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Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!nrl-cmf!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!CORY.BERKELEY.EDU!dillon
From: dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.apple,comp.sys.atari.st,comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Menu Bars
Message-ID: <8804091916.AA20039@cory.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 9 Apr 88 19:16:51 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Lines: 41

>The logical thing to happen if the menu-bar is larger than the window is that
>it gets clipped.  I imagine that in this case, you can use sliders to see
>the rest of it.

	Huh?  The whole idea is to be able to access the menu quickly,
	not to have to manipulate it like a window to get to the right
	header.

>Also, just because you don't seem to have any problems doesn't invalidate
>the original remark.  An example in which the above might be true:
>Say you have one application that uses 4 or 5 different menu-bar headers
>that are specific to its application.  And another has also 4-5 different
>menu-bar headers that are particular to the application.  And for good measure,
>lets throw in a couple of system-specific menu-bar headers (such as desk-acce-
>sories, etc.).  If you have a single menu-bar, you either have to crunch
>them all on the same line OR keep switching menu-bars whenever the top
>window changes (when another application becomes active).
>I for one, think a menu-bar per application-window is a great idea.
>But, of course, that's just my humble opinion.  They may or may not be rational.
>Tom Wolf

	Not rational.  Taking the Amiga as an example, the menu bar you see 
is the one for the currently "active" application window.  An application
window is made active by clicking in the window (or, with one of the myrid
utilities available, simply moving the mouse into the window).  This has
nothing to do with the number of RUNNING applications, since many can be
running at once, but simply tells the computer WHICH application you want
your keyboard/mouse input to go to.

	Placing the menu bar on the screen rather than in each individual
window makes sense because at any one time, the user will be manipulating
only ONE menu.  So instead of having to manipulate a menu which is limited
to the window width (kind of hard if you make the window really small), one
manipulates a full-width menu at the top of the screen. 

	It makes no sense to put ALL the application's/accessory menus into
one menu bar because at any one time I might have a dozen installed, and
I don't even want to *see* their menus until I need them, much less have
said menus hinder me.

						-Matt