Re: psql: new help related to variables are not too readable

On Wed, Sep 13, 2017 at 12:46 PM, Fabien COELHO <coelho(at)cri(dot)ensmp(dot)fr> wrote:

>
> Hello Tom,
>
> Probably it needs some rebase after Tom committed result status variables.
>>>
>>
>> As it is a style thing, ISTM that the patch is ready if most people agree
>>> that it is better this way and there is no strong veto against.
>>>
>>
>> FWIW, I think it's a bad idea. We already nearly-doubled the vertical
>> space required for this variable list. That was a heavy cost --- and we
>> already got at least one complaint about it --- but it seemed warranted
>> to avoid having to deal with very constrained variable descriptions.
>> This proposes to make the vertical space nearly triple what it was in v10.
>> In a typical-size window that's going to have a pretty severe impact on
>> how much of the list you can see at once. And the readability gain is
>> (at least to my eyes) very marginal.
>>
>
> Ok, you do not like it. As Pavel said, it is subjective. When it is a
> matter of taste, people tend to differ, someone will always complain, one
> way or another, and they are neither right nor wrong.
>
> So, is it a -1 or a veto?
>
> If it is the later, the patch can be marked as "Rejected" and everybody
> will get more time for other things:-)
>
> If it is a not a veto, people can continue to give their opinions.
> Personnally I'm fine with a pager, so vertical spacing is fine. I just do
> not like paging horizontally.

​-1​

​I don't fully by the "it is subjective" argument - I'm by no means an
expert but there are many people out there who have done considerable
research on human perception that there is at least room for non-subjective
evaluation. Below is my attempt.​

​If I was going to try and read it like a book I'd want the extra
white-space to make doing so easier (white-space gives the eye a breather
when done with a particular concept) - and the length wouldn't really
matter since I'd just make a single pass and be done with it. But the
planned usage is for quick lookup of options that you know (or at least
suspect) exist and which you probably have an approximate idea of how they
are spelled. The all-caps and left-justified block headers are distinct
enough to scan down - though I'd consider indenting 4 spaces instead of 2
to make that even easier (less effort to ignore the indented lines since
ignoring nothing is easier than ignoring something).​ Having more fit on
one screen makes that vertical skimming considerably easier as well (no
break and re-acquire when scrolling in a new page).

So I'll agree that in an absolute sense reading the whole of the content in
its condensed form is more difficult than if there were blank lines in
between each block, but usability for the intended purpose is better in the
current form.

David J.