From: fotland@ix.netcom.com
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 18:09:24 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Re: tight spec for game-info properties

On 04/27/97 17:20:34 you wrote:

>- if someone edits an old file and wants to insert FF[4] features FORCE
>  him to correct the game-info values too.
>  I don't think that this is too annoying -- the user already invests
>  time to edit the file so why not add some seconds to get two values right?

Sorry, but I am not willing to do this.  I don't want the save format to
dictate the user interface, especially if it is something that will annoy
the user.

I'm imagining that someone adds an arrow to a game record, the later he
selects 'save' and a dialog box pops up "you must first correct the
date to ISO format" :)

For me, often I am editing some file, then it is time to leave the computer,
so I click the X to exit, and it says "do you want to save...".  I say
yes, the run off.  I'd be annoyed if I had to stick around and change the
format of the date field.

Maybe the answer is to provide two fields in the date dialog box, one
with 3 fields MM/DD/YYYY, and one text.  Then I could put ISO dates in the
first one, and non-ISO dates in the second.  This would make it more likely
that new files would have ISO dates saved in them, but it still doesn't solve
the problem of FF[4] features added when editing an old file.

One final comment.  ISO dates have been recommended since FF[1], but very few
SGF files have ISO dates in the date field.  Maybe there is a reason for this....
ISO dates are not natural to most people.

David