Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!watcgl!bmacintyre
From: bmacintyre@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Blair MacIntyre)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Yet Another God Damm 1.4 Suggestion:
Keywords: 1.4, windows, refresh, wish
Message-ID: <9949@watcgl.waterloo.edu>
Date: 29 May 89 13:38:20 GMT
References: <2459@wpi.wpi.edu>
Reply-To: bmacintyre@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Blair MacIntyre)
Organization: UofW Computer Graphics Lab
Lines: 52

In article <2459@wpi.wpi.edu> john@wpi.wpi.edu (John F Stoffel) writes:
>[ addressing the concept of draging windows off the screen ]
>1) Does the window take up RAM when it is off the screen.  i.e. does
>the Amiga continue to treat the screen as "normal" and just not
>display the parts that aren't visible, or should it ignore the parts
>out of view totally.

I think that if this should be implemented, the most intuitive way would
be to consider the metaphore of a windowing system and how this could
possibly fit in:  it seems that you should think of the window as being
the visible area of you "workbench" and, as such, the offscreen parts
or a window would be obscured using the same semantics as if they were
obscured onscreen.  Therefore, use the window flags ( SMART_REFRESH, etc)
to determine the right solution for that window ...
 
>2) How is refresh handled?  If I drag a window off to the side, go do
>some work on another window, then drag the first window back, what
>happens.  Does the window come on back as just the visible corner
>until you release it and it refreshes, or is it continually refreshed
>(only the border is really needed) as it becomes more visible.

Again, as above.  What happens when you move a partially obscured window
now?  Consistency and predictability are the key!  It would seem that
it would redraw when you stop moving it, or whatever the type of window
it is normally does ...

>3) Which directions can you move a window off the screen?  All four?
>Or just left, right, down?  Can the mouse move off the screen too?

In order:  yes, (yes, yes, yes, yes), no.

It would be unintuitive for the mouse to move of screen.  There is no
visual feedback, so the user would get panicy very fast.  As for what
parts of the window can go off screen, simple:  what ever part can move
offscreen while keeping the mouse that is dragging it on screen.  Since
you move by grabing the drag bar at the top, there is very little you could
do in terms of moving off the top, but that is a function of the 
interaction technique, not the windowing system.

>4) What do other people think?

I think it would be a nice addition.  It's one of those things that 
impresses people at a low (?) cost.  

Of course, someone better write an "onscreen" command to force all 
windows back onscreen!!

-- 
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= Blair MacIntyre, bmacintyre@watcgl.{waterloo.edu, UWaterloo.ca}     \\\///  =
=   now appearing at the Computer Graphics Lab, U of Waterloo!         \XX/   =
= "Don't be mean ... remember, no matter where you go, there you are." BBanzai=