NewsArchive
02-01-2005, 03:29 AM
[Monday, January 31, 2005 6:49 AM]
Perhaps in the short term there's something that can be done to enhance
dialogs. I have two things in mind. Both of these come from a basic need to
develop as "friendly" as possible install. Further, there are some needs that
go beyond that to a real necessity to provide meaningful information for
complex installs.
I'm using IPDD as an example here, but the need is general.
An idea for "friendly" is the ability to add (string) text in the body of a
dialog. A recent example is the product install for an IPDD based product. I
want to gather the server hostname and permit changing the default ports.
Given a need for an average user to successfully install the product without
their brain exploding, we really need some way to present some explanatory
text. Using this example, a max 255 char string positioned above the two port
entry fields would be useful.
Moving beyond friendly, consider an IPDD server install. IT professionals
expect, and less skilled users absolutely require, more information than can
be presented in any number of dialogs. The simple answer I've used
successfully for years is a Help button that calls into a chm. All it takes
to call a specific topic is a program name to execute and the ability to
create parameters to that program. For HTML Help, the resulting call looks
like this:
%win%\hh.exe -mapid %LAN INSTALL HLPTOPIC ID% %INSTALLHELPFILE%
Were this to make it into SB5, perhaps an extra button on each dialog type
that is hidden by default. With the ability to selectively activate it on
dialogs, set its label string, and give it a program to execute and a command
line, it could generically start any program.
--
Best regards,
Mark
Perhaps in the short term there's something that can be done to enhance
dialogs. I have two things in mind. Both of these come from a basic need to
develop as "friendly" as possible install. Further, there are some needs that
go beyond that to a real necessity to provide meaningful information for
complex installs.
I'm using IPDD as an example here, but the need is general.
An idea for "friendly" is the ability to add (string) text in the body of a
dialog. A recent example is the product install for an IPDD based product. I
want to gather the server hostname and permit changing the default ports.
Given a need for an average user to successfully install the product without
their brain exploding, we really need some way to present some explanatory
text. Using this example, a max 255 char string positioned above the two port
entry fields would be useful.
Moving beyond friendly, consider an IPDD server install. IT professionals
expect, and less skilled users absolutely require, more information than can
be presented in any number of dialogs. The simple answer I've used
successfully for years is a Help button that calls into a chm. All it takes
to call a specific topic is a program name to execute and the ability to
create parameters to that program. For HTML Help, the resulting call looks
like this:
%win%\hh.exe -mapid %LAN INSTALL HLPTOPIC ID% %INSTALLHELPFILE%
Were this to make it into SB5, perhaps an extra button on each dialog type
that is hidden by default. With the ability to selectively activate it on
dialogs, set its label string, and give it a program to execute and a command
line, it could generically start any program.
--
Best regards,
Mark