ALL CAPS for HMI/MMI use

Plastic · Dec 20, 2019

I have colleagues that use ALL CAPS in 100% of their HMI/MMI interface.

I prefer "proper" text. We don't read newspapers, books, e-mails, anything in ALL-CAPS.

Also note, using ALL-CAPS limits the amount of useful informative text that can appear in the alloted space.

Thoughts?

Thank You,

Plastic

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I HAVE COLLEAGUES THAT USE ALL-CAPS IN 1005 OF THIER HMI/MMI INTERFACE. I PREFER PROPER.
WE DONT READ NEWSPAPERS, BOOKS, EMAILS IN ALL CAPS.
WHY DO SOME CONTROLS ENGINEERS THINK THIS IS GOOD PRACTICE FOR HMI/MMI CREATION?

PLASTIC

dmroeder · Dec 20, 2019

All caps is the worst. I 100% agree with your all caps statement, except how it was written.

I shamefully got in the habit of writing in all caps when I was younger (though never typed that way). Once my kids started to write in school, I finally came to my senses. I couldn't write something to the teacher in all caps when they were trying to teach my kids how to write properly.

Bit_Bucket_07 · Dec 20, 2019

Plastic said:
I have colleagues that use ALL CAPS in 100% of their HMI/MMI interface.

I prefer "proper" text. We don't read newspapers, books, e-mails, anything in ALL-CAPS.

Also note, using ALL-CAPS limits the amount of useful informative text that can appear in the alloted space.

Thoughts?

Thank You,

Plastic

-------------------------
I HAVE COLLEAGUES THAT USE ALL-CAPS IN 1005 OF THIER HMI/MMI INTERFACE. I PREFER PROPER.
WE DONT READ NEWSPAPERS, BOOKS, EMAILS IN ALL CAPS.
WHY DO SOME CONTROLS ENGINEERS THINK THIS IS GOOD PRACTICE FOR HMI/MMI CREATION?

PLASTIC

I suspect that the habit of using all caps in an HMI application is a vestigial remnant from back when graphics were crude and low resolution.

padees · Dec 20, 2019

I personally don't see all caps as an issue on a HMI screen. Quite a few are used to replace push buttons, and when was the last time you had an engraved PB tag that wasn't all caps?

I have a spec for a company in Canada that requires all caps and minimum point size of 24 on the HMI screen. They really want 32, but that's not going to happen.

Phrog30 · Dec 20, 2019

+1 for not using ALL CAPS

But, I will follow a pattern if one exists. Example, if we are doing work in an existing program and it's all caps, then all caps it is. To me consistency is important.

AustralIan · Dec 21, 2019

In certain fonts, all caps is easier to distinguish, particularly from an angle / distance.

There is generally also less ambiguity for people who are not used to Latin script.

If you see a button "All", do I type A, "eye", "eye" into my translate tool or A L L?

I disagree about the amount of realestate.
Sure, in the same non-monospaced font size, minimum takes up less width than MINIMUM, but the characters are also half as high.

I am on the fence with alarm messages. I think it depends how you write them.
For "TIC243 HI TEMP ALARM" I prefer all caps.
For "TIC243 High temperature. Is vent XC243 open?" I prefer mixed case.

If you have a set of instructions, a tooltip or a long message, then yes Mixedcase.

So I think if you want to maximise the distance where your screens are legible, for a given screen size, ALL CAPS wins.
However, by purchasing a bigger screen, or limiting the operator's distance, Mixed case is faster to comprehend. There is also to psychological trick that we all know CAPITAL LETTERS IS SHOUTING. And rule 3 of operator effectiveness is to try to keep them alert but calm.

LadderLogic · Dec 21, 2019

AustralIan said:
There is also to psychological trick that we all know CAPITAL LETTERS IS SHOUTING. And rule 3 of operator effectiveness is to try to keep them alert but calm.

