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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!bellcore!decvax!wanginst!ulowell!page
From: page@ulowell.UUCP (Bob Page)
Newsgroups: net.micro.amiga
Subject: Re: window standards & standard windows
Message-ID: <246@ulowell.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 17-Mar-86 17:23:33 EST
Article-I.D.: ulowell.246
Posted: Mon Mar 17 17:23:33 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 19-Mar-86 04:47:06 EST
References: <1664@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Reply-To: page@ulowell.UUCP (Bob Page)
Organization: University of Lowell
Lines: 48
Summary: Keep 'em two lines from the top

First, a pseudo-reply:

In article <1664@decwrl.DEC.COM> praetorius@vaxwrk.DEC writes:
>     Does anybody out there (from MIT, especially) know anything about a
>windowing package called X that's come out of Project Athena?

Isn't that what DEC used on its Vaxstation-II/GPX ?

* * *
Now, a request.

All of the good developers want to encourage uniformity, right?  Look
at IFF for pictures, IFF for music & sound.  Look at Intuition, where
right mouse button means menu and left mouse button means pick, menus
are pull-down, system gadgets are always in the same place, etc.
Of course you may violate this rule (TextCraft is a prime example),
but it makes your program harder for the user to use.

With that in mind, I suggest that all applications that open a custom
window (on any screen) start two lines down from the top of the screen.
Yes, I know that only leaves you with 198/398 lines to play in, but
the advantage is that the user can go to the top of the display and
pull the screen down, without resizing the window and dragging it
first.  This is especially critical if you don't provide a sizing
gadget and your window fills the screen.

This may not sound like much *today*, since many people use the
Workbench screen.  But it will not always be that way!  A few years
from now everyone will have custom screens for their custom windows,
and we'll be moving through screens.  Plan ahead, is what I'm saying.
Also note that ALT-N (or M?  I can never remember) to bring the WB
screen to the front/back does just that...works on the WB screen only.
It also FLIPS (depth-arranges) the screen, so you can't have two
at once on the display.

I'd like to hear feedback on this proposal.

As an aside - is there an Intuition-blessed method for the *user*
to depth-arrange screens (assuming more than one custom screen)?
If so, what is it?  If not, why isn't there?

..Bob


-- 
UUCP: wanginst!ulowell!page	Bob Page
ARPA: page@ulowell.CSNET 	U of Lowell CS Dept
VOX:  +1 617 452 5000 x2233	Lowell MA 01854 USA