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Re: front end complaint (ui design flaw?)

• To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
• Subject: [mg55548] Re: [mg55539] front end complaint (ui design flaw?)
• From: DrBob <drbob at bigfoot.com>
• Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2005 03:42:31 -0500 (EST)
• References: <200503280816.DAA22214@smc.vnet.net>
• Reply-to: drbob at bigfoot.com
• Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com

Yes, searching for anything complicated often fails.

Maybe that's why Help isn't searchable.

Bobby

On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 03:16:45 -0500 (EST), Chris Chiasson <chris.chiasson at gmail.com> wrote:

> Example workflow:
> Type an expression containing a comma into an input cell, say:
> mydata[run1,paramB]
>
> Decide that the name of the expression should be different, perhaps to
> differentiate it from some other data. Imagine that this same
> expression occurs twenty times in the remainder of the notebook.
> Decide that the find/replace command in the notebook should be useful
> here.
>
> Highlight the text, hit ctrl+c. Use the keyboard to move the cursor to
> a position above the cell. Hit ctrl+f. Erase whatever may be in the
> find box. Hit shift+insert to paste the expression. Note that the
> expression has a space after the comma (probably for readability when
> pasting to another application).
>
> Guess what? The find command doesn't work because the pasted
> expression does not match the copied expression. eg
> mydata[run1,paramB] =!= mydata[run1, paramB]
>
> Lets continue....
>
> Suppose that the user had not moved the cursor after the copy.
> Pressing the find button will "work" because the copied text is
> already selected. Let's suppose that the user also pastes the
> expression into the replace cell and modifies it. After that, perhaps
> the user hits "Replace All"... The first selection (the one that was
> copied) will be replaced, but none of the other ones in the notebook
> will be replaced.
>
> I think you could see how this can out of hand... At this point, the
> first occurrence of mydata[run1,paramB] might be changed to
> mydata[run1, paramB,typeC], while all other occurrences are unchanged.
>
> Solution? I dunno. A quick hack would be to check the target of the
> paste (if that's possible). If the target is the find box, then the
> paste should be the exact text.
>
> me = Mathematic 5.0 on Windows
>
> Regards,



-- 
DrBob at bigfoot.com

• References:
  • front end complaint (ui design flaw?)
    • From: Chris Chiasson <chris.chiasson@gmail.com>