Re: [Audacity-quality] Track Controls - was: Visibility of sync-lock mini-clock icon in Track Panel
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From: Gale A. <ga...@au...> - 2010-10-27 16:35:47
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| From Vaughan Johnson <va...@au...> | Tue, 26 Oct 2010 13:31:31 -0700 | Subject: [Audacity-quality] Track Controls - was: Visibility of sync-lock mini-clock icon in Track Panel > On 10/26/2010 11:56 AM, Bill Wharrie wrote: > > > > On 26-Oct-10, at 1:49 PM, Gale Andrews wrote: > > > >> > >> Gale wrote: > <snip> > >> Bill, are you moving to Vaughan's viewpoint, or do you feel "Track > >> Panel" > >> is a historical accident like TrackInfo that's best left as is, > >> given it largely > >> works for the intended audience? > > > > > > I'm fine with "Track Panel" as is. It's the "panel" at the left-hand > > end of the "track". I think it works for our intended audience, as > > very few are likely to know of the use of the word "panel" in software > > development, ... > > Yes, but it has that jargon meaning as a good analogy to general usage > meaning of "a separate or distinct part of a surface" (definition 2 at > http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/panel). I think that "jargon" meaning of "Panel" is why "Track Panel" works for users in the Manual, and why using "Panel" in a phrase that means the TrackPanel Class will be confusing (to users). > >...and even fewer will know of the "TrackPanel" class. > > Probably zero. But irrelevant. The point I made about that is for > discussions between developers and QA, where if "Track Panel" stands, it > will have two different meanings and we'll have to explain which one we > mean whenever we discuss them. For me, this is the only really valid argument for changing "Track Panel", but it's tough to find any other phrase that will work. If developers only use "TrackPanel" to describe the Class, as they would expect documenters to use a space in terms like "Track Panel", this consideration should be trivial. > > Once you start adding qualifiers, such as in "Track Control(s) Panel", > > you run into the problem that the panel contains things other than > > controls, specifically the track info (stereo/mono, rate and depth) > > and the sync-lock state indicator. > > But the primary things shown there, in relevancy and number, are > controls (in the general usage sense Not in number. The only things shown there that are controls in general usage are the sliders. I really can't stress that enough. >-- in GUI programming they *are* all controls). Close box, drop-down > menu (with 16 top-level commands), two sliders, 3 buttons, vs two static > texts and one indicator icon. I'll stand corrected then in terms of one of my comments elsewhere, as I didn't think the indicator icon was a control. But it's irrelevant to the issue. And generally Vaughan, why are you going on about this when you said in one of your messages that this was above your pay grade and that Forum/Manual writers should decide :=)? Actually I think your input to the Manual is often valuable as you have a very different take on it and spot issues that may have been missed. Thanks! But I think it will be hard to get any consensus on solving this terminology mismatch problem (to the extent it is one). Gale |