RE: Multiple search windows...

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

I admit that having previous searches available in a drop-down list is useful, but I don't consider it a better option that what I proposed: multiple search windows. 

True, the drop-down might save me having to retype things and I would like to see it as an additional feature. And this is great if I'm only concerned about Text or one type of information.

However, because searching for tags uses the same mechanism as search for text, the usability problem still exists. I have to change (a) the type of information and (b) the match/text I'm looking for, and (c) possibly other parameters each time I change "operations". Moreover, this gets worse when I'm doing more than just a search, but a search-and-replace.

The point is, once I have an elaborate search[/replace] pattern establish that I have to repeat, I don't want to have to change ANYTHING just because I notice something in my book/document that is more pressing in terms of when it gets addressed and how. 

As was mentioned, I frequently perform these operations in any order and often one after and another and repeat:

[*] 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.

Having two or three (or more) search windows at my disposal assures me that I don't trash needed search settings too soon. 

In addition, having drop-down's available means that FM can truly limit the number of multiple search windows to two or three yet still provide me a benefit as if I had unlimited search[/replace] memory.

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



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Thomas Michanek [mailto:thomas.michanek@telia.com]
> Sent: Friday, August 23, 2002 4:10 PM
> To: Glenn Maxey
> Cc: framers@omsys.com
> Subject: Re: Multiple search windows...
> 
> 
> > 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.
> > 
> > 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.
> 
> There's another way to accomplish this that may be "better":
> Have the Find window remember the searches made by the user and
> allow them to be selected from a drop-down list. This would include
> both the type of search and the associated text (if any), e.g.
>  "Text: text string"
>  "Paragraph Tag: Heading2"
>  "Marker of type: index"
>  "Unresolved cross-reference"
> Guess how handy this would be in a final review stage where you want
> to find or check a number of things in several files?
> 
> Or, at least, let each type of find operation remember its latest
> associated text string, so that selecting a type would automatically
> display an appropriate text string (the latest one used, or blank).
> I mean, really, how often do you want to first search for the text
> string "the shazamabing widget", then search for a Marker of Type
> and have "the shazamabing widget" being proposed as the marker type???
> 
> There are several other improvements that can be made to the 
> Find window,
> such as grouping check box options vertically instead of horizontally
> (which is a much better way to get an overview of and set options),
> or having one button for searching forward and another for searching
> backward (instead of a check box located the furthest away from the
> Find button...)
> 
> If you use FM's search function often, and thereby are exposed to its
> deficiencies, Glenn's suggestions and the ones above are quite natural
> and should be part of any effort to improve the user interface.
> We're not talking rocket science here, or anything that would need a
> major rework of FM's inner workings. Just Do It(TM).

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