From: "Jean-Noël AVILA" <jn.avila@free.fr>
To: Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>
Cc: git@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH 2/4] usability: fix am and checkout for nevermind questions
Date: Wed, 03 May 2017 20:35:06 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <2001640.bFkheBfX4c@cayenne> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20170503165158.GZ28740@aiede.svl.corp.google.com>
Le mercredi 3 mai 2017 09:51:58 CEST, vous avez écrit :
> Jean-Noel Avila wrote:
> > Subject: usability: fix am and checkout for nevermind questions
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Jean-Noel Avila <jn.avila@free.fr>
>
> Thanks for working on improving Git's UX. I agree with the goal in
> general (we should not gratuitously surprise users) but I think I
> lack context for appreciating this particular example.
>
> This is a good place to describe the motivation behind the patch and
> what effective change it would have.
>
> [...]
>
> > +++ b/builtin/am.c
>
> [...]
>
> > if (is_empty_file(am_path(state, "patch"))) {
> >
> > - printf_ln(_("Patch is empty. Was it split wrong?"));
> > + printf_ln(_("Patch is empty. It may have been split wrong."));
>
> [...]
>
> > if (unmerged_cache()) {
> >
> > printf_ln(_("You still have unmerged paths in your index.\n"
> >
> > - "Did you forget to use 'git add'?"));
> > + "You might want to use 'git add' on them."));
>
> [...]
>
> > if (opts.new_branch && argc == 1)
> >
> > die(_("Cannot update paths and switch to branch '%s' at the same
> > time.\n"
> >
> > - "Did you intend to checkout '%s' which can not be resolved
as
> > commit?"), + "'%s' can not be resolved as commit, but it
> > should."),
>
> In the current state I think this patch makes things worse (questions
> are not automatically a bad thing), which would make it especially
> useful to see more about the motivation so we can find out whether
> there's another way.
>
I am not a UX designer, but for me, in the context of interaction with a
command line program, any question that does not accept a reply is bad design.
That also means that any command that does not run interactively should not
ask questions. The shell interface is too informal to allow being loose on the
program side. Comparatively to a GUI, where a label is formally informative
and a popping-up dialog box asks for user input.
This patch should indeed be squashed with the first one. They are small changes
in strings printed when dying. They would share the more extended commit
message.
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2017-05-03 18:35 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 41+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2017-05-03 16:29 [PATCH 1/4] usability: don't ask questions if no reply is required Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-03 16:29 ` [PATCH 2/4] usability: fix am and checkout for nevermind questions Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-03 16:51 ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-05-03 18:35 ` Jean-Noël AVILA [this message]
2017-05-03 16:29 ` [PATCH 3/4] read-tree.c: rework UI when merging no trees Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-03 17:04 ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-05-03 18:39 ` Jean-Noël AVILA
2017-05-03 16:29 ` [PATCH 4/4] git-filter-branch: be assertative on dying message Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-03 17:07 ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-05-03 16:47 ` [PATCH 1/4] usability: don't ask questions if no reply is required Jonathan Nieder
2017-05-03 16:58 ` Stefan Beller
2017-05-03 17:37 ` Jean-Noël AVILA
2017-05-03 21:07 ` [PATCH v2 1/3] " Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-03 21:07 ` [PATCH v2 2/3] read-tree -m: make error message for merging 0 trees less smart aleck Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-11 3:46 ` Junio C Hamano
2017-05-11 4:31 ` [PATCH] read-tree: "read-tree -m --empty" does not make sense Junio C Hamano
2017-05-03 21:07 ` [PATCH v2 3/3] git-filter-branch: make the error msg when missing branch more open Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-11 3:53 ` Junio C Hamano
2017-05-04 8:52 ` [PATCH v2 1/3] usability: don't ask questions if no reply is required Kerry, Richard
2017-05-04 9:09 ` Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
2017-05-04 10:14 ` Kerry, Richard
2017-05-09 8:18 ` Jean-Noël AVILA
2017-05-09 9:21 ` Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
2017-05-04 9:41 ` Jean-Noël AVILA
2017-05-11 3:16 ` Junio C Hamano
2017-05-11 10:10 ` Kerry, Richard
2017-05-11 10:28 ` Konstantin Khomoutov
2017-05-11 10:33 ` Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
2017-05-11 12:06 ` [PATCH v3 " Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-11 12:06 ` [PATCH v3 2/3] read-tree -m: make error message for merging 0 trees less smart aleck Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-11 19:08 ` Jonathan Nieder
2017-05-12 6:28 ` Junio C Hamano
2017-05-12 12:54 ` Jean-Noël AVILA
2017-05-11 12:06 ` [PATCH v3 3/3] git-filter-branch: Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-12 6:27 ` Junio C Hamano
2017-05-12 13:03 ` [PATCH v4 1/3] usability: don't ask questions if no reply is required Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-12 13:03 ` [PATCH v4 2/3] read-tree -m: make error message for merging 0 trees less smart aleck Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-12 13:03 ` [PATCH v4 3/3] git-filter-branch: be more direct in an error message Jean-Noel Avila
2017-05-12 22:36 ` [PATCH v4 1/3] usability: don't ask questions if no reply is required Junio C Hamano
2017-05-13 15:37 ` Johannes Sixt
2017-05-15 2:18 ` Junio C Hamano
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