Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!apple!claris!UUCP!peirce From: peirce@outpost.UUCP (Michael Peirce) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system Subject: Re: ScrollBar design question Message-ID: Date: 26 Jun 91 00:49:03 GMT Reply-To: peirce@outpost.UUCP (Michael Peirce) Organization: Peirce Software Lines: 27 X-Mailer: uAccess - Mac Release: 1.5 In article <22430@duke.cs.duke.edu>, jfw@neuro (John F. Whitehead) writes: > dmittman@beowulf.JPL.NASA.GOV (David Mittman) writes: > > ...why the thumb (box) is not proportional, i.e. show how much information > > of the total information content of the window is currently being > > displayed, rather than positional. > > NeXT machines do this very nicely. Not only do they show a proportional > thumb, but when you slide it, you see the window slide so you know > exactly how much you need to move it! X does this too - at least the DECWindows variation thereof. The problem with tracking the thumb in real time on the Mac is supporting those ever popular 68000 based machines. No way are you going to be able to smoothly keep the window in sync with the thumb. Given enough cycles and memory there is no reason that a Mac program couldn't implement this behavior. (I don't *think* it would be against UI guidelines (the thumb tracking, not the wierd proportional thumb)...) -- Michael Peirce -- outpost!peirce@claris.com -- Peirce Software -- Suite 301, 719 Hibiscus Place -- Macintosh Programming -- San Jose, California 95117 -- & Consulting -- (408) 244-6554, AppleLink: PEIRCE