Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!lsr From: lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer Subject: Re: Checking for MF (was Re: Need some MF help) Message-ID: <28590@apple.Apple.COM> Date: 7 Apr 89 22:45:54 GMT References: <1203@internal.Apple.COM> <2756@pegasus.ATT.COM> Distribution: comp.sys.mac.programmer Organization: Advanced Technology Group, Apple Computer Lines: 70 In article <2756@pegasus.ATT.COM> ech@pegasus.ATT.COM (Edward C Horvath) writes: > >the graphical screen. Under MultiFinder, that appearance is QUALITATIVELY >DIFFERENT, since there is "other stuff" behind (or in front of) the That is an implementation detail. What you really want to know is whether there are icons on the desktop, or whether there are icons in certain positions. It just so happens that at present, having MultiFinder running is a necessary condition for this. >the Compact and Laptop macs), I'm going to want to help my user get the >most mileage out of that screen appearance. That means I want to be >SENSITIVE to the presence of other apps, just so I can get out of the way. In this case, my preference would be for each application to use the limited screen space to its best advantage. I would be really annoyed if MacWrite or MacTerminal (to use 2 examples) shrunk their windows horizontally under MultiFinder. In both those applications, you really need the maximum horizontal screen space on a compact Mac. If your application is one than can work effectively in a smaller window, then that should be its default, and you can provide a way for the user to set the default window location. You should also adapt to the size of the screen so that users with larger screens get larger default windows. Even if the user isn't using MultiFinder, they might have DAs or other program windows up, so that defaulting to a smaller window size might make some sense all the time. I don't think you can predict how people are going to organize their DA windows or their desktops, and that it only makes sense to provide a way to change the default window placement (short of using ResEdit). >Arguments to the effect that apps that launch, or react visibly to suspend >events "shouldn't do that" -- that ONLY Apple can break Apple's rules -- >reflect a bad attitude. If Apple needs to do it, someone else does too. You are talking about a different issue here; one of launching applications. The Tech Note doesn't say only Apple is allowed to do this, it says that only applications that want to act as program shells should. It then goes on to tell you how to do it the best way given the present system software. >but I want it OUT OF THE WAY when I'm not typing at it. Lonnie did the >right thing, and the guidelines be damned: they're guidelines, not dogma. Shrinking the window while in the background sounds like a good idea to me, although, I'm sure that I would want to turn this off sometimes. (I never argued that this wasn't a good idea; I was simply giving reasons why you should not be asking the question "Is MultiFinder running?") You can also do this without worrying about whether MultiFinder is running; all you care about is whether you get a suspend event or not. You are absolutely right about the guidelines; they are only guidelines. We don't make up user interface or programming guidelines just for fun. People here put a lot of thought into them, and the guidelines are intended to tell developers important information. Often we don't give sufficient justification for the guidelines, which makes them look somewhat arbitrary. It still is in your best interest to look at them and think about the consequences of not following the guidelines. Several people have said in this and other forums, that if you have a legitmate piece of information about the system to make a suggestion to Tech Support. You are going to have a hard time, however, convincing them that SysEnvirons needs a isMultiFinderRunning bit. Larry Rosenstein, Object Specialist Apple Computer, Inc. 20525 Mariani Ave, MS 46-B Cupertino, CA 95014 AppleLink:Rosenstein1 domain:lsr@Apple.COM UUCP:{sun,voder,nsc,decwrl}!apple!lsr