R devel - Apr 2008 - OSX R GUI visual interface tweak (PR#11318)

Full_Name: Ana Nelson
Version: R 2.7.0 GUI 1.24 (5102)
OS: OSX 10.5.2
Submission from: (NULL) (213.94.201.89)


The R GUI close button has a solid circle. Screenshot is here:
http://skitch.com/ananelson/kmxj/r-console

On OSX this indicates that there are unsaved changes pending. Please see page
201 of the Apple Human Interface Guidelines (version 2008-03-11):

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/OSXHIGuidelines.pdf

However, I never save my workspace on exiting R, therefore I don't really
have
unsaved changes, so the "X" close button would be more appropriate.

I know this might seem like a very fussy request, but I actually find it very
distracting to think I have unsaved changes in a document, and every time I
glance and see the solid circle I have to stop and think and remind myself that
I don't. Apple has me so well trained! (sigh) I think it's because when
I see a
dot instead of an X, I anticipate that I will be faced with a "save
as" dialog
box, which will interrupt my workflow and I will have to think about where to
save the file, what to call it etc.

Anyway, I would vote to get rid of the dot, perhaps just for those users who
have the "No" option selected for "save workspace on exit from
R".

On Apr 28, 2008, at 5:10 AM, nelson.ana at gmail.com wrote:
> Full_Name: Ana Nelson
> Version: R 2.7.0 GUI 1.24 (5102)
> OS: OSX 10.5.2
> Submission from: (NULL) (213.94.201.89)
>
>
> The R GUI close button has a solid circle. Screenshot is here:
> http://skitch.com/ananelson/kmxj/r-console
>
> On OSX this indicates that there are unsaved changes pending. Please  
> see page
> 201 of the Apple Human Interface Guidelines (version 2008-03-11):
>
>
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/OSXHIGuidelines.pdf
>
> However, I never save my workspace on exiting R, therefore I don't  
> really have
> unsaved changes, so the "X" close button would be more
appropriate.
>
The workspace has nothing to do with it. The window you are referring  
to is the console window and its contents (text) has changed (namely R  
output was added), hence the unsaved status. However, to avoid  
(unexpected) loss of data, we don't reset the status on console text  
save, either.

The R console semantics doesn't readily correspond to Apple's document  
model. There are in fact at least two documents here - the console and  
the workspace. There's isn't much we can do about that.

BTW: We are not creating those buttons, Apple's frameworks are, so we  
have no control over their appearance.

> I know this might seem like a very fussy request, but I actually  
> find it very distracting to think I have unsaved changes in a  
> document, and every time I glance and see the solid circle I have to  
> stop and think and remind myself that I don't. Apple has me so well  
> trained! (sigh) I think it's because when I see a dot instead of an  
> X, I anticipate that I will be faced with a "save as" dialog box,
> which will interrupt my workflow and I will have to think about  
> where to save the file, what to call it etc.
>
> Anyway, I would vote to get rid of the dot, perhaps just for those  
> users who have the "No" option selected for "save workspace
on exit
> from R".
>
See above, that's not our call.

Cheers,
Simon