Dunbar and Roger, Thank for your replies,
Le 4 août 2013 à 03:32, dunb...@aol.com a écrit : > Jacques. > > > "Reply" and "Request" are both reserved words, but I get your point. Oups, sorry, I know that, but I forgot … I should never post late in the evening. > But what really are your concerns? It is true that the two commands, which > were born in 1987, are similar, in that they are both blocking, requiring > user input to dismiss. One requires a choice among explicit answers, the > other requires the user to type an answer, giving a much broader range for > that answer. > > > They might be combined into a single compound command, I suppose. But apart > from that, I do not see the ambiguity you mention. As for how they are > described and from what point of view, I do not understand what you mean. Both are questions to the user, and "answer" is not a question, but… an answer. They are antonyms and should not be used as (quasi) synonyms. A single compound command would be better indeed, and the propositon of Roger: > Prompt [for] choice with "this" or "that" or "the other" > > Prompt [for] input with "Please type your birth date." seems excellent and is semantically crystal clear ! I would however keep "ask" for everything and drop "answer" completely Ask [for] choice with "this" or "that" or "the other" Ask [for] input with "Please type your birth date." Ask [for] file input "Save data as" with default file path Ask [for] file choice "select a file" etc… Jacques > > > Craig Newman > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jacques Hausser <jacques.haus...@unil.ch> > To: How to use LiveCode <use-livecode@lists.runrev.com> > Sent: Sat, Aug 3, 2013 5:59 pm > Subject: Ask for an answer... > > > It's perhaps not a brand new topic, but I floundered again, being confused > with > "ask" and "answer" commands, so I let off some stream. > I was always bothered - and I'm not the only one - by the semantic of these > commands. In both cases, the script asks a question, and the user has to > answer. > But the "answer" command is viewed as an order to the user, when the ask > command > is viewed as a demand from the application. Two points of view for two > commands > which in fact have very similar meanings. It seems logical that these > commands > should be either described from the application's side or from the user's > side, > and not the actual mixture of both. > It would be (semantically) straightforward to change the meanings of the > extand > commands, but a nightmare to re-actualize old code. So, synonymizing > (english?) > only one of them, solutions could be: > > 1) if you prefer the point of view of the application: > > "answer" could be replaced by "request"-- for a demand needing a yes-or-no > answer > "ask" -- no change; for a demand requesting a more detailed answer, e.g. your > birthday… > > 2) if you prefer the point of view of the user > > "answer" -- no change; for a yes-or-no answer > "ask" could be replaced by "reply" -- with something more detailed. > > I'm sure that most of you, native English speakers, could find better > solutions…I'm looking forward for them ! > > Jacques > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > use-livecode mailing list > use-livecode@lists.runrev.com > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription > preferences: > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode > > > _______________________________________________ > use-livecode mailing list > use-livecode@lists.runrev.com > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription > preferences: > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode ****************************************** Prof. Jacques Hausser Department of Ecology and Evolution Biophore / Sorge University of Lausanne CH 1015 Lausanne please use my private address: 6 route de Burtigny CH-1269 Bassins tel: ++ 41 22 366 19 40 mobile: ++ 41 79 757 05 24 E-Mail: jacques.haus...@unil.ch ******************************************* _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
