Multiple search windows...

["Glenn Maxey" <glenn.maxey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Dov,

Here's an enhancement to FrameMaker that I mentioned in the past, but
want to bring up again because the usability problem still bothers me
BIG TIME. Could you please add it to the list of enhancement requests?

REQUEST:

Allow for and support multiple Find/Change windows. Each time you hit
Ctrl+F or otherwise lauch the Find/Change, you get a new window. This
way you can establish multiple search(/replace) criteria one time and
have them available for as long as the windows are open.

Even if you limited it to a maximum of two or three search windows, it
would be 100% superior than just one. Although the windows would be
equivalent in what they could do, users would probably most frequently
use one to search for text and the other to search for things.

[If you limit the number of windows to, say, three, Ctrl+F can serve to
launch new Find/Change windows until the maximum is reached; thereafter,
it round-robins through each Find/Change window.]

REASON:

Because searching for paragraph formats, character formats, paragraph
tags, ..., special tags uses the same Find/Change window as does
searching for normal text, the GUI becomes error prone and cumbersome.

Specifically, in order to look for anything, you have to establish both
what type of tag you're looking for through a drop down and some
identifying text by entering it (even if it's wild cards).

A frequent error is when I decide that I need to look for specific text
in the document after having looked for a tag (like a token or
Unresolved Cross-Reference). I change the identifying text and forget to
change the type of tag in the drop-down. True, immediately getting the
message that it wasn't found often clues me in. However, almost as
often, it doesn't. "Did I spell it right? Should I change the case? Is
there leading or trailing space? Or is it really not in the
document/book?" 

More common, a set of books will require several changes. Each change
requires looking for something specific.

- Sometimes it is more efficient to look for one thing across a set of
documents or books; then you change the search parameter and make
another pass through the documents or books. Although efficient from
FM's perspective, this is not always efficient from a writer's
perspective.

- Sometimes it is more efficient to completely modify a document/book
(implying multiple passes on the document with different search
parameters), before moving onto the next document/book. This is where it
gets really tedious re-establishing search(/replace) patterns.


The point is, FrameMaker shouldn't make it so easy for me to screw up
and generate error messages. It shouldn't be putting stumbling blocks
and usability quirks in my way for things that I do frequently. Things
that I do frequently are:

[*] Search(/replace) text in the document/book.
[*] Search for tags (formats, unresolved references, etc.) in the
document/book.
[*] Look for one string in one document, while looking for another
string in another document.

I do them so frequently, that I often do them in rapid sequence. It gets
to be a real pain changing search settings. I find myself adapting my
thought process or work flow to match the limitations of the tool. Well,
here is one case where the tool should be adapted to match the thought
process and improve the work flow.

Having two or three search(/replace) windows would be a huge stride in
improving FrameMaker's usability and reducing pilot error.



Glenn Maxey
Technical Writer
Voyant Technologies, Inc.
1765 West 121st Avenue
Westminster, CO 80234-2301
Tel. +1 303.223.5164
Fax. +1 303.223.5275
glenn.maxey@voyanttech.com

** To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@omsys.com **
** with "unsubscribe framers" (no quotes) in the body.   **