Comment by eviks

Comment by eviks 4 days ago

11 replies

That's the problem ideally solved by typed data, i.e., some UI where instead of trying to memorize whether it's thumb/s/nails you can read the closed list of alternatives, read contextual help and pick one

my_brain_saying 4 days ago

This is why we have fish tab completions. Does exactly that; list of possible commands with contextual help. Fish rules.

  • eviks 4 days ago

    Yeah, no, that's a pale imitation that only addresses the one specific example given. But, like, how would you even know what target formats are supported? Break the flow and look it up or simply read the drop-down list? The free type-any-text interface with poor helpers is the worst in accessibility

    Which format is the default if no argument is given?

    Or more complicated contextual knowledge - if you cut 1sec of a video file, does fish autocomplete to tell you whether the video is reencoded or cut (otherwise) losslessly

    Also, what does fish complete to on Windows?

    • [removed] 4 days ago
      [deleted]
    • skydhash 4 days ago

      Which flow is being broken here? Especially when the information is easily accessible with `man`.

      • eviks 4 days ago

        the flow that doesn't require you to open a different tab or cancel a command to `man` your way through dozens of poorly searchable pages of documentation, but allows you to continue translating what you want in your mind into the interface command with delay potentially subsecond interrupts

      • NooneAtAll3 4 days ago

        "why would one solve the problem with one drop-down menu if you can solve it with 20 minutes of browsing walls of text"

        lol