574628 - Rename "Heads Up Display" to something more generally useful

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(DevTools :: General, defect)

Description

[Axel Hecht [:Pike]]

The new web developer tool is currently called "Heads Up Display".

I think that suffers from a few draw-backs:

As a heads-up, the English thing is called "Head up display", as that's about as many heads as humans have. Anyway...

I consider "Head Up Display" to be jargon. It's a really technical term, and not a really popular one, too, without any need.

Also, it's mostly known from military devices, only very few people will be driving cars with HUDs for a while. I find that unfortunate, personally.

Plus it's painful to localize, in particular without localization notes proposing different terms for the feature (which then introduces a disruption of our support offerings).

Given that there hasn't been a lot of arguments in favour of the name in the discussion in .firefox, http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.dev.apps.firefox/browse_thread/thread/55f443bafcf81018#, we should rename it.

Comment 1

[Rob Campbell [:rc] (:robcee)]

I think we should stick with generics and name it a Console.

Alternatively, we could call it a Transcript.

Comment 2

[Rob Campbell [:rc] (:robcee)]

I should mention that "Transcript" is the name of the log window and service in the Smalltalk programming language / system. It was probably named by Alan Kay himself, though I can't find any mention of when the transcript first appeared in the language.

Comment 3

[David Dahl :ddahl]

For now, I can change the menu item under tools to say "Console", just to get that menu generic.

Comment 4

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

It's also unfortunate that "HUD", "hud", "headsUpDisplay" etc. slipped into all involved file and directory names...

Comment 5

[Rimas Kudelis [use needinfo to ping]]

These file names aren't carved into stone, are they?

Comment 6

[Rob Campbell [:rc] (:robcee)]

(In reply to comment #5)
> These file names aren't carved into stone, are they?

It's software. We can change it!

Comment 7

[Keng Susumpow]

I propose 'Developer Console'.

Not sexy but straight forward :)

Comment 8

[David Dahl :ddahl]

(In reply to comment #7)
> I propose 'Developer Console'.
> 
> Not sexy but straight forward :)

I like it too. we can change all of the "HUD" nomenclature to "DevCon"

Comment 9

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

It's not more a developer console than the classic console, unless of course you're referring to web developers... To that end, I would suggest "webconsole" as the internal name, regardless of how the menu item is going to be labeled.

Comment 10

[Rimas Kudelis [use needinfo to ping]]

I think the current one is called Error console. Since HUD is meant to replace that, can't we just steal the name (and rename current console to Classic Console or so until it's removed)?

Comment 11

[Rimas Kudelis [use needinfo to ping]]

Can we have this fixed?

Comment 12

[David Dahl :ddahl]

In the short term, I will rename the menu item. Long term, I will identify all "HUD" prefixes and names in order to try a mass-rename of in the code and then of the files.

Comment 13

[David Dahl :ddahl]

(In reply to comment #10)
> I think the current one is called Error console. Since HUD is meant to replace
> that, can't we just steal the name (and rename current console to Classic
> Console or so until it's removed)?

I'm just going to call it "Console" in the menu item for now.

Comment 14

[Rimas Kudelis [use needinfo to ping]]

Very good! :)

Comment 15

[David Dahl :ddahl]

Attachment: Menu-item-rename

Comment 16

[David Dahl :ddahl]

I will create a followup patch for renaming identifiers inside the patch as well as all file paths that have any HUD/HeadsUpDisplay

Comment 17

[Dave Townsend [:mossop]]

Comment on attachment 457555 [details] [diff] [review]
Menu-item-rename

This needs a UX review before code review. I am likely to r- it since having both "Error Console" and "Console" in the same menu seems confusing.

Comment 18

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

Could you update the access key as well? Looks like Error Console could use E, making C available.

Comment 19

[Rob Campbell [:rc] (:robcee)]

Cmd/Ctrl+Shift-C conflicts with Firebug's Inspect shortcut, fyi.

