Undo-Proof Operations

Some operations simply cannot be undone because they involve some action that triggers a device not under the direct control of the program. After an e-mail message has been sent, for example, there is no undoing it. After a computer has been turned off without saving data, there is no undoing the loss. Many operations, however, masquerade as undo-proof, but they are really easily reversible. For example, when you save a document for the first time in most programs, you can choose a name for the file. But almost no program lets you rename that file. Sure, you can Save As under another name, but that just makes another file under the new name, leaving the old file untouched under the old name. Why isn't a filename undo provided? Because it doesn't fall into the traditional view of what undo is for, programmers generally don't provide a true undo function for changing a filename. Spend some time looking at your own application and see if you can find functions that seem as if they should be undoable, but currently aren't. You may be surprised by how many you find.




About Face 2.0(c) The Essentials of Interaction Design
About Face 2.0(c) The Essentials of Interaction Design
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2006
Pages: 263

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net