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From: m_herodotus@csc32.enet.dec.com (Mario Herodotus)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: Apple Menu Items
Message-ID: <3239@shodha.enet.dec.com>
Date: 26 May 91 09:18:49 GMT
References: <1991May25.231736.1675@cs.umn.edu> <34901@mimsy.umd.edu>
Sender: news@shodha.enet.dec.com
Reply-To: m_herodotus@csc32.enet.dec.com (Mario Herodotus)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Digital Equipment Corp  (CX03 1/J3), Colorado Springs, Co 80919
Lines: 63

-In article <34901@mimsy.umd.edu>, folta@tove.cs.umd.edu (Wayne Folta) 
writes:

>Anything you select from the Apple Menu gets opened by the System. The System
>treats all objects consistently: applications, sounds, fonts, the System,
>documents, folders, suitcases, and disks. When you open them, the logical thing
>happens.

>Now, choosing an item from the Apple menu simply causes it to open. If you
>have folders (or aliases to folders) in the Apple Menu folder, they become
>visible in the Apple menu and they are opened when you select them. This is
>consistent with all other objects you might place in the Apple Menu folder.
>This is also consistent, of course, with how folders in the Startup Items
>folder work.

>If you get hierarchial menus by placing folders in the Apple Menu folder,
>you are suddenly treating folders inconsistently. (That is, everything else
>you could possibly place in the Apple menu is opened by selecting it... except
>for folders.) Also, how would you place folders in the Apple menu so that you
>could jump quickly to a folder of your choice? I am already quite fond of
>this, as it lets me jump straight to my favorite folders.

        How about just changing the way the menu reacts if you release the
mouse before pulling right?  With this method you could still open the folder 
by releasing the button while the folder is hilited, and if you drag right, 
and you could open the application/CDEV/whatever that is inside the folder.

        I think this is reasonable, a little different then things were done
in the past but so are a lot of things about system 7.

	I guess that part of the problem is that whenever we are presented 
with a hierarchical menu we assume that mousing to the right is the only choice
we have.  Could the interface guidelines be changed to allow selection of the
item that caused the hierarchical menu to appear?  (Is this ever addressed in 
the guidelines?)

	This would give us both choices, select a folder...folder opens.
Select something inside a folder...that item opens.  (it could even be a 
second folder with a hierarchical menu of its own!)


Mario

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     I can't afford my own opinions, and DEC won't pay for them either.
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