From: Philip Aker (philip@VCN.BC.CA)
Date: 20 Nov 98, 03:34 EST
From: Philip Aker <philip@VCN.BC.CA> Subject: Re: ** Excellent suggestion ** Rowland, I see scrolling list-type dialogs like the Extension Manager or the Find File application display as being the best all-round solution for Alpha's large sets of options. I think that they could take care of all the items you mentioned (including the area of keybindings) in such a way as to avoid the software bloat that tabbed dialogs imply (to me a least). In other words, to super-develop the Macintosh list control for Alpha's purposes and then use instances of it for anything appropriate. Given that there is already a font for displaying keyboard commands (via Mercutio) it seems possible to have a dictionary of Alpha's procs & bindings displayed in a list such that the user can attain brief (Balloon) or full (disclosure arrow) information about the item(s) in question and also change the bindings at whim. I'm not sure of the limits of text in Balloon Help, but it's possible to have ~32k of text in a stock Dialog Manager item or with a WASTE implementation, megs of text. I suggest that you make a point of visiting a Mac with System 8 or greater installed on it and look at the Extensions Manager Control Panel to get a first hand look at just one of the possibilites of the implementation of the list control. In addition, there is also some .pdf documentation and working examples available in the free Appearance SDK. There are so many neat things in there that the problem is really to be able to narrow down one's choices to just a few select items. (Try http://www.apple.com/developer and search on Appearance.) Cheers, Philip Philip Aker Composer, Pianist, Finale Plugins Suite 13 1405 West 11 Avenue Vancouver BC Canada V6H 1K9 philip@vcn.bc.ca Rowland < } >The problem for me with tabbed dialogs is that they force the } >use of the mouse, whereas I would prefer to do all of my } >navigation by the keyboard. } I like to have a choice, with on-screen prompting of the key } binding - that way, I don't have to learn anything first and } keep a written prompt on the desk (damend awkward in the case } of Alpha which has thousands of keybindings, most of which } aren't mentioned on screen that I can see), and I've got the } option of using either keyboard or mouse all the time. } This on-screen mention of a keybinding is important, by the } way: without it, most people will be unable to use most } keybindings. I use lots of Emacs keybindings myself, but I } couldn't possibly have leant them from Alpha - I learnt them } using the Emacs tutorial and using the Emacs reference card as } a prompt. This was the only way of doing it, because I was } working on a VT100 terminal. } (Yes, I know Alpha's Emacs keybindings are displayed in the } Emacs menu. There are several problems with this: I need a } written prompt to remind me what the various cryptic squiggles } mean in terms of modifier keys; it's in a submenu, and } therefore hard to get to; and you can't see the whole lot at } once.) } > In addition, take look at the } >'View' menu options when the Extensions Manager Control Panel } >is active to see how the material can be arranged to suit the } >needs of the user, while the 'Show Item Information' disclosure } >triangle offers what I think is a better mechanism than Balloon } >Help because of the possibility of more data being displayed } >than is customary with balloons. } Hmm - you can get quite a lot of data displayed in help } balloons, and they don't force you to use screen space in quite } the same way. With Helium installed, you get to inflate } balloons with a keypress, which is very handy and (in my } opinion) much more convenient than the Extensions Manager way } of doing things (that `item information' panel takes up a } *huge* amount of my 14 inch monitor. There are some Alpha users } with 9 inch screens. Think about this very carefully.) } I tend to prefer the balloon help way of doing things, when } it's done *well* - File Buddy is an example of this.