Re: blank grey screen and standard toolbar

["Parks, Beverly" <ParksB -at- EMH1 -dot- HQISEC -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL>]

Our application also opens to a blank gray screen. We've never had any
complaints about it. The application has several uses, so opening a
blank input screen for one use would be very presumptuous on our part.
Many applications would open to blank screens if it wasn't for those
annoying Tips screens that pop up first. Luckily, you can select to turn
off the Tips. (Actually, I usually read all the tips through once and
don't get annoyed by them until they start repeating.)

Anyway, my bottom line on that issue is I think you are *used to* seeing
something on the screen when an application opens. If there's no real
reason for something to be there, putting something there is just
useless fluff (like most splash pages on websites).

On the menu issue, I have two coments. Just so happens we were
discussing this very thing in the office this morning.

1. I hope there's also an Exit option under the File menu!  ;-)
2. There should not be a main menu bar item (or standard toolbar) with
only one option under it (or no options, as in the case of your Help
item). Most apps put the "About" information under the Help button. The
About info can be nothing more that a little popup that displays the
current installed version number of the product. To call up the Help
info under the Help button, our option is "Contents". So, under Help we
have Contents and About.

Beverly Parks
parksb -at- emh1 -dot- hqisec -dot- army -dot- mil = http://www.hqisec.army.mil/cis/
Visit the Friendly Faces of TECHWR-L:
http://www.bayside.net/users/cbsites/techwr-l/

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Suzette Seveny [SMTP:sseveny -at- PETVALU -dot- COM]
>
        <snip>
> When the application is loaded (windows 95), it brings up a blank,
> grey screen
> with three options on the Standard Toolbar:  File, View, Help.
>
> Under File, there is only the option to setup the printer.
> Under View, all other options (oops - I mean commands) appear, such as
> templates, statements, etc.
> There is nothing under Help.
>
> I commented to the developer that :
> a)  My initial reaction to the blank, grey screen was that the
> application was
> not working or loading properly.  I am not a neophyte, and this WAS my
> initial
> reaction.  I felt there should be some kind of
> message/graphic/anything.
> b)  To add a template, I would select View>>Templates.  When the list
> of
> templates appear, I select File>>New Template and answer about 50
> questions.
> To generate a statement, I would select View>>Statements.  When the
> list of
> statements appear, I select File>>Generate Statement.
> I felt that this process was confusing - the first thing the user has
> to do is
> add templates.  I felt that the poor View option was being overworked.
        <snip>

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=