x-plat dialog layouts

[Richard Gaskin]

When placing the confirmation and cancel controls in dialogs (typically
"OK" and "Cancel") the Mac OS and GNOME HIGs put the confirmation button
at the lower-right of the window, with the cancel button to the left of it:
----------------------------
|                          |
|                          |
|       --------   ------  |
|      | Cancel | |  OK  | |
|       --------   ------  |
----------------------------


However the Windows, KDE, and Java HIGs suggest the opposite, putting
the cancel button at the lower-right and the confirmation button to its
left:
----------------------------
|                          |
|                          |
|       ------   --------  |
|      |  OK  | | Cancel | |
|       ------   --------  |
----------------------------


Humans being a single species, it seems reasonable that there is
ultimately one "best" layout, yet both camps seem adamant about this and
I can find little hard research to back up either.

So I wrote to Tog and a few other heavyweights to get their opinions on 
this.  I haven't yet heard back from the others, but Tog was gracious 
enough to write back today and basically his opinion is that although 
the MS approach runs counter to how humans normally scan for information 
(top-left to bottom-right), he feels that consistency takes precedence 
over being "right" and recommends following suit when developing on Windows.

So here's the Rev question -

----------------------------------------------------------------

I'm taking a poll on the dialog layout issue in preparation for the 
"Cross-Platform Gotchas" panel I'm participating in with Ken and Jacque 
at Monterey West; please send your replies to me via private email and 
I'll submit the results in summary here:

When making dialogs for cross-platform applications, I usually:

a) Make two different dialogs, one for each platform

b) Have my own script that changes the locations of the
    buttons on preOpenStack

c) I make two different "profiles" using Rev's Profile Mgr

d) I only use Ask and Answer dialogs where that's handled
    automatically

e) What?  There's a difference?  Damn!

f) Other - please explain:


Thanks in advance for your responses.

---------------------------------------------------------------

PS: I've updated my Resources page so it's an even more convenient 
one-stop-shop for HIGs and related info:
<http://www.fourthworld.com/resources/index.html>

In addition the the Mac, OS X, Win, XP, KDE, and GNOME HIGs I've added 
links to IBM's Ease of Use site, the MS Usability Center, Java Look and 
Feel Guide, OpenStep HIG, IRIX HIG, and updated the link to the Motif 
Style Guide.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
  __________________________________________________
  Rev tools and more: http://www.fourthworld.com/rev