[Gtk-sharp-list] gtk.entry validation difficulty

[Chris Howie]

On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 4:18 PM, Jesper K. Pedersen <linux at famped.dk> wrote:
> The software I am writing is for assisting aviation mechanics in
> registering their use of aircraft spare parts (I am the leader of an
> spare parts inventory in a small company).
>
> The form is a parts entry registration form where I have a range of
> fields - of which 4 needs to be validated and correct until the system
> accept to add the information to its central database.
>
> I fear that if the validation comes at the point of the mechanic being
> "done" with entering data (some is entered via a barcode reader) and
> there are problems the mechanic will have a difficulty resolving the
> issues. Some of the issues can actually force the mechanic to have to
> leave the terminal to get further data before he can finish up - so to
> assist the mechanic I have each field validated at entry time and the
> most significant done as the very first entry (dont know if that makes
> sense).
>
> I have also tried to make the system as "mechanic friendly" by having it
> tell you what is wrong with the entry - and where possible it
> will suggest what needs to be done to fix it (like suggesting
> partnumbers if a partnumber isnt recognized in the inventory system)

Then checking on lost focus seems like the most appropriate thing to
do.  Note that when I say validate, I do *not* mean the type of
validation that pops up horribly annoying dialog boxes on failure.
(We have stuff like that where I work.  I could rant about it for
days.)  I'm talking about the kind of validation that will annotate
invalid fields with some indicator and disable all mechanisms that
could be used to submit the form (like the Accept button).  Clicking
the indicator could provide further explanation in a dialog.

An even better idea would be to keep the error messages short and
display them below the field itself.

I'm not sure how doing this on-blur would be an issue.

-- 
Chris Howie
http://www.chrishowie.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Crazycomputers