[Kde-games-devel] Module policy for kdegames4

[Ian Wadham]

On Fri, 2 Feb 2007 10:22 am, Parker Coates wrote:
> On 2/1/07, Mauricio Piacentini <mauricio at tabuleiro.com> wrote:
> > But the solution I was considering was to have two options: NEW GAME,
> > which would display a dialog box letting you choose a layout, with the
> > last played one selected by default, and NEW QUICK GAME, which would
> > simply start a new game using the current layout.
>
> Just a proposal, but how about:
>
> Game | New (Ctrl + N) to play another game with the same rules
>
> Game | New... (Ctrl + Shift + N) to start a new game with a new set of
> rules
>
> The ellipsis is a standard GUI element, but I'm not sure if the HIG
> lets you have two entries with the same name. I'm also not sure if
> most users are aware that ... means a dialog will be opened.
>
Hang on guys!  Not so fast ... :-)  Have a look through kstandardgameaction.h
and kstandardgameaction.cpp.  You will find "Choose Game &Type" there: also
several other standard game actions that have come in since some of our
games were last "renovated", such as "&Hint" and "&Solve".

BTW, in KMahjongg, I think "Choose" or "Select" would be better than "Open".
I believe GUIs and messages should generally use words a player or user
would normally use, which are not necessarily words a programmer would use
or does use inside the source code.  Think of Matt's mum!

The ellipsis is a Microsoftism.  I've used Windoze for 15 years or more but 
was unaware of the significance of those tiny dots and arrowheads and had
not really noticed them until I was told to include them in my KDE Game.
Maybe it's my weak old eyes, or maybe the context usually makes it obvious
you are going to get a dialog box or list.

Whatever ... I definitely do NOT think you should have the same word with
different meanings in a menu.  It would confuse users AND translators.  There
has just been a thread about this in kde-i18n-doc and kde-devel.  In Japanese,
the different meanings of Title and Address have very different translations.
We can and should use i18nc to put context with such words and also with
tricky/jokey texts that occur in some games.  OK, guilty as charged ... :-)
It looks as though the EBN scripts will be on the lookout for such words in
in our programs in the near future.

Well I've gone on too long as usual ... All the best, Ian W.