Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ukma!nrl-cmf!ames!pasteur!agate!twinkies!lippin
From: lippin@twinkies.berkeley.edu (The Apathist)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Proper menu title appearance when all items are dimmed
Message-ID: <18216@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 13 Dec 88 03:37:04 GMT
References: <1146@tank.uchicago.edu>
Sender: usenet@agate.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: lippin@math.berkeley.edu
Organization: Authorized Service, Incorporated
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Recently ra_robert@gsbacd.uchicago.edu wrote:

>I have a short question regarding menu bar etiquette: when all the
>items in a menu are disabled (dimmed), should the menu title also be
>dimmed?  I think so, 'cause in Apple's Human Interface Guidelines
>it says just that, but even the Finder doesn't follow this rule.
[...]
>(The reason I'm asking this
>is because I'm trying to avoid a lot of DrawMenuBar calls in my code
>when all menu items become dimmed; lots of these calls tend to make
>the menu bar flicker).

My feeling is to go with the HIG; I suspect that the finder doesn't
precisely to avoid the flicker.  I'm also bothered by the flicker --
it makes my programs look bad, and there's no workaround.  I suspect,
though it's hard to tell from IM, that the flickering code is in the
MBDF, so Apple could change it without much trouble.  Even a wrapper
patch for DrawMenuBar wouldn't be very large.  If they did fix this, I
wouldn't mind a bit.

(While we're at the wishing well, how about fixing FrameOval so that
it doesn't leave gaps?)

					--Tom Lippincott
					  lippin@math.berkeley.edu

		"Those are line *segments*, sir."
			--Second City,
			  "Football Comes to the University of Chicago"