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From: lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.windows.misc
Subject: Re: A/UX window systems, Mac toolbox, etc
Message-ID: <7657@apple.Apple.Com>
Date: 11 Mar 88 19:50:37 GMT
References: <4129@hoptoad.uucp> <283@rhesus.primate.wisc.edu> <1710@ssc-vax.UUCP> <3996@vdsvax.steinmetz.ge.com> <7523@apple.Apple.Com> <4015@vdsvax.steinmetz.ge.com> <7598@apple.Apple.Com> <4035@vdsvax.steinmetz.ge.com>
Reply-To: lsr@apple.UUCP (Larry Rosenstein)
Organization: Advanced Technology Group, Apple Computer
Lines: 43

In article <4035@vdsvax.steinmetz.ge.com> barnett@vdsvax.steinmetz.ge.com (Bruce G. Barnett) writes:
>
>Now what happens when several applications are open, and the mouse is
>moved through each of the windows? 
>
>Is the application with the mouse over it active, or the application on top?
>
>If it is the application on top, then lower applications wouldn't
>receive the events of the mouse passing through the window.

If you are dealing with a single application, then it is possible to track
the mouse over windows that are inactive.  If you are dealing with multiple
applications, then the answer is no.  The cursor shape should be considered
part of the input focus (since it signifies what happens when you click the
mouse), and the frontmost application owns the input focus.

This whole discussion about user interfaces was missed some of the subtle
features of the Mac, which enhance its usability.  For example, it is
possible to program your application so that clicking in an inactive window
works exactly like clicking in an active window.

Normally, clicking in an inactive window simply brings that window to the
front.  In many applications, you want the user to be able to click on
anything that is visible even if it is not in an active window.  (The Finder
does this with icons, and it works very well.)

I think it is pointless to discuss user interfaces feature by feature.  The
Mac was designed with very different goals than the Sun.  These goals end up
influencing the user interface and system design.  There are going to be
many user interface features on the Sun that aren't used (or can't be done)
on the Mac, and vice versa.  This does not make one system better than the
other.

If you analyze the particular feature and what it is trying to accomplish,
then you can probably find a suitable way to implement it on the Mac.  If
you simply try to port an interface from another machine, then it may not
work as well.

-- 
		 Larry Rosenstein,  Object Specialist
 Apple Computer, Inc.  20525 Mariani Ave, MS 32E  Cupertino, CA 95014
	    AppleLink:Rosenstein1    domain:lsr@Apple.COM
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