Re: Error messages - summary

["Huber, Mike" <mrhuber -at- SOFTWARE -dot- ROCKWELL -dot- COM>]

The error message appears when an executable (.EXE, .COM, .BIN, or .BAT
as I recall) file is not found.
It seems to indicate a malformed filename, but a bad filename brings up
a different error. By saying "or filename" it fails to indicate the
general kind of file involved - simply skipping "or filename" would be
an improvement.

When the "Bad command or filename" message comes up, there are several
known facts that could help the user that are not communicated:
1) An attempt was made to run a file. (The user may not know it - a
program or batch may have attempted to run something.)
2) The file name was a legal name.
3) The file was not found.
4) The name of the file.

There are several other handy pieces of information that could be
provided, like the valid file extensions and the PATH, but this error
message was designed to run on a line-oriented 80X24 screen, so it had
to be short.

My suggestion:
"No program by the name '{name}' found."

---
mike -dot- huber -at- software -dot- rockwell -dot- com
Home: nax -at- execpc -dot- com

>-----Original Message-----
>From:  Stephen D. Martin [SMTP:smartin -at- STORM -dot- CA]
>Sent:  Thursday, February 19, 1998 9:01 AM
>To:    TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>Subject:       Re: Error messages - summary
>
>Dick Gaskill wrote:
>
>> There is nothing worse than an undecipherable error message,
>> especially ones like the ancient DOS message "Bad command or
>> filename".
>
>So why exactly do you find that error message undecipherable, and how
>would you rewrite it to make it readable (IYHO)?
>