Yes, we all used to treat all caps as shouting (thank you, Internet). But are we writing a Facebook post or making a functional HMI screen? I would posit that readability is the key and has nothing to do with netiquette.

Everything has its time and place. The ubiquity of smartphones and tablets has caused many people to habitually omit capital letters and sometimes even punctuation marks in their forum posts. Should we treat this style as rude and inconsiderate or to accept it as a new norm? And if this is new norm, should we start omitting any capital letters in our HMI screens?

AustralIan · Dec 21, 2019

And if this is new norm, should we start omitting any capital letters in our HMI screens?

this would also reduce the use of three letter acronyms, as you would have to write human machine interface instead of HMI

RET · Dec 21, 2019

Most operators can barely read anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.

OkiePC · Dec 21, 2019

I USE ALL CAPS ON HMI SCREENS. I MAKE THINGS AS BIG AS THEY WILL FIT FOR MAXIMUM READABILITY AT MAXIMUM DISTANCE. PARTLY OUT OF HABIT FROM THE OLDEN DAYS, AND PARTLY DUE TO MY AGE AND EYESIGHT.

If the old folks like me appreciate the fact that I do this (that's what they tell me) then the young 20-20 viewers will just have to deal with the fact that my HMI is YELLING at them.

theColonel26 · Dec 21, 2019

I prefer title case. So "RUN THIS THING", would be "Run This Thing" I use ALL-CAPS only to bring something front and center to the users attention like I might do "ALARM: Your Machine is About to EXPLODE"

However if I am modifying an existing HMI that uses a certain style, I just continue with that style. Now if there is no clear style and the thing looks like an 8 year old made it then, all bets are off.

Aabeck · Dec 22, 2019

Not only HMI's

I had to get into a Parker CompuMotor program to update to a new controller and the (basically ST) program is all caps, but worse ALL THE COMMENTS were all caps.

When I made changes and commented them in normal typing it looked different and I had to go back and retype them in ALL CAPS just to keep consistent. If I had the time I would rather have gone through and changed the comments throughout the entire program to normal text.

Plus, the human eye is "programmed" to read by the look of the word and all caps is not recognized quickly by the mind, has to be read letter by letter and interpreted by the brain. Try reading a sentence in normal text and a similar sentence in ALL CAPS and see the time needed.

If you come across the posting online that reads like this you will see (not recognizable in ALL CAPS): "Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

theColonel26 · Dec 22, 2019

Aabeck said:
Not only HMI's

I had to get into a Parker CompuMotor program to update to a new controller and the (basically ST) program is all caps, but worse ALL THE COMMENTS were all caps.

When I made changes and commented them in normal typing it looked different and I had to go back and retype them in ALL CAPS just to keep consistent. If I had the time I would rather have gone through and changed the comments throughout the entire program to normal text.

Plus, the human eye is "programmed" to read by the look of the word and all caps is not recognized quickly by the mind, has to be read letter by letter and interpreted by the brain. Try reading a sentence in normal text and a similar sentence in ALL CAPS and see the time needed.

If you come across the posting online that reads like this you will see (not recognizable in ALL CAPS): "Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

good god, I would have pasted it all in the Notepad++ and done a capitalization transform.

but also yes, yes too all that

Or guys that write all of their PLC comments in all caps. please kill me.

That is not nearly as easy to fix

Aabeck · Dec 22, 2019

theColonel26 said:
good god, I would have pasted it all in the Notepad++ and done a capitalization transform.

This was before Notepad++ was known to me, and the code had to be in ALL CAPS so that would still have meant going through line by line and changing that back.

Fortunately that was about 3 years ago & I haven't had to get back into it since.

BachPhi · Dec 22, 2019

ALL CAPS are lamers!

ALL CAPS for HMI/MMI use

Plastic

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dmroeder

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Bit_Bucket_07

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padees

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Phrog30

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AustralIan

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LadderLogic

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AustralIan

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RET

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OkiePC

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theColonel26

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Aabeck

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theColonel26

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Aabeck

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BachPhi

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