Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!maverick.ksu.ksu.edu!unmvax!uokmax!d.cs.okstate.edu!minich From: minich@d.cs.okstate.edu (Robert Minich) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc Subject: Re: What can't it do? Loss of... Message-ID: <1990Jul10.200901.4328@d.cs.okstate.edu> Date: 10 Jul 90 20:09:01 GMT References: <30285@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> Organization: Oklahoma State University Lines: 48 by jmpiazza@sybil.cs.Buffalo.EDU (Joseph M. Piazza): |>>If a GUI has been designed for multiple applications running concurrently |>>and sharing a screen space, there is no need for kludges like DAs or |>>Multifinders. |>>Wolfgang Strobl Don't confuse Multifinder with Finder. (How could that possibly happen? :-) The Finder is just a program, although it is massively hooked to the OS like no other program has a right to be. MultiFinder is the set of extensions to the OS that provide the cooperative multitasking. |>Multifinder |>is how the Mac does its multiprocessing. DA's are just small applications |>that run as another process just as other applications do. DA's are not just small applications. They are much more restricted than that. They are symbiotic, single chunks of code designed to work with a host. With System 7, writing DA's will become rather stupid. They'll look like an app to the user, but they are still restricted. DA's have a weird convention for communicating with the host that is a pain. I'd rather just write a real program and have the benefits of multiple CODE segments, more than one menu, etc. | I think what Mr. Strobl was referring to the fact that the | Finder was not originally designed to multitask -- not even cooperative | multitasking. While "kludge" may be an exageration, Multifinder is a | revision of the the same non-multitasking Finder. See the above contrast of MultiFinder and the Finder. Kludge could probably be pinned to MultiFinder, but definitely not the Finder. I believe that in Sys 7, there will be the addition of a "Desktop" layer which will be the parent of all disk voulmes. (This will also show up in the stnadard file DLOG box, allowing you to see the volumes in a similar manner to folders.) Also, Finder 7 will have a "Set aside..." option to allow you to hide the windows of other running applications. (Currently, I have an FKEY [a really small piece of code that is invoked by typing cmd-shft-#, where # is 0-9] that zaps the content region of the current window, letting you see what is behind it. This really is useful with a term program that covers the entire screen, even during downloads. I just zap it and the only thing that remains is the title bar and a one pixel outline of the windows edge!) -- | _ /| | Robert Minich |Q: Why is the food so lousy, and | \'o.O' | Oklahoma State University |the service so bad? Time traveler: | =(___)= | minich@d.cs.okstate.edu |A:The waiters know in advance what | U | - Bill sez "Ackphtth" |kind of tip they'll be getting.