[MUD-Dev] Usability and interface

[Chris Gray]

[Ola F:]

:If I should ever make a text-only interface I would go for
:tab-expansion, as found in CLIs like bash or other shells, as well as
:"word level" editing. In essence: context-sensitive syntax tree editing.
:
:For instance:
:you type: "swo", hit <tab>
:computer: expands to "examine sword"
:you type: <left> <up>
:computer: pops up a menu with "wield left", "wield right", "examine" etc

Probably only possible in a system where the entire set of commands, nouns,
adjectives, etc. is known right from the start. Otherwise your completion
sets have to be built on the fly, which can be expensive. You'd have to
have tables containing all possible words, if nothing else. To make it
all context sensitive, you'd have to do some kind of "selection scan" to
pick and choose what the system thinks the user could be trying to apply
in the current circumstances. Isn't that almost restricting the user's
choices just like some complain that graphics-only input does? Still, its
probably doable.

--
Chris Gray   cg at ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA