: Re: When writing an error prompt, how do we tell the user the error happens in a specific tab? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_(interface) I have made a medical record application that allows someone

@Nimeshi163

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I'd imitate the style of stack traces. Go from most generic to most specific, provide as many details as possible, and most importantly, try to suggest a solution!. A "maybe you meant..." prompt, or something. The user will appreciate it.

You can do something like:

Error: invalid data has been provided.

Location:

Inside window titled: John Doe
Inside tab named: Jane Doe (2nd tab from the left)
Inside field: Date of birth
Inserted data: May 21, 1975

Additional details: the expected format for the "Date of birth" field is YYYY-MM-DD.

I wrote "Patient's relative" under the assumption that tabs always represent relatives.

In any case, the idea is that you shouldn't give the user technical terms, but rather, you should guide them through the GUI, through what they can see on screen. "Point at the screen" using words.

A better solution would be, if possible, in-place validation. If an user inputs invalid data in a required field, prevent them from submitting the information until they've fixed it, and display something next to the input, in an eye-catching color, that details what format the data should be in, such as:

Name: Jane Doe

Date of birth: May 21, 1975 [INVALID FORMAT: this field must be in the YYYY-MM-DD format] (in red)

Finally, you should be asking the folks at the UX (User Experience) StackExchange forum, since this is more of a software development question, rather than writing.

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