Comments on: Up. Down.

By: Shine » Oh, the ironing :: GravityStorm

Shine » Oh, the ironing :: GravityStorm — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 23:09:24 +0000

[...] So, for reasons that aren’t important, I was… hang on, if it’s not important, I can still explain it here, especially given the warm reception to the most boring thing I’ve posted in ages… [...]

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 10:14:57 +0000

Nia, and to a certain extent Ed, you are both heretics! Looking at the important bits to see if they are right? Pah – the mini, non-anti-aliased, uninformative, barely discernible arrow is king!

By: Eddie

Eddie — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:47:42 +0000

Now I come to think about it, the thought process goes along the lines of, can I see what I want? no? oh, lets try sorting it. Is that right? no? press the button again. repeat until I work it out….

Some might call this the “goldfish” approach, but what is life like without new discoveries every day?

By: Nia

Nia — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 20:18:48 +0000

I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the arrow (though tis a while since I last
outlook-ed). I look at the email dates. Controversial? :-p

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 14:40:47 +0000

‘1′ is a small number and it comes first, so ‘A’ must be a small letter as it comes first. Therefore ‘Z’ is a large letter. All makes perfect sense to me!

Who cares what the original “plan” for the arrow icon was… just find a way of remembering it and stick with that (but make a mental exception for programs that get it wrong).

Incidentally… which variable is biggest in the following statement – (A > B)? oooh look, it’s exactly the same logic.

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 11:38:48 +0000

Gary, you are talking in scribbles. Is A or Z the “largest” letter?

Perhaps “descending” date order should point down through the midsts of time. But then again, your descendants come later, and ancestors come before, so that complicates things further…

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 22:03:08 +0000

Ahhh, but is the icon representing ‘big things at the top’ or is it pointing upwards to show mail gets new as you go up. Some people claim the arrow interpretation is a bit more Unix-ey but a short survey of applications (Nautilus, amaroK, evolution) would appear to disagree as all behave in the same way as outlook

There are several bugs raised on this, (at least one since 2003) so it isn’t going to change

Personally I find both quite confusing but I can’t think of a better way to representing. I just hit the button until I get it right.

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 20:46:59 +0000

I would say Outlook has it right. Normally the largest thing goes at the thick end of the arrow, so the “largest” date goes at the top if the arrow points down. This then agrees with how Windows Explorer sorts files by date. Have the thunderbird developers got it wrong? Or maybe the developer who did that bit was based in Australia?