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The label for "File --> Save" and "File -> Save As..." menu item contain the file name e.g. "Save Test.java" or "Save Test.java As...". If the file name is very long then the file menu gets very big. The labels should either be "Save"/"Save As..." (at least on Windows this is the mostly used approach) or restrict the length of the file name. NOTES:
PRODUCT VERSION: 0.135
Consider for a post 2.0 change.
Reopen for investigation
True, most apps (on my Win 2000 box) only show Save and Save As.. Need to confirm with usability group whether we could do this. If not, then we should at least limit the length of it.
Feedback from usability group: If the menu width is just affected by the Save and Save As filename lengths then I'd say go with just Save and Save As. However, isn't it also affected by the MRU list? I think the key here is to understand whether the real complaint relates to the legibility of the Save and Save As menu items (because of the filename "noise") or genuinely relates to the width of the menu itself. If the latter then changes to the Save and Save As menu items aren't where the real solution lies.
Dani, could you please clarify whether the complaint is about the width of the File menu when there's a long name, or is it about the legibility of the Save actions when including then name? There is definitely an issue with the width of the File menu. For very long file names, the file menu can get ridiculously wide since we don't enforce a maximum size, as we do for the MRU list. Rather than eliminating the name entirely, we could restrict its length so that the total length of the menu item is 40 chars or so (as we do for the MRU list). But if you feel that it's too cluttered to include the name in the first place, we can consider removing it entirely.
It's the length which is not limted and the fact that the name is used along with Save/Save as... I can't speak for Linux and MAC but on Windows I don't know any application that shows the file name along with Save/Save as... Some applications show the name (limited to some number of characters) in their most_recent menu group. I would check MAC and Linux and if they both show the file name in Save/Save as... then we can limit the number of characters for the file name otherwise we remove the name completely.
Talked with both Chris (for Mac) and Andrew (for Linux), and they could not think of or find an application that adds the file name to the Save and Save As.. menus. Will remove the file name from these actions for today's integration build.
Julian adds: Check with Dani whether there's an issue with even the 40 char limit (when I originally read the defect I assumed that the compliant would pertained to any string that approached even 20 chars). I'm not sure what the correct limit should be, but regardless of Dani's answer I certainly feel that any limit applied to the MRU list should be respected by the Save choices as well. Separately, should a tooltip appear over any truncated file name (I'm guessing this is not standard practice in the File menu; but I notice that the editor picker and the editor tabs do show the full file name in a tooltip if you hover over it). Nick's response: Dani has clarified that he finds the names distracting, even if not too long. We are removing the file names from Save / Save As... Tooltips are not supported in menus.
Both the Save and Save As action no longer include the file name. Will be part of the next integration build.