4 ms·

[Abort] [Retry] [Cancel] What's the difference between abort and cancel?

by mike_hock 3y ago

dataflow 3y ago
Isn't it Ignore and not Cancel? Where did you actually see this?
- mike_hock 3y ago
  > Where did you actually see this uhh ...
  - dataflow 3y ago
    My comment was too hasty (sorry) but my point was that you seemed to be asking about the behavior of something that doesn't actually exist, and in fact might never have. (?) I'm not sure where Raymond got it from, or he was just doing this from memory, but Googling around, I don't see an Abort button here: https://www.betaarchive.com/imageupload/1261286563.or.360017.png https://www.betaarchive.com/imageupload/1261286563.or.360017... All the 3-button versions of the dialog I recall are Abort/Retry/Ignore, not Cancel. So it's kind of hard to answer "what does Cancel do"!
    - mike_hock 3y ago
      He was probably doing it from memory then since the dialog box is made in HTML (it's not a screenshot).
- NoPicklez 3y ago
  Depends which OS, Windows would often use Cancel in place of Ignore
  - dataflow 3y ago
    I have a hard time believing this considering the flag for it in Windows is called MB_ABORTRETRYIGNORE. How old of a Windows version are we talking? Are you sure you've seen this in actual Windows and not in an altered/joke screenshot?
    - NoPicklez 3y ago
      Nah you're right actually Having said that, the article points to a dialogue box of which says Cancel instead of Ignore. Perhaps the dev got the naming wrong too?
      - dataflow 3y ago
        He writes "16-bit Windows", and it's beyond anything I can find documentation for, but he's probably right. That's like pre-1992, I think. But it's been "Ignore" for so long that it's kind of silly to make jokes about it.
        NoPicklez 3y ago
        Yeah that is fairly old! My memory deceived me
        dataflow 3y ago
        I'm Googling around and don't see such a screenshot at all, for what it's worth. What I see is just Cancel and Retry: https://www.betaarchive.com/imageupload/1261286563.or.360017.png https://www.betaarchive.com/imageupload/1261286563.or.360017...
Etheryte 3y ago
If memory serves right, essentially the same difference as kill -9 and kill.
- mike_hock 3y ago
  The wording on the buttons leaves that somewhat unclear.
NoPicklez 3y ago
In the context of Windows, back in the day Cancel referred to basically ignoring the error message box. If the error kept occurring you would just keep getting dialog windows. Abort was then to essentially try to kill that particular task/process.
sedatk 3y ago
I guess "Cancel" probably returns a failure code to the caller of the API while "Abort" kills the program, similar to "Abort"/"Fail" dichotomy on MS-DOS.

[Abort] [Retry] [Cancel] What's the difference between abort and cancel?

dataflow 3y ago

Isn't it Ignore and not Cancel? Where did you actually see this?

mike_hock 3y ago
> Where did you actually see this uhh ...
- dataflow 3y ago
  My comment was too hasty (sorry) but my point was that you seemed to be asking about the behavior of something that doesn't actually exist, and in fact might never have. (?) I'm not sure where Raymond got it from, or he was just doing this from memory, but Googling around, I don't see an Abort button here: https://www.betaarchive.com/imageupload/1261286563.or.360017.png https://www.betaarchive.com/imageupload/1261286563.or.360017... All the 3-button versions of the dialog I recall are Abort/Retry/Ignore, not Cancel. So it's kind of hard to answer "what does Cancel do"!
  - mike_hock 3y ago
    He was probably doing it from memory then since the dialog box is made in HTML (it's not a screenshot).
NoPicklez 3y ago
Depends which OS, Windows would often use Cancel in place of Ignore
- dataflow 3y ago
  I have a hard time believing this considering the flag for it in Windows is called MB_ABORTRETRYIGNORE. How old of a Windows version are we talking? Are you sure you've seen this in actual Windows and not in an altered/joke screenshot?
  - NoPicklez 3y ago
    Nah you're right actually Having said that, the article points to a dialogue box of which says Cancel instead of Ignore. Perhaps the dev got the naming wrong too?
    - dataflow 3y ago
      He writes "16-bit Windows", and it's beyond anything I can find documentation for, but he's probably right. That's like pre-1992, I think. But it's been "Ignore" for so long that it's kind of silly to make jokes about it.
      - NoPicklez 3y ago
        Yeah that is fairly old! My memory deceived me
        dataflow 3y ago
        I'm Googling around and don't see such a screenshot at all, for what it's worth. What I see is just Cancel and Retry: https://www.betaarchive.com/imageupload/1261286563.or.360017.png https://www.betaarchive.com/imageupload/1261286563.or.360017...

Etheryte 3y ago

If memory serves right, essentially the same difference as kill -9 and kill.

mike_hock 3y ago
The wording on the buttons leaves that somewhat unclear.

NoPicklez 3y ago

In the context of Windows, back in the day Cancel referred to basically ignoring the error message box. If the error kept occurring you would just keep getting dialog windows. Abort was then to essentially try to kill that particular task/process.

sedatk 3y ago

I guess "Cancel" probably returns a failure code to the caller of the API while "Abort" kills the program, similar to "Abort"/"Fail" dichotomy on MS-DOS.