reset

The final tape in the US version of serial experiments lain. It begins by showing some of the past episodes, and its mostly flashbacks of significant details from previous episodes.

This tape tries to wrap up the series, but just like the end of Evangelion. it leaves the hardcore fan with a feeling that they had lost their best friend. One because the series is now over, and two because....

"Reset" is one of three possible button types in HTML 4.0 which can be placed in an HTML form (the other two being "submit" and the non-functional "button"). You specify it using something like the following code:

        <INPUT TYPE="reset" VALUE="Clear the form">

Okay now, here's the thing: DON'T EVER USE THIS. I mean it. There is almost never any reason for an end user of your HTML forms to want to clear the form. However, since a reset button looks just like a submit button, a user can easily click on it instead by not reading or by aiming their mouse badly. And the longer the form, the more annoying this sort of accident is, and the more likely the user is to not bother filling the form out a second time.

Besides, when was the last time you were filling out a form online and thought, "Hey, I'd better clear all those fields just in case I click on that 'submit' button without meaning to"?

Notice that nate doesn't use reset buttons. You shouldn't either. Be like nate.

Writing about the reset button which appears on some web forms, and which clears all form fields when pressed, mblase states, "There is almost never any reason for an end user of your HTML forms to want to clear the form". This is absolutely true; and even if an end user were to make a mistake in one of the form fields, there is no earthly reason why they would then want to erase every single field on the form and start over.

Unfortunately though, clients commissioning web sites sometimes get a bad idea into their heads and absolutely refuse to let it go, ignoring the advice of the very people that they have employed to advise them on such matters. And high on the list of bad ideas that clients demand is the reset button. They’ve seen them on other sites, and have therefore decided that if they want to be taken seriously they’d better have one on their site too.

My policy regarding this is to suggest that it is not really necessary, explain why (if asked), and leave it at that. Cynical though that may sound, my days of fighting with clients in order to do them a favor are over. That doesn’t mean I ignore the needs of the end users though: what I now do is to try and minimize the impact of the reset button as much as possible.

Instead of a reset button, I add a scripted button with a simple confirm() handled by onClick :

<input type="button" value="reset" onClick="if (confirm('Do you really want to clear the entire form?')) {this.form.reset()}">

It's a little clumsy, but receiving a confirm request is definitely less frustrating for the user than clearing an entire form by mistake.

Reset() is supported in Netscape Navigator from version 3 onwards and Internet Explorer from version 4, so this ought to catch the majority of users. Be aware though that some earlier browsers may well give an error: so depending on the circumstances and likely use, it may be desirable to test for compatibility first and script accordingly.

RESET is generally a pin on a microprocessor that, when frobbed, the processor will:

• Set its registers to a predetermined state
• Flush/clear any onboard cache
• Discard pending interrupts
• Jump to a particular (often hardwired) memory location.

Of course, each processor handles frobbing of its RESET line in a different way.

RESET can also be a button on a computer which will restart it; part of what this button does is usually frobbing the above-mentioned RESET pin.

Anyone who has used a Unix/Linux system for any significant amount of time has invariably performed the classic screw-up of trying to view a binary file inside their terminal. Depending on the data viewed and the particular terminal program being used, this can do all kinds of odd things to your display, including:

• Turning off local echo, so everything you type becomes invisible
• Changing your window titlebar
• Resizing your window
• Placing text into some weird character mode, where every character is transliterated into a corresponding weird alien symbol
• On suitably configured systems, making your printer print stuff (I think this is some kind of print screen function).

In any case, after you have realised your mistake and hit ctrl-c, your terminal nonetheless remains rather monged out and unusable.

A lot of people simply close the window and open a new one, but the real solution to this is to reset your terminal. In the good old days people used real dumb terminals so resetting the terminal would involve physically resetting it. Nowadays we use programs that emulate physical terminals, but they usually retain a reset function to keep this functionality. There are several ways to do this:

• Type the 'reset' command. You may not be able to see (or read properly) while you type this, but afterwards your terminal should be put back into a sane state.
• In xterm, hold down the ctrl and middle click in the window to bring up a menu. There is the option given of soft and full reset of the terminal.
• In gnome-terminal, you can reset from the Terminal menu.
• In KDE's Konsole, select "Reset and Clear Terminal" from the "Edit" menu.

Re*set" (r?-s?t"), v. t.

To set again; as, to reset type; to reset copy; to reset a diamond.

 

© Webster 1913.

---

Re"set (r?"s?t), n.

1.

The act of resetting.

2. Print.

That which is reset; matter set up again.

 

© Webster 1913.

---

Re*set" (r?-s?t"), n. [OF. recete, recepte, a receiving. Cf. Receipt.] ScotsLaw

The receiving of stolen goods, or harboring an outlaw.

Jamieson.

 

© Webster 1913.

---

Re*set", v. t. ScotsLaw

To harbor or secrete; to hide, as stolen goods or a criminal.

We shall see if an English hound is to harbor and reset the Southrons here. Sir. W. Scott.

 

© Webster 1913.