FW: Re: Definition of wizard - from "Alice in Wonderland"???

[rebecca_hopkins -at- comcast -dot- net (Rebecca Hopkins)]

Hmmm, what's that bit from "Alice in Wonderland" about words meaning exactly what I want them to mean, neither more nor less...?



----------------------  Forwarded Message:  ---------------------
From:    arroxaneullman -at- aol -dot- com
To:      rebecca_hopkins -at- comcast -dot- net
Subject: Re: Definition of wizard -
Date:    Fri, 21 Oct 2005 14:56:42 +0000

Like many technical terms, "wizard" means a number of things depending 
up on the company, application, user needs, and various other aspects. 
Here are some defintions for you:

- "A wizard is an interactive computer program which acts as an 
interface to lead a user through a complex task, using step-by-step 
dialogs."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_(software)

- "A utility within an application that helps a user to quickly perform 
a particular task." http://www.tjiss.net/glossary_w.html

- "A utility included with a software application that helps a user 
perform certain functions. Wizards are often used to set a program up 
for installation. They also provide templates that allow a user to 
enter required information to create documents such as Web pages, 
letters and spreadsheets." http://www.scotsmist.co.uk/glossary_w.html

- "A form of user assistance that automates a task through a dialog 
with the user. A wizard is typically composed of property sheets." 
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwue/ht
ml/gloss.asp

- "An interface that enables you to complete a task in defined steps. 
HATS uses wizards to create projects and their resources." 
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/webservers/hats/library/infocenter/produc
tdir/hatsglos.htm

- "...a series of dialog boxes that guides you step by step through a 
procedure." http://www.ontrack.com/glossary/

- "A "canned" procedure or work flow that does many steps towards one 
particular goal automatically. After you run a wizard, you can then 
fine tune the results if you wish." 
http://philliphansel.com/spazz3d/glossary.htm

- "WorkFlows feature that enables point-and-click execution of tasks." 
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/systems/sirsi/implementation/glossary.html

- "...ask you several basic questions and then uses a template to 
prepare and format a document for you based on your responses" 
http://www.unitedsd.net/uhs/Departments/Business/vocab.htm

- "A tool created by Microsoft to ask you questions about a process and 
by answering them enable the Wizard to create, for example, a form or 
report." 
http://faculty.washington.edu/~larsson/conf/aiha98/primer/glossary.htm

Hope that helps!

:)
Arroxane

-----Original Message-----
From: Rebecca Hopkins <rebecca_hopkins -at- comcast -dot- net>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 14:42:20 +0000
Subject: Definition of wizard -


Is there, for instance, some idea that a wizard ought to set you up 
with
something workable at the end of the process, even though you are 
totally
clueless - that it gives you defaults and simple yes / no questions, 
that it is
a mini-expert system?

Or is it a flexible series of dialog boxes that can respond to whatever 
answers
you put in - you put in .gif, it gives you the correct dialog for a 
graphic; you
put in .doc, it gives you the correct dialog for text?

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