Some Mac applications use "Show" and others use "Reveal" in menus. There different even within Apple's software. What should I be using? As an example I've seen both of these in menus "Show in finder" and "Reveal in finder" and both do the same thing.
Yes, Mac OS Mojave. This has been a problem for 10-15 years. I've just had enough of every app being different. Apple can't even make up its mind. Is it documented anyware, because I can't find it?
Only use Apple's resources as guidance, not gospel. It is better to use your own judgement based on your own app and it's users. Your example is a good one. Pretty much anyone is going to know what the word "show" means. But the word "reveal" is going to confuse some people. You may want to focus on a particular type of users and use familiar terminology.
There may be a (too) subtil difference:
- show, for a main property: show the window,
- reveal for some "deeper" content: reveal the access rights to a file
there is also unhide
But that's not really important for user.
I personally prefer "show"
And think of localization ; in french for instance, we would probably never use reveler (reveal)
There different even within Apple's software.
Where did you see Reveal in Finder in Apple’s software?
I did a quick check and Apple apps seem to be pretty consistent about using Show in Finder (on 10.15, I checked Dock, Safari, Music, Users & Groups).
Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!”
Apple Developer Relations, Developer Technical Support, Core OS/Hardware
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@apple.com"ps DTS is closed 21 Dec through 1 Jan.
FCP X, iMovie
Thanks eskimo for your response. I prefer Show in Finder but then I started seeing Reveal more and more and thought this has to be documented somewhere. I thought there must be a slight difference in meaning that I was missing. I personally prefer Show in Finder as that's what's been used the longest. I started out on the Mac 128.
https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0oOE2d7QeHLsmt3Uy0DXfVbnQ#iMovie
https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0K_j_MDHM445CZ_2qgSuj3_TA#FCP_X
FCP X, iMovie
Interesting.
Like you, I prefer Show in Finder. Moreover, the fact that the instances built in to macOS use Show in Finder, as opposed to those in first-party apps, is good justification far that position.
I have a feeling that really old versions of macOS used to use Reveal, so that might be where this is coming from. Alas, I can’t test that theory because the oldest Mac VM I have installed, 10.9, seems to use Show in Finder consistently.
Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!”
Apple Developer Relations, Developer Technical Support, Core OS/Hardware
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@apple.com"ps DTS is closed 21 Dec through 1 Jan.
Maybe reveal was used in the old NeXT times ?
Where did you see Reveal in Finder in Apple’s software?
I checked the glossaries and found the following usage counts:
show in finder: 68
open in finder: 3
reveal in finder: 52
This is the output from the "Universal French" directory. The "French" directory is slightly different. I'm not sure what the difference between the two is. I didn't check any other languages.
However, after seeing this post, I downloaded the latest 2017 glossaries to replace my old 2014 versions. There was no "Universal French" in that edition but the "French" directory shows:
show in finder: 40
open in finder: 3
reveal in finder: 39
I guess it is an open question as to what Apple is currently using. A better question might be what Apple should be using. As I mentioned above, I prefer "show" for consumer, mass-market apps. But for other apps, "reveal" might be a better choice because there is some subtlety as to whether one is "opening" a folder in the Finder or just "selecting" an item in a Finder window.
Interesting. What are those glossaries ?
Go to the Developer site and go to the Downloads page. At the top right corner of the screen, look for a "More" button next to "Beta" and "Releases". This will open a page of more or less legacy downloads. Search for "glossaries". There are a whole bunch of DMG files for Mac, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS in most major languages. I had to write a little script to go through them, mount the DMG, and copy the contents. Each file is an XML file of each system app's localization resources for that language.
Supposedly, these are meant to be used with AppleGlot, which is also available from the above site. But the AppleGlot tool seems to be abandonned. Its certificate has expired, the installer warns that it may damage my Mac, and, sure enough, the install fails. Maybe if I disabled SIP I could install it. I'm not going to bother. Translation tools are a disaster. I just hack up my own scripts in Perl.
The glossaries are good to ensure that your translations match the words and phrases that Apple uses. Localization is a royal mess. But the glossaries are a really valuable resource to ensure consistency with what the user sees elsewhere in the interface. Many of names of these UI objects either don't exist outside of English or there is a commonly used non-English word that neither you, nor your Windows-using translator, will ever guess.