Re: GUI necessary?

Denis wrote:
>Now i am really confused. I always tought that GUI meant Graphical User
Interface. If i follow your logic and i put in my green screen program hit
F3 to finish, hit F7 for $20, F8 for $50, I then have a GUI application???

>I would apreciate if someone, among the numerous very knowledgable people
on this list, could post a definition of GUI. I think that some of the
difference of opinion on the subject comes from the fact that GUI means
different thing to different persons.

Of course everything posted on this topic is nothing but opinion---here's
my 2 cents worth.

Everybody is right, ... or at least around the general area of the bulls eye.

The components of GUI:

* a pointing device, e.g., a mouse

* a "graphical" display---yes our old friend, the 5250, is sort of
graphical, but the only visual interface between the user and the computer
are characters, colors, and a keyboard. In a GUI, there's much more: icons,
fonts, colors, pictures, shapes, etc.

* then there are add-ons, the neat little controls, gizmos, or whatever you
want to call them: combo boxes, check boxes, menus, pop-up menus,
drag-drop, shortcut keys, animations, radio buttons, scroll bars, on & on,
etc. These are where the productivity gains can occur with dramatic results.

* the old keyboard


Out of this, how many great GUI apps have we really seen before?

To me, creating a GUI representation of a green screen, where the fields
are replaced with combo boxes, f-keys are now command buttons, along with a
menu; is NOT a good app. It is GUI, but what does it get you? Not much.

Some features of a great GUI app is/has:

* effectively used visual cues. These would be the toolbars, icons, fonts,
etc.

* a very responsive and intuitive interface. This means that the user is in
control and that as actions are taken, they are reflected visually; drag &
drop features are available; pop-up menus; tool tips...we all know what
these are.

* near error-free operation: This means that if a user can only type in 5
values for a field, she cannot key in any other value. She clicks a combo
box, or keys in the first character. If certain fields are mutually
exclusive, the improper fields are greyed out so that they cannot be accessed.

* Smarts: e.g., The ability to set user preferences---exit the app, and
upon restart, everything is as the user left it.

* Multi-mode: this means that not-so-sharp folks can point & click on say,
a picture of New York. Sharp folks can just key-in N, then Y.

* a full fledged keyboard interface!!! Here is MY BIGGEST PEAVE with 3rd
party GUI apps today. This means that when I press F4 in a combo box, I
want to see that puppy open up so I can press X and it takes me to the
first entry with an X. When I tab into a changeable text box, it should be
selected; then when I press F2, it should deselect so I can change
characters. THEN, if I press Esc, I want it set back to what it was.

* consistency

These things, if used effectively, make GUI a huge improvement in user
productivity over what we green screeners can provide. BUT---IMHO, creating
these kinds of apps take mucho time---way more than creating a screen with
SDA, wrapping a maint pgm around it in RPG, and sticking it on a menu.

BTW, I claim no expertise on this, but I do understand it 8-)>

And here's a question I'd like answered:

If you work in an environment like I do, what nutty IS manager is going to
give an AS/400 programmer that kind of time to create an effective GUI app
for users? About two days where I come from. That pretty much puts me outta
commission on say, ... about the time I'm clicking combo box #7 on the
toolbox. Pretty sad.

Regards,
Wynn Osborne


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