NSLog();

BBEdit is one of my favorite applications. I use about 1/10 of its power (we supposedly use the same percentage of our brain power at peak usage) because it typically follows good standards, stays very much "out of my way," provides keyboard shortcuts throughout, and so on. In short, it's a very good "citizen" of Mac OS X as John Geleynse likes to say. It's even got an animated dock icon when doing massive find/replaces or uploading files to FTP servers.

That having been said, this dialog is just pure crap. Pure crap. Let's see what we can find wrong with it:
>

Let's take a look at what a dialog box should look like from Apple's HIG (Human Interface Guidelines):

According to the HIGs, alerts should contain:

• Alert message text, in bold, should provide a summary of the error. It's often presented as a question.
• Informative text in a smaller font telling the user what the consequences of their action would be.
• Buttons for addressing the alert with names that correspond to the action. For example, "Erase."
• The application icon. If it's a more critical alert, the icon can be badged onto the STOP! icon.

This is a rare case. BBEdit normally does a great job... or does it? Have we just gotten used to it? Have a look at this dialog, which occurs when you attempt to upload a file (via BBEdit's built-in FTP tool) over a file that already exists. It at least gets the default button on the right part correct, but corrects none of the other problems. Shame on you, Bare Bones. Shame on me for not noticing and reporting this earlier.

Good design has been mandated and is expected. Can my reasons for using BBEdit continue to include "adheres to the Apple HIGs?" It would appear not.

Comments RSS