[GRASS-dev] Message standardization

[Michael Barton]

You have my support for all of this.

Michael


On 6/18/07 3:10 AM, "Hamish" <hamish_nospam at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Michael Barton wrote:
>> 
>> Module descriptions are a different sort of beast from error
>> messages--and from GUI messages and other descriptors. All need
>> standardization, but I'd recommend doing them one at a time so as not
>> to overwhelm everyone.
>> 
>> If we can standardize error messages first it might be the simplest
>> piece to attack. Then move on to others like module descriptions in
>> the module code, module doc formatting, GUI, etc.
> 
> 
> I would consider module and option/flag descriptions much easier "low-
> hanging fruit" than error messages. For them the rules are simpler,
> 
> - module descriptions end with a "."
> - option/flag descriptions do not.
> - Multi-sentence descriptions are probably good candidates to break up
> into a short ->label + a ->description to hold additional info.
> - Begin with a capital letter.
> - Don't pad whitespace.
> 
> 
> For standard error/warning messages (ie the ones that always come right
> after G_open_file() or whatever) we can pick something nice and specify
> that on the wiki page to avoid repetitious translations of almost
> identical messages.
> 
> For the vast majority of error/warning/regular messages, they are
> single-use, module dependant, and maybe put there by the programmer on a
> just-in-case basis, ie they may never be seen by a user. Contrast that
> with the module description and option descriptions which have high
> exposure, & thus greater result from a translator's time.
> 
> library translations have high-reuse value.
> GUI translations have high-exposure value.
> 
> 
> 2c,
> Hamish

__________________________________________
Michael Barton, Professor of Anthropology
School of Human Evolution & Social Change
Center for Social Dynamics & Complexity
Arizona State University

phone: 480-965-6213
fax: 480-965-7671
www: http://www.public.asu.edu/~cmbarton