Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!richsun!cpg.trs.reuter.com!emike
From: emike@cpg.trs.reuter.com (E. Mike Durbin)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: OSF statements about OPEN LOOK
Message-ID: <999@richsun.cpg.trs.reuter.com>
Date: 12 Sep 90 13:07:16 GMT
References: <9009052346.AA27999@erik.uucp> <1990Sep6.153723.20246@alphalpha.com> <141998@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Sender: news@richsun.cpg.trs.reuter.com
Reply-To: emike@cpg.trs.reuter.com (E. Mike Durbin)
Organization: Rich/Reuters Trading Room Systems, Core Products Group
Lines: 40

|> > Not having pushpins means that you either let the user get annoyed
|> > or you create an alternative mechanism for keeping dialogs up.
|> In XView, pushpins in popup menus is implemented simply by creating
|> a similar base frame  that "looks" like the menu and then mapping it
|> to the screen.  The menu itself (override shell) certainly isn't stuck
|> up on the screen and left there...
|> 
|> > In Motif this is the difference between the "Ok" button (which takes
|> > it down) and the "Apply" button, which keeps it up.  You have both
|> > and the user decides which to select.  Given that XView isn't made
|> > with a widget set I'm not sure how easy it would be to add an extra
|> > button to your dialog boxes.
|> I don't really understand what you aer asking here, but I feel
|> compelled to provide some sort of response :-).  Unlike the Motif
|> toolkit, XView doesn't provide any pre-built dialogs -- therefore,
|> you don't have a situation where you "add a button".  Since you
|> are responsible for building all your own dialogs, if you add a
|> button, you do it at the time you create it.  It is certainly
|> possible to do it, but the analogy isn't the same; at least, it
|> isn't what I think you might be looking for.

The problem is that XView applications DEPEND on the window manager dismissing
popup, and even worse, killing the application.  For example, Sun's Calendar
Manager will use a popup window for entering an appointment.  With out OLWM,
there is NO WAY do dismiss this popup if it defaults to being push pinned in!
In X, if you zap any client window, XLIB DOES AN EXIT, killing the entire
application.

This is real serious if you have a multi-threaded application that uses popups
for lots of windows.  Without OLWM, the screen becomes cluttered with popups
than can NEVER be dismissed!

Also, there is NO WAY to quit the application without OLWM or zapping
the window.
This, to me, it the only architectural flaw with Open Look (or is it
with XView?).

--------------
E. Mike Durbin		Rich/Reuters Trading Room Systems
emike@cpg.trs.reuter.com   or   uunet!richsun!emike