Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!ucsd!hub!6600pete
From: 6600pete@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (GurgleKat [Pete Gontier])
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Dialog Edit menu, display of shortcuts (was: Movable-Modal WDEF)
Message-ID: <4241@hub.UUCP>
Date: 8 Mar 90 20:41:42 GMT
References: <10672@hoptoad.uucp>
Sender: news@hub.UUCP
Reply-To: 6600pete@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu
Lines: 55

From article <10672@hoptoad.uucp>, by tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney):
> In article <1831@esquire.UUCP> baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten)
> writes:
> 
> Technically, it's not at all hard to intercept and handle clicks in
> the menu bar from a modal dialog filter proc.  The question is whether
> the effort involved is worth it.

Especially from an INIT's perspective, which I believe had something to do
with the context of this thread.

>>By the way, Nisus also handles the issue of command-key equivalents in
>>dialog boxes with equal aplomb.  Instead of forcing you to wade
>>through a manual as Word does, Nisus displays the "cloverleaf-letter"
>>combinations right next to the buttons as soon as you press the
>>command key.

> Ooh, I hate those.  Talk about some ugly buttons.  Yeah, the reminder
> is nice from a psychological perspective, but the appearance of the
> shortcuts themselves is nasty from an aesthetic perspective, at least
> to me.

Here's what Andrew Welch had to say about it on America Online:

--- snip snip ---

Date:  90-03-08 08:00:42 EST
From:  AndrewWelc
Subj:  Re: more Dialog Power
To:    GurgleKat
 
Well, it is a good idea, but dialog power already does the
equivalent -- just in a different way.  The problem with the
way Nissus does it is that most people don't design their
dialogs big enough to support the extra characters -- it would
look really ugly.
 
Andrew

--- snip snip ---

The "different way" he's referring to is the MS Windows // OS/2 PM way of
providing command-key short-cuts in dialogs. You underline the letter of
the item title for which there is a command-key short-cut. This is provided
by 'Dialog Power', the logical extension of the 'Commander Dialog' series
(and bits of 'Black Box' -- which was the start of this thread) which
is in commercial beta right now.

Of course, AW is talking about providing the Nisus method to existing
programs, and I think he's right. It remains to be seen whether Nisus dialog
command-key short-cuts are the way to go for new applications.
--
Pete Gontier   | InterNet: 6600pete@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu, BitNet: 6600pete@ucsbuxa
Editor, Macker | Online Macintosh Programming Journal; mail for subscription
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