Comment 20

[Rob Campbell [:rc] (:robcee)]

(In reply to comment #17)
> Comment on attachment 457555 [details] [diff] [review]
> Menu-item-rename
> 
> This needs a UX review before code review. I am likely to r- it since having
> both "Error Console" and "Console" in the same menu seems confusing.

This should only be a temporary condition though. Maybe we can rename Error Console to Error HUD for the time-being? ;)

UX review would be helpful here though!

Comment 21

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

(In reply to comment #19)
> Cmd/Ctrl+Shift-C conflicts with Firebug's Inspect shortcut, fyi.

I meant the access key, not the command key.

Comment 22

[Rob Campbell [:rc] (:robcee)]

My mistake. Sorry!

Comment 23

[David Dahl :ddahl]

Let the bikeshedding begin

Comment 24

[David Dahl :ddahl]

(In reply to comment #17)
> Comment on attachment 457555 [details] [diff] [review]
> Menu-item-rename
> 
> This needs a UX review before code review. I am likely to r- it since having
> both "Error Console" and "Console" in the same menu seems confusing.

perhaps we change the name of the "Error Console" to "Global Error Console" and the new console to "Developer Console" or "Web Console"

Comment 25

[Sander Lepik]

+1 for "Developer Console"

Comment 26

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

We've been there before, "Developer" doesn't distinguish it from the other console in any useful way...

Comment 27

[Robert Kaiser]

I don't think the two consoles should be distinguished - actually, IMHO, they should not be two different things at all. We should end up having one console, not multiple ones.

Comment 28

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

Nevertheless it seems desirable to fix this bug with the consoles not being unified yet.

Comment 29

[(no longer active)]

How about "Page Console"?

Comment 30

[Philip Chee]

"Web Console"?

Comment 31

[Sander Lepik]

Worst part is that i don't know what this tool should do. Firefox already has Firebug, it's one hell of a good extension. Why would i need new one? In what part is it better?

One more suggestion: (Web) Diagnostics (for developers)?

Comment 32

[David Dahl :ddahl]

(In reply to comment #31)
> Worst part is that i don't know what this tool should do. Firefox already has
> Firebug, it's one hell of a good extension. Why would i need new one? In what
> part is it better?
> 
> One more suggestion: (Web) Diagnostics (for developers)?

*** offtopic***
This is not an extension, that is the point. Built in tools for examining your DOM, network requests, etc. - Is Firebug installed by all Firefox users? This might just be handy to them. These tools are not being built for you, per se. Back in the day, the curious used "View  Source" to understand how markup worked, consider this the latest "view source", and please, keep using Firebug.

*** ontopic***
I think "Web Console" or "Page Console" may incur the least wrath at this point.

Comment 33

[Sander Lepik]

"Diagnostics Console" or just plain "Console" but not even close to HUD.. 

*** ot ****
And why is it released before it's even close to ready/beta? Right now it does almost nothing (like Googles Wave when it was first released to beta testers and look where they ended up with it..), at least i can't see it doing much more than logging network events (Event log?) + having command line for running js.
Such beta features should be started as extensions (like Firefox Sync or new features in Thunderbird).

Comment 34

[David Dahl :ddahl]

(In reply to comment #33)
> "Diagnostics Console" or just plain "Console" but not even close to HUD.. 
> 
> *** ot ****
> And why is it released before it's even close to ready/beta? Right now it does

Beta 1 can hardly be considered "released".

> almost nothing (like Googles Wave when it was first released to beta testers
> and look where they ended up with it..), at least i can't see it doing much
> more than logging network events (Event log?) + having command line for running
> js.
You have to start somewhere, and getting developer's eyes on it early helps find its shortcomings and bugs as well as shape it's development direction, so thank you for your feedback.

> Such beta features should be started as extensions (like Firefox Sync or new
> features in Thunderbird).

Exactly! Indeed. That is why this was also originally started as an extension.

Comment 35

[Robert Kaiser]

(In reply to comment #34)
> (In reply to comment #33)
> > And why is it released before it's even close to ready/beta? Right now it does
> 
> Beta 1 can hardly be considered "released".

