[josm-dev] Commit message not empty

[ce-test, qualified testing bv - Gert Gremmen]

I see a clear parallel to software commenting ;<(

Anyone understands and appreciated the comments when
they are there, but
no programmer ever is enough "on-focus" to spoil
time in commenting....

I have some experience in software analysis for
medical equipment, and software quality is
clearly correlated to the amount of comments....

In JOSM however, we can ease the user in maintaining
a self updating drop down box, and a number
of standard comments with ..... behind it
to stimulate completing.

Updating highways ......  (user fills-in :)

Updating highways = cycleways near Moskou


But it isn't  easy, as I find myself mixing
updates, adding all kind of stuff, and fix
some tags, add a traffic light and do
some cycle routing (relation) in one and the same session ....

What to comment in such diversity ?

Maintenance in Moskou ???


Gert Gremmen
-----------------------------------------------------

Openstreetmap.nl  (alias: cetest)
 Before printing, think about the environment. 



-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: josm-dev-bounces at openstreetmap.org [mailto:josm-dev-bounces at openstreetmap.org] Namens Frederik Ramm
Verzonden: Thursday, April 23, 2009 11:40 AM
Aan: Rolf Bode-Meyer
CC: josm-dev
Onderwerp: Re: [josm-dev] Commit message not empty

Hi,

Rolf Bode-Meyer wrote:
> That's exactly what I think can be a problem for users.
> Users should have an idea of what type of comment is expected and
> connected to this what it will be used for, where it will appear.

Let them learn by doing. Let them write "bicycle ride" or "afternoon in 
the rain" on their first commits. They will sooner or later find out 
what this is about. And forcing them to enter *something* will make them 
think; will make them bring up the question the next time they have a 
beer with fellow mappers. Allowing them to simply hit enter will make 
them ignore the topic and forget about it.

The "leave empty if unsure" makes it easy for users to ignore the 
concept and I don't want to make this easy for them.

Bye
Frederik

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