Re: Suggestion: Improving language

On Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 02:13, Eric Mitchell <Eric.Mitchell_at_flysfo.com> wrote:
> I use Tortoise/SVN rarely enough that there is always a very real risk that
> I will overwrite my code.  The language it uses is not intuitive.

One mans intuition is another mans curse.

> Whereas “Import into SVN” would be clear, “Import” by itself is ambiguous.
> To most people, “import” means “to bring into my local area”; my first
> impression is that I should use this to bring code *from* SVN *into* my
> computer.  “Export” would mean the opposite, although it would be an odd

That would not be logical. How could you get something from SVN into
your computer if you have never ever put it into SVN in the first
place?

> choice of words.  When limited to one-word menu options, I would suggest
> words like “Upload” and “Download” that indicate direction from the user’s
> point-of-view.  “Put” and “Get” would be familiar to many, but “Deposit” and
> “Withdraw” would fit nicely with the idea of a repository.

Sorry, those terms are not used in SVN lingo. Using new terms for
well known commands would confuse almost all existing users (not just
TSVN users but everyone who's ever used svn before).
And the icons on the context menu already show you the direction of
the dataflow (up/download).

> The “Add” menu choice is pretty ambiguous – especially since the dialog box
> says “There’s nothing to add…”.  One is left wondering “Add what to
> where?”.  There’s space in the menu for more-intuitive verbage.

The add menu shows up so you can add files/folders recursively. The
context menu doesn't check that because it would take way too long. So
the menu shows up even though there might not be anything to add.

About the "add what to where": what were your choices? What choices
did you have for "what" and "where"?

> “Commit” is perfect, but “Update”?  “Update local” would be a step in the
> right direction.

Since "update" is right next to "Commit", I think it's perfectly clear
that update doesn't mean updating the repository.
Each command, just without context surely doesn't make much sense. But
the commands show up together in the context menu so you have at least
some context how they're used and what they mean.
The same applies to "add" mentioned above. You can also see "import"
and "checkout".

> There’s space in the menu to make “Switch” and “Relocate” more
> self-explanatory.  We all hate stopping to RTF – especially when every menu
> choice has to be looked up.

What would you suggest?
And remember: those are well known svn commands so we have to stick to that.

Stefan

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