>>>>Are you trying to obnubilate (nice word, eh?) the issue?
>>>
>>>Is there a common English word for that (Serbian, of course, has a corresponding verb, though it isn't "endarken", it's "enfoggen"), or should we notify Terry?
>>>
>>
>>Muddy? Fog? - feel free to verb-alize everything! Otherwise, it is clear (as mud) for me that you need Terry to help you obnubilate.
>
>I'm just compiling a list of necessary words that never existed in English, at least not as separate words. The Latin that nobody uses is a sort of last resort... ah, never mind, found it: to befog. So this one does exist in English. So we can keep Terry undisturbed on this one.
>
>>>>To leave it empty you DO SOMETHING - TAB, arrow, click,...
>>>
>>>Yes, press enter. Same as you'd have to if you entered something. No extra action
>>>
>>
>>OK, last try: Pressing Enter is extra. New would not need it, it will nicely move to the field you actually need to start.
>
>Why would it not be needed? Is it that in your scenario, for new record:
>- click new
>- doc number field is skipped, focus lands on the next control
>For any older record:
>- click search
>- type the doc nr you want, click Go
>- if the record is found, it's displayed; if multiple records are found, there's a selector control (combo, grid?) where the user has to navigate, select,click OK
>- click Edit
>
>In my scenario, instead of moving the hand off the keyboard to get the mouse to click New, the user just presses enter, which is just under the pinky finger. Instead of moving the hand off the keyboard to get the mouse to click Search, the user enters the search term straight into the same textbox, and presses enter. The rest is the same - except there's no Edit button.
>

This is the last try, after the last one ;)
For new record:
- click new - or shortcut key, could be the Enter key so that you could see there is no difference.
- doc number field is skipped, focus lands on the next control
The difference is that you don't need the user manual.
Where "move your hand from the keyboard" is significant we use custom data entry forms.
BTW, how do your users get the tooltip without moving the hand off the keyboard?
For editing existing records:
I don't find typing a doc nr in an empty text box very user friendly. We have multiple ways to locate or search for a record, typing the doc id is one, but we use a standard look-up form with one or more text boxes and some info/search choices for the user. Your edit design limits the search to using a doc id. What if the user doesn't know the id, and must use another criteria? The magic text box won't do...
IAC, I see that we think very much the same: "How can he not see how much better is my design?", so I feel that we could/should leave it here...


>>>...which the user needs to learn only once (for all document entry forms), from the tooltip,
>>But every, ahem, New user needs to learn that. And everyone, everytime, need to remember it - did you consider Alzheimer's effect?
>
>There's the tooltip, and there are other users, and there's also (well, used to be there, five jobs ago) a two-page general manual. All very simple. Actually, the manual had eight pages, but the rest was about printers, backups and networks. The interface took two pages to explain.
>
>>>... and the New button needs to be clicked every time, but you are aware of that...
>
>>Yes, and so does the Enter need to be hit every time, but you don't seem to be aware of that...
>>
>
>So it needs to be pressed for any other textbox, ergo it's not something special that user needs to remember. I've seen this work for users who haven't got a single word of instruction and were about moderately computer literate.
>
>>>Or I can type the number of the document I want to look up. Or a question mark if I want to search through all documents. But I couldn't do that if I didn't have access to it, I'd have to specifically click elsewhere if I wanted to search or if I wanted a specific document.
>>
>>All very clever things, but I prefer plain.
>
>Exactly - no unneeded buttons, just textboxes :).
>
>>>>There are other issues, but I don't want to muddy the waters even more.
>>>>I know that in spite of all books, guidelines, etc. we'll never have 100% consensus in the UI design, and that's the way it should be.
>>>
>>>Right :)
>>>
>>Left!
>
>Over there!... too late. It ran away.

:)

Have a nice weekend!