On Mar 26, 2009, at 2:45 PM, Andreas Raab wrote:

> Igor Stasenko wrote:
>> as a side note, are category order are that important?
>
> Yes.
>
>> To me, its a browser who should care to show them in alphabetical
>> order to ease finding a needed caterory , when they number are big
>> (like in Object)
>
> There is logical order (initialize comes first, then accessing,  
> private goes last) that I usually stick to. But more importantly  
> there is internal consistency. To me it makes a big difference to  
> see, e.g.,
>
> events
> accessing
> private
> filters
> initialize
> queries
>
> vs.
>
> initialize
> accessing
> events
> filters
> queries
> private
>
> (this is an example taken straight out of code that I'm looking at  
> this very moment with MC having messed it up into the first form  
> where I wrote it in the second form). At the very least MC should  
> respect the intention of people who care.


<apologies>
<flippancy magnitude="high">

This is why for years, file explorers have preferred to present  
directories and files in the order you created them, rather than in  
alphabetical order. Every file manager worth its salt, knows that when  
a person lays out the contents of a folder, that presentation trumps  
all else. It's why we the unix mv command has the -o (--order) option,  
so that you can change the order your directory contents are stored  
and presented.

I know when I'm sysadmining my box, I'm just always greatful that / 
Users shows up at the top. It's the obvious logical top choice. And / 
Applications at the bottom. With less important things like /Library  
and /temp in the middle.

It's why Apple, those really smart UI guys, always allow you to  
rearrange your mailboxes and filters, rather than use alphabetical.  
And your photo categories. And you movies. And your iTunes playlists.  
I'm especially thankful for this in iTunes.

There is a logical order to my smartlists:

Hard Rock
Classical
Motivational Speeches
Smalltalk Podcasts
Cap'n Geech & The Shrimp Shack Shooters

This is so much better than:

Cap'n Geech & The Shrimp Shack Shooters
Classical
Hard Rock
Motivational Speeches
Smalltalk Podcasts

It drives me nuts when people have changed the order to not match the  
logical order.

</flippancy>
</apologies>

--
Travis Griggs
Objologist
"An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will  
explain itself." - Charles Dickens