Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!rochester!cornell!biar!trebor
From: trebor@biar.UUCP (Robert J Woodhead)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Append menu is slow.
Keywords: AppendMenu menu slow efficiency
Message-ID: <554@biar.UUCP>
Date: 10 May 89 04:29:22 GMT
References: <89May9.171757edt.11077@ephemeral.ai.toronto.edu>
Reply-To: trebor@biar.UUCP (Robert J Woodhead)
Organization: Biar Games, Inc.
Lines: 26

In article <89May9.171757edt.11077@ephemeral.ai.toronto.edu> dudek@ai.toronto.edu (Gregory Dudek) writes:
>The application I am writing needs to create some large menus; up to
>128 items (sometimes more).  I know, that's uuuugly but I want to
>allow selection from a long list of undifferentiated items.  

DO NOT USE MENUS IN THIS WAY.  It is contrary to the spirit of the Mac
user interface.  Use a scrolling list instead, for several reasons:

	* It is more efficient, and faster.
	* It allows use of the scrolling metaphor users are accustomed
	  to, rather than the hacked up menu scrolling.
	* Scroll bars let you scroll a "page" at a time.
	* You can implement keyboard equivalents (ala Resedit).
	* You can give the user control over size and position of the
	  list.

Quite frankly, the fact that you are having this problem indicates that
your user interface requires serious rethinking.  A huge list of
undifferentiated items is a perfect example of what a user should NEVER
be faced with, because he/she will never be able to find the thing they
want when they want it.  If possible, menus should have <10-15 items.

-- 
Robert J Woodhead, Biar Games, Inc.  !uunet!biar!trebor | trebor@biar.UUCP
"The lamb will lie down with the lion, but the lamb won't get much sleep."
     -- Woody Allen.