[447] in SIPB bug reports
suggestion for xwebster
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Fri Mar 31 21:20:06 1989
From: djc@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
To: bug-sipb@athena.mit.edu
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 89 21:21:36 EST
I have a suggestion for xwebster which I would really like to see
implemented. The program is great, but I think a couple of
improvements would make it extremely useful. The main suggestion
involves this: Whenever a definition window comes up, it is very
difficult to decipher what all the information means. The definition
contains information about pronounciation, etymology, usage,
definitions, etc. in a continuous stream. To see what I mean, look up the xwebster word entry for "read". It's inconvenient to filter all
unneccessary information to get to what the user really wants. I suggest
formatting the data so it's organized like the Webster dictionary. Things like
putting different parts in different fonts, putting new definitions at the
beginning of lines, things like this would be extremely helpful. If you look at
a Webster dictionary word entry and xwebster definition window, I think you
can see what I mean. You can use the Webster dictionary entry as a model,
eventually making the xwebster entries look almost like carbon copies. This
of course would be the optimum case and might be too much to ask for, but any
improvement in formatting the word entry windows would be helpful. I think if
you could implement this in an efficient manner, xwebster would become a
great user-friendly tool in writing papers. PLEASE!, I urge you to consider
such an improvement, since I have great need for such a tool.
Other minor improvements include making the webster insignia's height
at the lower left hand corner the same as the word: window's. The insignia
always covers the login window, which is inconvenient. Also for some reason,
when I look up some unknown words, it locks into some long loop and never
exits. Please see if you can fix this.
Please send me a reply as to what you think of my suggestions, and good luck
with all your other projects.
Thank you,
djc
