Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!maytag!xenitec!usenet!wcbcs!akcs.clemon
From: akcs.clemon@wcbcs (Craig Lemon)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Yet another 1.4 suggestion
Message-ID: <[2606bb30:3312.3]comp.sys.amiga;1@wcbcs>
Date: 21 Mar 90 00:40:37 GMT
References: <23493@usc.edu> <19463@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>
Lines: 64

>	What about an easier way to use the menus with the keyboard? By
>pressing (for example) F1 and F2, the menu bar would be controlled by the
>arrow keys. Pressing left and right would cycle through the Menu Titles and
>up and down would select the options within a menu. Pressing F1 and F2 again
>would select the item.
NNNNOOOOOOO!!! AUUUUUGGGGHHH!!! THAT's GETTING CLOSE TO IBM!!!!!!! :-) :-)
On a more serious note.....
I think this is a good idea but not with the keys you suggested.  This is
even closer to IBM keyboard-controlled-menus-un-written-standards _BUT_ you
may observe that the menu titles are displayed when hitting RA-Alt.  By
pressing the first letter of the menu (terrible English) you could activate
that menu, if there are more than one with that letter it could cycle
through each one.  After that UP/DOWN and LEFT/RIGHT could be used to select
which menu item.  Then ESC and RETURN can be used as Cancel and Select on
the particular menu item.  The first key combination would reduce conflicts
with other macro programs (ie. Mach II, Terminal prgs) because not many use
the RA and Alt keys at the same time.  This allows an almost unnoticed
method of changing Workbench "modes" shall we say.  ONce into the keyboard
menu mode you wouldn't have to worry because the cursor keys etc... will be
taken to mean menu movements and all further key combinations would do
nothing.  (Unless someone can think of something useful to do with them :-).
 Possibly the "hot-key" menu functions (RA-xxx) could still be enabled.  If
A HOT-key is pressed that function would be activated regardless if it is in
the same menu as the currently selected keyboard menu.  (whew!)

   Other useful functions might be actual Workbench ooptions for things like
SunMouse (activating the window which the mouse is over), mouse
accelerations which are greater, the adding of user menus (ie. MyMenus.  I
believe this is already in 1.4 -- not sure, not developer yet), Overscan
support, support for more bitplanes.  Basically make Workbench originally
support all of the functions that people have written into useful PD
utilities and make it the powerful program it has to potential to be.  This
would also eliminate A LOT of problems due to conflicting hacks etc...  We
wouldn't need hacks if it was already supported now would we?  Multi-user
would also be nice in some implementation in some form (even crude).  I know
stock Amiga hardware isn't suited to a large UNIX-like environment but it
would make bbs and networking lives much easier.  I mean look at UNIX.  A
lot of programs try to imitate that.  Lots of people are looking for BBSes
that you could have "login:" and then run scripts for users and only give
them certain accesses.  That's UNIX.  Not a neat little BBS program written
to look cute!  That's just the way it is even if you're a local user (then
you get graphics too).  I'd like to see the Amiga taken to it's full;
potential even if it means selling some programs marked "requires WB 1.4 or
higher".  It's the constant griping of people that complain about something
not running on their 1000.  They say that they've had they're Amiga for a
long time and have supported it from the beginning.  Then you find that they
have WB 1.1 or something silly.  Look at Messy-DOS (Let's not and say we
didn't even consider it :-).  Lots of people LOOOOOVE them.  ALL of their
software say : "requires DOS x.x or higher", why can't we?  How can we move
ahead if we're stuck in the past???

   Please excuse the length and occasional poor formatting.  Ideas are just
spewing out and I'm editing this online in a 10 line text window.  Real
fun... (I even have to upload my .signature at the end of every message!!! :-
}

--                            _
 Craig Lemon              // |_|               
 Kitchener, Ontario     \X/  | |  M  I  G  A   
                                               
 Amiga 2000 -- 2400 bps -- AmigaUUCP 1.03D     
 ..!watmath!xenitec!wcbcs!lemsys!clemon        
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