Right. Nightlies and eventual alpha/beta milestones are not "released", all those are just for testing - and uncovering such potential problems like what this bug is about.
And after all, a naming confusion doesn't mean it's not ready for beta, it just means it needs some fixing before a final release, that's all. Landing early was the right thing as it enabled us to spot this early enough and get thinking about it. That's the way things should work.

Comment 36

[David Dahl :ddahl]

I'd like to get this patch in for beta 2, so I would love for someone "in charge" to make a decision here.

Comment 37

[Johnathan Nightingale [:johnath]]

Web Console wfm.

Open to revisiting, but I agree with Dao - first let's fix the current state of things. "Web Console" manages to communicate:

- console-style UI/interaction
- for web pages
- Not just errors (as was the poorly-named Error Console)

I'm not saying there aren't better replacements, I'm saying that we've spent enough comments on this, and getting rid of "Heads Up Display" is virtuous.

Comment 38

[David Dahl :ddahl]

Attachment: Rename MenuItem to Web Console

changed accesskey to "C" as well

Comment 39

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

(In reply to comment #38)
> Created attachment 458366 [details] [diff] [review]
> Rename MenuItem to Web Console
> 
> changed accesskey to "C" as well

C is taken by Error Console, which could move to E. W seems to be available as well, though.

Comment 40

[Rimas Kudelis [use needinfo to ping]]

I suggest C if we plan to remove Error Console before releasing Fx4.

Comment 41

[David Dahl :ddahl]

Attachment: Rename MenuItem to Web Console

"W" is good for now, we can change it to "C" later

Comment 42

[Dave Townsend [:mossop]]

Comment on attachment 458374 [details] [diff] [review]
Rename MenuItem to Web Console

Sorry to be picky, but I actually want UX sign-off here.

Comment 43

[David Dahl :ddahl]

(In reply to comment #42)
> Comment on attachment 458374 [details] [diff] [review]
> Rename MenuItem to Web Console
> 
> Sorry to be picky, but I actually want UX sign-off here.

Sounds great to me too. So what does this "uiwanted" keyword do then?

Comment 44

[Alex Faaborg [:faaborg] (Firefox UX)]

Comment on attachment 458374 [details] [diff] [review]
Rename MenuItem to Web Console

Redirecting to Limi since he is going to work on the developer related feature's UX.

Comment 45

[Alex Faaborg [:faaborg] (Firefox UX)]

Limi: if we go with "Console" we get a nice external consistency to id games :) (also the tilde key to trigger it)

Comment 46

[Alex Limi (:limi) — Firefox UX Team]

Comment on attachment 458374 [details] [diff] [review]
Rename MenuItem to Web Console

I think Console is a good name too.

More worried about the tilde key, since it's an unqualified keyboard shortcut, and I'm not sure consistency with Quake should be a design goal. ;)

Comment 47

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

(In reply to comment #46)
> Comment on attachment 458374 [details] [diff] [review]
> Rename MenuItem to Web Console
> 
> I think Console is a good name too.
> 
> More worried about the tilde key, since it's an unqualified keyboard shortcut,
> and I'm not sure consistency with Quake should be a design goal. ;)

That patch uses "Web Console" and accel+shift+k.

Comment 48

[David Dahl :ddahl]

(In reply to comment #47)
> (In reply to comment #46)
> > Comment on attachment 458374 [details] [diff] [review] [details]
> > Rename MenuItem to Web Console
> > 
> > I think Console is a good name too.
> > 
> > More worried about the tilde key, since it's an unqualified keyboard shortcut,
> > and I'm not sure consistency with Quake should be a design goal. ;)
> 
> That patch uses "Web Console" and accel+shift+k.

Sounds to me that you have approved "Web Console", correct?

