[MUD-Dev] Usability and interface and who the hell is suppo

[clawrenc at cup.hp.com]

In <199709260005.UAA27594 at polaris.net>, on 09/25/97 
   at 08:48 PM, "Travis Casey" <efindel at polaris.net> said:

>clawrenc at cup.hp.com <clawrenc at cup.hp.com> wrote:
>>What is wrong with:
>>
>>  > get rock
>>  Do you want the:
>>    1) stone
>>    2) pebble
>>    3) gem
>>    4) boulder
>>    0) Cancel command
>>  >>
>>
>>?
>>
>>No ambiguity, simple interface, obvious, easily learnable,
>>predictable...

>The "cancel command" part seems to imply a modal interface, which can
>be bad in a time-intensive situation, such as combat.  

Yup, it is modal, but it is not system modal.  Any command entered
which does not match the prompt also acts as a cancel command and is
passed thru to the normal parser.  I also allow commands to be
prefixed with a "!" which passes the command straight back to the
parser without cancelling the nested prompt.

>  The orc draws his sword!
>  > weld sword
>  Do you want to weld the:
>    1) long sword (in scabbard)
>    2) two-handed sword
>    3) short sword
>    0) cancel
>  The orc attacks you!
>  > wield sword
>  I'm sorry, that isn't one of the options.

Which is why I implemented the above short circuiting.

--
J C Lawrence                           Internet: claw at null.net
(Contractor)                           Internet: coder at ibm.net
---------------(*)               Internet: clawrenc at cup.hp.com
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