RE: Webfacing reactions from users -- WDSCI-L

I'll come part of the way with you, Joe. Nothing new in what I'll say, I think.

Replacing a 5250 terminal-based input method with a Windows non-emulation interface (but not a browser) is usually a disaster performance-wise, unless the developer does a lot of work on navigation. The main reason, IMO, is that most Windows developers think "mouse", and that is slow by its very nature, viz., it is eye-driven, not finger-driven. You have to _see_ where you put the cursor.

Now, it _is_ possible to create an appropriate tab order and even map some key combination to the "hook" key. And with Change and various Key* events in textboxes, one could get a lot of what you say, so I'm with you there.

I think, however, that this kind of work is rarely done, esp. by Windows-minded folk trying to replace that "antiquated" interface with something better (being translated to "prettier") - unfortunately, the better is usually tied to graphic methods, hence to the mouse, hence to the eye, hence slow.

So let us all do better than this. I assume Java and other tools can specify, for one thing, the order of things when you tab. But, again, I've seen a lot of pages that are a mess in this regard. Add tabs also include the stuff that is not directly on the page itself.

JMVHO
Vern

At 05:10 PM 5/17/2004, you wrote:

> From: Kelly Cookson
>
> Just my opinion...but I don't think Webfacing or *any* web based
interface
> can be as fast as a 5250 green screen when it comes to rapidly keying
in a
> lot of data. Web interfaces have their place.  Heads down keying with
> large volumes of data may not be one of them.

Yes and no, in my opinion.  Yes, there are certain things the web just
doesn't do well.  The biggest one is type-ahead; web pages don't
typically handle type-ahead very well.  But then neither does the 5250 -
it's only EMULATED 5250 sessions that support type-ahead.

As to other things, you need certain capabilities such as auto-field
advance (when you fill a field, the cursor jumps to the next field),
lower-to-upper translation and function key support.  If you've got
those, you can handle quite a bit of the heads-down data entry (except,
as I said, the type ahead from one screen to the next).

Cursor positioning using the arrow keys is difficult, and you often have
to train users around it.  Note that it can be emulated, but for a
price.

Finally, if you can get sub-second response time, you can get around the
type-ahead problem.  As long as your clerks aren't waiting for screen
refreshes, they won't complain about the type-ahead.  This is a
combination of the application and the interface.

So, in the end, no I don't think you necessarily have to keep anything
green screen.  Some clerks may grumble a little bit, but if you have a
good "green screen in a browser" emulator they won't complain.

Joe

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