Delete/Drop naming, and RDB terminology for UI phrasing

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Being that a common vocabulary exists for relational database, it strikes me as 
somewhat odd how certain UI actions are phrased in Sequel Pro. Where possible, 
I think it best the application use the established vocabulary.

Case in point: Having not used this application in a long while, I used the 
Help search field to look for "drop" to locate the "drop database" menu action 
quickly. I do this when I'm unfamiliar with the main menu layout so I can make 
note of it for future use. It's a great OS feature. I did not find the item, 
however, because the it uses the word "remove" instead of "drop". I then had to 
look over the menu to locate the item ... but my eyes were still scanning for 
"drop" because that is the proper RDB term. To make matters worse, when I found 
"Remove Database" and chose it, the confirmation dialog used the word "delete". 
There's inconsistency on top of lack of common RDB terminology.

Where common RDB terminology exists for an action, I feel it's better UX design 
to use those terms consistently throughout the UI.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by jos...@nozzi.name on 4 Jun 2011 at 3:48

[GoogleCodeExporter]

The development/nightly versions have made this slightly more consistent - the 
menu item and the confirmation dialog now both use the word "delete".

This is a tricky issue.  On the one hand, you're right that "drop" is the 
common RDB terminology, and experienced users will tend to think of that as the 
command.  On the other hand, we're attempting to make a lot of actions more 
user-friendly, and it isn't immediately apparent to new users what "drop 
database" means.  This is even more the case for non-native English speakers, 
even though forthcoming translations will improve that.

On balance, with this particular term being so destructive, I would argue that 
leaving it as-is is probably best.  Now that I've laid out the reasoning - and 
bearing in mind that "Delete" is now used for increased consistency and 
clarity! - would you grudgingly agree, or still argue otherwise?

(If you'd like to give the dev versions a spin and have access to a test 
server, we make builds available at http://nightly.sequelpro.com/ .  As always, 
we don't recommend their use against production servers)

Original comment by rowanb@gmail.com on 4 Jun 2011 at 5:13

• Changed state: WaitingOnUser

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Thanks for the fast response. :-) 

I disagree with the use of anything other than "drop" on the basis of 
user-friendliness because of the typical audience of a MySQL client 
application. If they know enough about MySQL and use it enough to want a GUI 
app to simplify their workflow, the typical user would surely know the most 
basic terms such as "drop" and "create". 

Regarding language, I can see your point for localization but "DROP" (and 
"CREATE") is a SQL command DB admins would need to know regardless of their 
native tongue. I have no localization solution for this problem so I suppose 
using natural language here is probably easiest to translate.

At least the consistency issue is resolved, though. :-)

Original comment by jos...@nozzi.name on 4 Jun 2011 at 5:21

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Hi again Joshua,

Thanks for your response.

I've discussed this with a couple of the other developers, and while we can see 
your arguments, we've decided to keep the more natural-language/abstracted 
"Delete" rather than "Drop".  There's an argument for translation (the German 
equivalent, for example, would be "xxx DROPen", which apparently doesn't scan 
right), but the main argument is that of providing a friendlier, abstracted, 
more OS X-like interface which is friendlier for those who don't always use the 
syntax directly.

You're absolutely right that the typical audience would know what "DROP" means, 
but as you mention it's the same for "CREATE" - and "Add Database" and "Delete 
Database" just feels a lot better than "CREATE Database" and "DROP Database".

We have made a further change in r3319 though - we've added a new alternate 
menu item for "Delete Database…", so that if you type "Drop" in the Help 
search, that menu item will come up.  Hopefully with that and increased 
consistency you're at least mollified, if not satisfied :)

Many thanks for reporting the issue though - was well worth discussing.

Original comment by rowanb@gmail.com on 5 Jun 2011 at 6:58

• Changed title: Delete/Drop naming, and RDB terminology for UI phrasing
• Changed state: WontFix
• Added labels: Component-UI, Usability