On 2019-11-18 08:56, D wrote: > Adding to the error message to account for when the software crashes > seems like overkill (as does linking to the documentation from a > dialog, BTW). The topic is covered both in the wiki and in the > Tutorial, and a quick check online or in the documentation should > resolve the problem. Except that those resources exist now, and they have _not_ resolved the problem. It seems to be one that every new user runs up against.
I don't understand the objection to a link to the documentation. Why make it harder for users who read the message and say "that doesn't cover my situation"? The GnuCash learning curve is steep enough; why not do what we can to ease the burden? And in a later message from the same writer: > The author of "The Design of Everyday Things" said that signs > explaining things to users are evidence of a failed system, and that > a properly-designed system has no need for them. I agree with that. Well, it's a nice sound bite. But redesigning the system takes several thousand times the effort of fixing the message (if not more). It seems to me that we do what we can do now, and that's to fix the message. Then years from now, when the system is redesigned not to need a lock file, the message can be retired. But in the meantime it will have reduced user frustration as well as repetitive traffic on the mailing list. Derek Atkins suggested this wording: > The data file is currently in use. Most likely this means that the > data file was not cleanly closed (due to a crash) after it was last > opened. If you are sure that it is not currently in use by you or > another user, click "Open Anyway". Otherwise, click one of the other > options. I think we could avoid mentioning technicalities of the lock file by inserting "GnuCash thinks that" at the beginning of that message. And perhaps, in response to those who worry (rightly, in my opinion) about long messages, we might even omit the second sentence and a redundant "currently". That gives us "GnuCash thinks that the data file is in use. If you're sure that neither you nor anyone else currently has it open, select Open Anyway. Otherwise, choose one of the other options." While it is nice to explain why a thing happened, most users really care only about what they should do next. -- Regards, Stan Brown Tompkins County, New York, USA https://BrownMath.com http://OakRoadSystems.com _______________________________________________ gnucash-user mailing list gnucash-user@gnucash.org To update your subscription preferences or to unsubscribe: https://lists.gnucash.org/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-user If you are using Nabble or Gmane, please see https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Mailing_Lists for more information. ----- Please remember to CC this list on all your replies. You can do this by using Reply-To-List or Reply-All.
