Better "File Not Found" dialog

[now]

Screenshot:

http://flickr.com/photos/weibull/543822234/

(or direct link: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1367/543822234_c63ab73b6a_o_d.png)

What to change:

• Change the title to “File Not Found”
• Change the message to

The following file could not be found:
<filename>

or something like that. The way it is now it took me like five seconds to understand what was going on.

nikolai

[fenix_productions]

I agree with changing window content but do not change title.
Windows titles or menu items should have only first letter capitalized. The only exception could be in the cases when some word have out-of context (or different) meaning.

E.g.

Open with Notepad

but:

Open with internal viewer

NOT:

Open With Internal Viewer

[StatusQuo]

Change the title to “File Not Found”

I'd prefer keeping the actual version (I Don't Write My Texts This Way, Too ).
Capitals can be a way to emphasize key words, but the title doesn't have such key words IMHO (like "Copy file at Cursor" or "LEFT to RIGHT").
I basically agree with fenix_productions here, but I think this is a matter of taste, not so important for me.

Change the message to

The following file could not be found:
<filename>

I surely disagree here - I don't like to read whole stories, when only one word (the file name) is important.

To extend this a little more for demonstration:

File not found

The following file:
title.doc
could not be found.

File not found

title.doc

IMO the second version is clearer (like it is now).
Do you really like something like the first better?

[karlchen]

I agree with StatusQuo on this question:

Who does not understand the message box

File not found!

Name of file

will not understand the talkative version, either.

Karl

[StickyNomad]

2karlchen

I agree with StickyNomad on this question:

Hm, I assume you meant StatusQuo When you were saying StickyNomad, right? Don't bother, at least those nicks start with the same letter

But I agree anyway, the current dialog box is fine for me too.

[karlchen]

Oops, previous post corrected, StatusQuo != StickyNomad.
Agreeing with StatusQuo on this issue makes sense, because I wish to preserve the status quo of the "File not found!" error message box.

Karl

[now]

I agree with StatusQuo on this question:

Who does not understand the message box

File not found!

Name of file

will not understand the talkative version, either.

Karl

I guess I’m an idiot, then. I generally don’t look at the title bar to find out what‛s going on – I look at the message. The title bar is useful for Alt+Tab and in identifying an application. It’s not a place to put information necessary to understand what a specific window is trying to convey.

The title bar should convey a summary of what’s going on and the message contains the actual information.

On capitalization: This is how almost all dialogs’ titles are written in all applications I use.

I mean, the best error message would be something like

Total Commander (or File Not Found)
---------------------

The file you are trying to view in the lister could not be found.

<filename>

so that the actual task that I’m trying to perform is included in the error message.

Many applications seem to let Windows use the applications name as the title bar. Perhaps that’s recommended practice? With that set-up its clear what application generated the message (Total Commander) and then I have all the information relevant to the specific error in the message. I’ve not been able to locate the Microsoft User Interface Guidelines, so I can’t say that this is recommended practice, but it makes sense to me.

[StatusQuo]

Total Commander (or File Not Found)
---------------------

The file you are trying to view in the lister could not be found.

<filename>

so that the actual task that I’m trying to perform is included in the error message.

Too much text around the file name to quickly get it, IMHO.

How about keeping the window clean and maybe add the action to the window title?
This way you could still easily see/find the problematic file name - and if you really don't know which action provoked this error dialog, you could lookup this in the dialog title:

File not found (trying to open in lister) (or to copy/move/delete/whatever...)

<filename>

[karlchen]

On the one hand,

I generally don’t look at the title bar to find out what‛s going on

this is your problem, not mine.
The "File not found!" message box is pretty small and as a consequence it is easy to grasp the whole text (title plus message) with 1 glimpse.

On the other hand,
if Ch. Ghisler decides to extend the "File not found!" message box by prefixing a (short) complete sentence to the filename, I will not start a holy war against such an enhancement.

To StatusQuo:
Your suggestion will be of little use for now, because he does not pay attention to message box titles.

Karl

[roentgen]

2karlchen
Check the title

[karlchen]

I did (check the thread title days ago).

The title is part of any dialogue box (irrespective of the question if people ignore it or read it).
And as stated before: if Christian decides to implement now's suggestion I will not launch a complaint.

Karl

[roentgen]

2karlchen
Hm... first try - wrong answer. Two tries left...

[karlchen]

The difference between your message title, roentgen, and the "File not found!" error message box are
+ The error message box pops up thus drawing your attention.
+ The error message box title is clearly visible whereas message titles inside this forum are rarely used and printed in very small letters.
+ This is why forum message titles are easily missed.

Back to the "File not found!" error message box:
The complete message only needs 2 lines:
(1) What is the problem: File not found
(2) Which file was not found: <Filename>

It is simply a bad example for an error message which needs to be more verbose. This is all.

Karl

[roentgen]

2karlchen
45 minutes to see a damn title. Not bad, not bad at all .

[SanskritFritz]

2now
[offtopic]
Please tell me what windows skin you used when taking the screenshot.