On Thu, Oct 04, 2007 at 10:11:27PM +0200, Dov Feldstern wrote: > Martin Vermeer wrote: > >On Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 08:45:07PM +0200, Juergen Spitzmueller wrote: > > >>Do you really want to force users to > >>- dissolve everything, > > > >No, the user is doing this to himself. He made an _error_. The canonical > >way to correct an error is to 1) undo it, 2) do it again, this time > >right. The circumstance that font attributes allow you to shortcut this > >doesn't _entitle_ you to the same shortcut in an entirely different > >paradigmatic context. > > > >Most people learn quickly from their errors. This will be a rare case. > > > > Martin, I don't agree with you about this being an error on the part of > the user. Maybe you always know exactly what you're planning to type and > how you're planning to typeset it and all, but I certainly don't. I like > to put things on the screen, and then move it around, and copy from here > and past there, and emphasize this and then unemphasize part and then > reemphasize something else... That's why I use a computer, otherwise a > typewriter (well, if it had a few fonts ;) ) would be enough. > > In general, I think that the "charstyle-as-inset-people" ;) are focusing > too much on what the final document looks like, and not enough on the > writing process. But remember --- once the document is in its final > form, there's no need for LyX anymore. LyX is about getting to that > final form, and for that you want the writing/editing process to be as > simple and intuitive as possible. And the way I think about styles, at > least, is "finger painting" (at the logical, semantic level).
Pardon my French, but I think this is nonsense. Why do you get stuck on this one case where you need three operations instead of two (or five instead of four?) to get from where you are to where you want to be? _Especially_ from the writing process viewpoint you should appreciate the ease with which you can undo things in the inset paradigm. Regret an applied emphasis? Put the cursor inside and dissolve. No need to carefully select the emphasized range like you would have to in the character range paradigm. (Or use undo... but that option disappears if you did other things inbetween that you wish to keep.) - Martin
