Dwim

3 definitions found

From Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002) [vera]:

  DWIM
       Do What I Mean (telecommunication, Usenet, IRC)
       
       

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:



  DWIM /dwim/ [acronym, `Do What I Mean'] 1. adj. Able to guess,
     sometimes even correctly, the result intended when bogus input was
     provided. 2. n. obs. The BBNLISP/INTERLISP function that attempted to
     accomplish this feat by correcting many of the more common errors. See
     {hairy}. 3. Occasionally, an interjection hurled at a balky computer,
     esp. when one senses one might be tripping over legalisms (see
     {legalese}). 4. Of a person, someone whose directions are
     incomprehensible and vague, but who nevertheless has the expectation
     that you will solve the problem using the specific method he/she has in
     mind.
  
     Warren Teitelman originally wrote DWIM to fix his typos and spelling
     errors, so it was somewhat idiosyncratic to his style, and would often
     make hash of anyone else's typos if they were stylistically different.
     Some victims of DWIM thus claimed that the acronym stood for `Damn
     Warren's Infernal Machine!'.
  
     In one notorious incident, Warren added a DWIM feature to the command
     interpreter used at Xerox PARC. One day another hacker there typed
     `delete *$' to free up some disk space. (The editor there named backup
     files by appending `$' to the original file name, so he was trying to
     delete any backup files left over from old editing sessions.) It
     happened that there weren't any editor backup files, so DWIM helpfully
     reported `*$ not found, assuming you meant 'delete *'.' It then started
     to delete all the files on the disk! The hacker managed to stop it with
     a {Vulcan nerve pinch} after only a half dozen or so files were lost.
  
     The disgruntled victim later said he had been sorely tempted to go to
     Warren's office, tie Warren down in his chair in front of his
     workstation, and then type `delete *$' twice.
  
     DWIM is often suggested in jest as a desired feature for a complex
     program; it is also occasionally described as the single instruction the
     ideal computer would have. Back when proofs of program correctness were
     in vogue, there were also jokes about `DWIMC' (Do What I Mean,
     Correctly). A related term, more often seen as a verb, is DTRT (Do The
     Right Thing); see {Right Thing}.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  DWIM
       
          /dwim/ [acronym, "Do What I Mean" (not what I say)] 1. Able to
          guess, sometimes even correctly, the result intended when
          bogus input was provided.
       
          2. The BBNLISP/INTERLISP function that attempted to accomplish
          this feat by correcting many of the more common errors.  See
          {hairy}.
       
          3. Occasionally, an interjection hurled at a balky computer,
          especially when one senses one might be tripping over
          legalisms (see {legalese}).
       
          Warren Teitelman originally wrote DWIM to fix his typos and
          spelling errors, so it was somewhat idiosyncratic to his
          style, and would often make hash of anyone else's typos if
          they were stylistically different.  Some victims of DWIM thus
          claimed that the acronym stood for "Damn Warren's Infernal
          Machine!'.
       
          In one notorious incident, Warren added a DWIM feature to the
          command interpreter used at {Xerox PARC}.  One day another
          hacker there typed "delete *$" to free up some disk space.
          (The editor there named backup files by appending "$" to the
          original file name, so he was trying to delete any backup
          files left over from old editing sessions.)  It happened that
          there weren't any editor backup files, so DWIM helpfully
          reported "*$ not found, assuming you meant 'delete *'".  It
          then started to delete all the files on the disk!  The hacker
          managed to stop it with a {Vulcan nerve pinch} after only a
          half dozen or so files were lost.
       
          The disgruntled victim later said he had been sorely tempted
          to go to Warren's office, tie Warren down in his chair in
          front of his workstation, and then type "delete *$" twice.
       
          DWIM is often suggested in jest as a desired feature for a
          complex program; it is also occasionally described as the
          single instruction the ideal computer would have.  Back when
          proofs of program correctness were in vogue, there were also
          jokes about "DWIMC" (Do What I Mean, Correctly).  A related
          term, more often seen as a verb, is DTRT (Do The Right Thing);
          see {Right Thing}.
       
          [{Jargon File}]