Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!decwrl!ucbvax!THINK.COM!garyo
From: garyo@THINK.COM (Gary Oberbrunner)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x.motif
Subject: Re: File Selection Dialog -- no parent button?
Message-ID: <9102262242.AA23851@prometheus.think.com>
Date: 26 Feb 91 22:42:06 GMT
References: <9102262213.AA28932@osf.osf.org>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Distribution: inet
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Lines: 36


    >From motif-talk-request@osf.org Tue Feb 26 16:35:22 1991
    >> 
    >> > 	Yes, OptionMenus != DropDownList.  Some vendors may chose to
    >> > 	implement DropDownList and used them instead of the OptionMenu.
    >> 
    >> In what way does an OptionMenu behave differently from a DropDownList?
    >> So far you have told me one thing.  That the menu positions itself
    >> under the cursor.  In fact, neither the CUA or the Motif Style Guides
    >> mention this behavior, so I can't see how it is relevant.
    >> 
    
    	I think we should take this discussion off-line, or at least change
    	the subject line.

I'm finding the discussion very enlightening.  Somehow simplicity has
gotten broadsided by creeping functionality.  No surprise there, but it's a
very clear example of how living with something for a long time obscures
its true nature.  Maybe it's time for OSF to do Round 2 of the human
factors tests...

    	I am not saying that OptionMenu and DropDownList are very different.
    	They are not.  But since they are different controls (one posting a
    	menu and the other posting a list), a different graphic symbol was
    	used.
    
    	=Mike

I defy a naive user to tell the difference.  You press the button, you
takes your choice.

				- Gary Oberbrunner
				Thinking Machines Corporation
				245 First St
				Cambridge, MA 02142
				garyo@think.com