Comment 49

[Mike Beltzner [:beltzner, not reading bugmail]]

Comment on attachment 458374 [details] [diff] [review]
Rename MenuItem to Web Console

Yeah, I think limi was saying that Web Console was fine. If we need to change this later, we can. For now, let's remove Heads Up Display because we *know* that isn't it.

Comment 50

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

http://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/44d7debdd845

Comment 51

[Rimas Kudelis [use needinfo to ping]]

toolkit/locales/en-US/chrome/global/headsUpDisplay.dtd still contains this:
<!ENTITY hud.title "Heads Up Display">

at the very top. However, greping for hud.title in mozilla-central only gives me this line, thus it looks like this entity is actually unused...

Comment 52

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

Please file a new bug.

Comment 53

[Rimas Kudelis [use needinfo to ping]]

I don't see it as a separate bug. It perfectly fits this bug's summary.

Comment 54

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

This bug covers doing the work of renaming the component in general. That bug is about a single remaining unused entity. Reopening bugs because of minor issues with their patches just leads to confusion about the state of the tree. New bugs are cheap!

Comment 55

[Rimas Kudelis [use needinfo to ping]]

Would you please file one then?

One thing I particularly dislike about cheap new bugs is that once I report them in a RELEVANT place where they're supposedly fixed (I don't file them in random places, you know), I am then told that my feedback method is bad and I have to re-report my findings using a different method or the feedback will basically. Come on, that's bureaucracy! And I have stuff to localize. Reopening a bug which already has right product, component etc is much cheaper than filing a new one. At least as long as there's no "Clone bug" functionality in bugzilla.

I don't mean to be rude, but most probably I won't file that bug today. I may do it the next time I run compare-locales though, but well, it could be easily fixed by then if you don't mind my method of reporting omissions in bugfixes. ;)

Comment 56

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

(In reply to comment #55)
> At least as long as there's no "Clone bug" functionality in
> bugzilla.

There is. You'll find it on this page if you look for "clone".

Comment 57

[Sander Lepik]

How can you mark it resolved and fixed if it's NOT. IMO if the bug is not completely fixed it's right thing to reopen it.

Comment 58

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

If you think filing a new bug is too much trouble, that's fine. Just don't reopen existing bugs for stuff like this in the future. In this case it appears that the entire file is unused. I filed bug 581772.

Comment 59

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

(In reply to comment #57)
> How can you mark it resolved and fixed if it's NOT. IMO if the bug is not
> completely fixed it's right thing to reopen it.

"The patch didn't go far enough" is not a good reason to reopen a bug. The only reason to reopen bugs is "the patch was backed out". Tracking multiple patches/landings in one bug leads to problems.

Comment 60

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

The important part is that as far as the user is concerned, "Heads Up Display" has been renamed to "Web Console". This doesn't mean there couldn't be any follow-up work (e.g. comment 16).

Comment 61

[Rimas Kudelis [use needinfo to ping]]

(In reply to comment #56)
> (In reply to comment #55)
> > At least as long as there's no "Clone bug" functionality in
> > bugzilla.
> 
> There is. You'll find it on this page if you look for "clone".

Wow, thanks for showing. And sorry for making trouble.

Comment 62

[u88484]

(In reply to comment #61)
> (In reply to comment #56)
> > (In reply to comment #55)
> > > At least as long as there's no "Clone bug" functionality in
> > > bugzilla.
> > 
> > There is. You'll find it on this page if you look for "clone".
> 
> Wow, thanks for showing. And sorry for making trouble.

Look below the text input box like if you were to make a new comment.  It is on the right side below the dotted line.  Format For Printing - XML - Clone This Bug - Top of page

Verified fixed using Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:2.0b3pre) Gecko/20100725 Minefield/4.0b3pre

Comment 63

[David Dahl :ddahl]

(In reply to comment #57)
> How can you mark it resolved and fixed if it's NOT. IMO if the bug is not
> completely fixed it's right thing to reopen it.

I find that I learn more about using bugzilla and interacting smoothly with my fellow Mozillians by listening to gavin and dao closely, as they know more than most.

Cheers!