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Subject:Re: sorting negative numbers in a list From:"Linda K. Sherman" <linsherm -at- GTE -dot- NET> Date:Thu, 3 Sep 1998 20:56:00 -0400
dacoyle wrote:
>
> Normally, I'd sort negative numbers starting with the largest and work
> my way towards zero. But for this type of list, I'm not sure that's the
> most usable way. I'm tempted to sort the numbers and ignore the fact
> some are negative.
While I understand your reasoning, I think most users expect the list to
be in arithmetic order. All documentation I've ever seen has done this,
and you would be bucking the trend if you did otherwise.
This is a can't-please-everybody problem, but I think you should try to
do what the majority would expect. The danger is that someone who gets
a negative-number error will look at the start of your list and react,
"This stupid thing doesn't document negative error numbers!"
One idea I've seen elsewhere is to have two consecutive sections: "Error
Numbers Less than 0" and "Error Numbers Greater Than Zero". This reminds
the user to check to see which type he or she got. But you can still
maintain the arithmetic order by making the two sections consecutive.
L.
--
Linda K. Sherman <linsherm -at- gte -dot- net>
Freelance Writer -- Technical - Business - Government
Dysgwch Gymraeg! Learn Welsh! -- http://www.dalati.com
