Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!apple!austing
From: austing@Apple.COM (Glenn L. Austin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: New HIG for pull-down/pop-ups
Message-ID: <44004@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 15 Aug 90 22:14:16 GMT
References: <5J2NCPB@cs.swarthmore.edu>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA
Lines: 42

jackiw@cs.swarthmore.edu (Nick Jackiw) writes:
>Has anyone noticed the rather poorly thought out logic of the new 
>guidelines for pull-down menus? They insist that you append a "scroll-down"
>arrow (a la any scrolling menu) after the menu item currently listed in
>the default box, e. g. 

>                  +--------------+
>            Font: | Palantino   V|
>                  +--------------+

>Where V is the scrolldown arrow.  Now either your default popup rect is
>is wider (by scrollarrow-width) than your widest item, or it's not. In
>the later case, if one of your menu's wider items is chosen, you'll have
>to truncate it to make room for the arrow--ugh!  In the former case, though,
>if the user clicks on the scroll-down arrow (a common choice, I think) then
>the menu pops up, but is off to the left 20 or 30 pixels from where the
>cursor is located (so no item is initially hilited...again, ugh!).

>This seems poorly thought out, to me.  While I suppose you could force the
>menus to be wider--adding scrollarrow-width to the result of CalcMenuSize--
>there's no clean way to do this, and it would give you a pop-up with an
>oddly-blank right margin.

>I think I liked the old method better.  Grumble grumble...

Use the Popup CDEF (ID 63) documented in the Macintosh Communications Toolbox
reference.  It does some neat stuff, including using compressed type, auto-
"truncating" (ie "LongMenuName" becomes "LongMenu..."), useWindowFont, etc.
It also does the "correct" polygon and scales it as necessary.  It also
handles correct checkmarking of items (using bullet instead of checkmark when
checkmark is not defined...).

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Glenn L. Austin               | "Turn too soon, run out of room,          | 
| Auto Racing Enthusiast and    |   Turn too late, much better fate"        |
| Communications Toolbox Hacker |   - Jim Russell Racing School Instructors |
| Apple Computer, Inc.          | "Drive slower, race faster" - D. Waltrip  | 
| Internet:   austing@apple.com |-------------------------------------------|
| AppleLink:  AUSTIN.GLENN      | All opinions stated above are mine --     |
| Bellnet:    (408) 974-0876    |                who else would want them?  |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------