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From: bart@reed.UUCP (Bart Massey)
Newsgroups: net.micro.mac
Subject: Re: Re: Palettes: suggestions on how to do them
Message-ID: <2019@reed.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 18-Oct-85 12:36:32 EDT
Article-I.D.: reed.2019
Posted: Fri Oct 18 12:36:32 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 20-Oct-85 05:11:14 EDT
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Organization: Reed College, Portland, Oregon
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> There are a number of ways to do palettes according to what you like
> best; there is no "right" way.  There are 2 issues to think about.
> How to implement the palette and where to implement it.
> 
> I agree that using the Dialog Manager is overkill.  Palettes are
> generally very regular in structure, so it is only a matter of
> divising coordinates to get the palette item a user clicks in.  In
> addition, you would have to go to a fair amount of work to get the
> Dialog Manager to display all the little symbols you wanted.
> 
> As far as showing your palettes, there are several possibilities:
> 
> 	in the window (as in MacDraw)
> 	globally (as in MacPaint)
> 	in graphical menus (used in MacDraw)
> 	
> Each has advantages and disadvantages.  One advantage of menus is that
> they are available regardless of the position of the document windows
> on the screen.  (If MacPaint had resizable windows, then you might
> want to make the window the full screen size sometimes, which would
> cover the palettes.)  

	So how is it any more work to write a CDEF and put up a bunch of
USERITEM buttons in a modeless dialog that it is to write an MDEF to
put up the whole palette?  In other words, write a CDEF for something
that acts like a button with a picture on it.  Then in the DITL for
your modeless dialog, just pack them side by side to make your
palette.  Either neither or both are overkill, surely.  If you use a
modeless dialog, you get something that acts like a "real artist's"
palette -- it's always around, can be moved to where you need it,
covered by things, etc.  Probably a "Show Palette" menu item and a
close box would also be needed.  There are certainly times when I would
prefer this to MacDraw's "palette menu" approach...

	Note that you could almost get by without a CDEF for a palette
in a modeless dialog, through some kind of gross hack involving superposing
PICTITEMS or ICONITEMS and BUTTONITEMS with no text legend...  You could
even simply put the pictures next to the buttons, if you were in a hurry --
this would take up a little more space, but would be perfectly legible,
and certainly within the bounds of the user interface guidelines as I
read them...

						Bart Massey
						..tektronix!reed!bart