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Subject:FW: RE: Have you seen this GUI element? From:"Letha Dunn-Ballinger" <letha -at- n2h2 -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 25 Feb 2000 17:48:21 -0800
> Yeah I've seen that, and only recently, but cannot for the life of me
> remember in which application :(
>
> If I think of it, I'll e-mail you...
It does seem rare but it's not so recent: it's been around for
a few years. We were using it in
the early 90s at Hyperion Software (and I know we didn't invent it). We
originally used it in table cells (where space was minimal) and then became
brave enough to use it as a space-saving alternative to the classic
"Browse..." button. Microsoft has used it within the past couple of years
(though it hasn't made it into the Office suite that I know of). The most
recent app I saw it in was VB, and then there's Defect Control System or DCS
Tracker, I can't remember which.
I laughed when I saw this thread because at one company where I worked a
handful of people in the QA department threatened to quit if we didn't
replace the ellipsis browse with the more traditonal "Browse..." button.
Even though it did great in formal usability testing they insisted it would
be a problem for users. A very passionate issue! Well, it's nice that they
cared. :-)