RE: [Bug-gnubg] Auto Save Settings - your opinion?

[Ian Shaw]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: motiv4u [mailto:address@hidden 
> Sent: 10 March 2011 03:10
> To: Michael Petch
> Cc: Ian Shaw; address@hidden
> Subject: Re: [Bug-gnubg] Auto Save Settings - your opinion?
> 
> On Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 10:01 PM, Michael Petch 
> <address@hidden> wrote:
> > On 09/03/2011 5:30 AM, Ian Shaw wrote:
> >> Perhaps it's too much, but would a set of auto-save 
> options resolve 
> >> the issue. Something like:
> >>
> >> Auto Save:
> >> Play settings
> >> Player names
> >> Rollout Settings
> >> Analysis Settings
> >> Board design
> >> Windows arrangement
> >
> > I like the idea, but I can see that some may find so many 
> options for 
> > saving options as a bad thing. The defalt settings of the 
> above would 
> > be targetted at the regular user. Experts could go and change it.
> >
> > Window arrangements I assume would be saved upon exiting of 
> the application.
> 
> For Windows - if it really has to be different from other 
> builds - I definitely would vote for a "Do you want to save 
> these settings?"
> when exiting the application.
> The same Windows behaviour as in "Save the file?" when you 
> exit a Windows application where changes are made to the content
> 

I can't speak for any OS other than Windows, but I would dislike a
prompt on leaving the app. Windows only offers to save data files,
equivalent to saving a gnubg session. If I change the options in Word or
Excel, those options are permanently changed as soon as I Apply or OK
the dialogue box (e.g. display paragraph markings in Word, auto
calculation in Excel). I think this it what Windows users expect when
they use gnubg. I don't want to be prompted with a "Save the game"
prompt and a "Save the settings" prompt when leaving the app. It would
be as irritating as Excel 2003 when trying to exit a csv file.

For me, the best of the simple implementations is to save everything,
every time. This removes a step from the user's actions (Save Settings)
and eliminates the frustration when they make changes and forget to
save. If changes are saved automatically and the user didn't really want
that, at least they know they caused the change by their own actions.  I
think this is the more acceptable of the possible undesired behaviours.

The suggestion for a configurable set of auto-save options is intended
to allow the advanced user a bit more control over the default
behaviour, while pretty much keeping to Windows standard usage. The
default would be chosen to please most users, most of the time.

Another method would be to change the dialog box options to have "Save
and Store" and "Save for session only " buttons, or an "OK" button with
a subsidiary check box to save permanently (or temporarily). However,
this diverges from standard Windows usage, so may add confusion for the
user.

If having a set of auto-save options is deemed to be a step too far,
then I am in favour of auto saving automatically. Then, at least the
user in in the situation of finding things as they left them last time,
rather than the program making changes behind their back (by reverting
to unsaved settings).

-- Ian