editor for *that*, don't break the TAB functionality that everyone uses
> throughout *all* computerdom. TABS take you to the next field... UNLESS you
> are in a Word Processor, or Text Processor... yes, yes, I know... but which
> is more important? Should filePro and its applications stay consistent, or
> should this small feature  override all other considerations.
> 
> And, not for nothing, but inside a popu update, or any of the other filePro
> constructions... you can *control* what happens with a TAB press.... you do
> not have this luxury in a MEMO field.  One has a work around, one doesn't.

that is because <F8> is used in a memo field to bring up the options
menu, whereas in any other fp field it is Tab-Within-Field.  Even if
clerk recognized it, @wuk prc label would be impossible as coded right
now.  and why stop with <Tab> key - wouldn't your complaint apply to
other fp keys that work cursor path such as <Home> and <PageUp>/<PageDown>?

> Come up with some other key to generate a TAB... Do it on the Options menu
> like inserting the date or time... Why would this be so horrible?

too many keystrokes, and the other Tab-like feature key is already used
for something else.

in short, it is evident to me that the memo process is designed to be
like a word processor (to wit, the spell-check feature).  whether it
is a good one or not, it seems to be a standalone module with little
regard toward look & feel of cursor pathing of rest of fields on screen.
personally, i believe its design mimics somewhat popup command, with the 
notable exeptions you point out.

that being said - i would consider changing my stance anyway for a 
design issue not even brought up yet - since <Esc> to save does not 
actually save anything (save for some internal buffer that is pending 
until record itself is saved by some other action) when leaving the memo,
maybe it should not be used simply for that reason.  you don't want
users thinking stuff is saved when in fact it is not recorded to 
disk yet.  Does that mean I want <Tab> to leave the field?  I'm really
not sure.  As suggested, maybe something on <Options> screen can do
a save/cancel.

the question after all is said and done begs to be asked - if <Tab> 
leaves the memo update field, how does filePro know if you want to save 
the change you made to the 5th word on the 7th line of the 12th paragraph 
or not?  should it automatically assume all should be saved as-is when you
leave the field, or is it better to have an easy, non-damaging way out
as there is now?

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-Joe Chasan-                      Magnatech Business Systems, Inc.
joe at magnatechonline.com           Hicksville, NY - USA
http://www.MagnatechOnline.com    Tel.(516) 931-4444/Fax.(516) 931-1264