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Old 08-19-2014, 12:18 AM   #38
kovidgoyal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rev. Bob View Post
That's certainly one option, yes. If I try to copy a file where it already exists, no operating system I've used this decade has had a problem with figuring out an alternate filename that isn't taken. Windows uses "book (Copy).epub", or "book (Copy) (n).epub" as need be. Even a simple dialog box saying "hey, there was a problem" and prompting for a new filename (ie. shunting over to the Save As logic) would be helpful.
Sigh, read the very first sentence in my post again. Here I'll mark the relevant part in bold for you:

There's no guarantee that that trying to save a file as book-1.epub would work

Or in other words, while what you suggest would work for your special error mode, it will not in general work. Learn to think beyond you own limited horizons.

Quote:
So you're saying that you see nothing wrong with "close when finished saving" closing with no error message, abort option, or recovery option in the event that the save is unsuccessful? Because that goes against pretty much every principle of user interaction that I'm familiar with.
Yes, because what you are suggesting would leave the user with no way to quit the program short of force killing it. You need to broaden your experience with user interaction principles.

And yes, special casing your particular error mode is possible, trying another name if the first name fails. That does not solve the general problem of what to do when saving fails, only your special error mode. And one of the basic principles of designing robust software is to not litter the code with endless special cases.

In any case, I am done talking with you, again. All the best.
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