Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!decwrl!infopiz!abekas!abekrd!garyb
From: garyb@abekrd.co.uk (Gary Bartlett)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Re: two new utilities on info server
Message-ID: <1991Feb26.101937.12286@abekrd.co.uk>
Date: 26 Feb 91 10:19:37 GMT
References: <1991Feb22.131230.1013@newcastle.ac.uk>
Organization: Abekas Video Systems, Reading, UK.
Lines: 49

In <1991Feb22.131230.1013@newcastle.ac.uk> Albert.Koelmans@newcastle.ac.uk (Albert Koelmans) writes:
>A couple of new utilities on the server: 'sticky' and 'largeness', both
>submitted by Brian Brunswick. Here's the description:

This is really addressed to Brian - (can you read this Brian?).  Can someone
pass it on if he doesn't read this group.

I really liked the idea of largeness, but I came across the following problems:

1) After quitting from largeness, the mouse pointer is still no longer bound
   to the screen area and there is now nothing to bring it back again so it
   is very easy to totally lose the pointer.  The pointer bounds should be
   restored on quitting.

2) I noticed when clicking on the icon (it didn't do it all the time) that
   a window 'Grab Keys' popped up (in disgusting olive and orange colours)
   which had as a menu the Task Window menu.  This is clearly a bug.  I have
   seen this happen before with something else but cannot remember what.

A few other ideas:

1) Can I suggest rather than having an `infinite' screen that it becomes a
   screen with bounds out as far as the furthest windows, so that moving the
   pointer to the right will scroll all windows until the right-most window
   is just on-screen and then disabling further scrolling in that direction.
   The window can still be expanded by moving the (any) window further to the
   right (thereby extending the right edge extent).  This way it is more
   difficult to `lose' windows.  You will always know that there are no
   windows further away.

2) As another aid in keeping track of window positions perhaps we could have
   a small window (on the icon bar so that it doesn't move?) showing the
   relative positions (as small dots/boxes) of windows with respect to the
   current screen position.  This might be tricky if the virtual screen is
   continually expanding so perhaps the total screen size could be fixed
   before hand (eg to 5 times screen size).

Just a few ideas and suggestions.  I realise that this may not be easy to
implement but it would be great to use if it could.

Thanks for a very interesting idea (and implementation),
This idea really should be continued and developed,

Gary
-- 
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Gary C. Bartlett               NET: garyb@abekrd.co.uk
Abekas Video Systems Ltd.     UUCP: ...!uunet!mcsun!ukc!pyrltd!abekrd!garyb
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