Re: Menus

["Khimenko Victor" <gnome-gui khim sch57 msk ru>]

6-Nov-98 18:55 you wrote:
> Khimenko Victor <gnome-gui@khim.sch57.msk.ru> wrote:
>> > I suppose this has been solved already with tearable menus? of course you
>> > have to be able to tear (and stick to the desktop) sub-menus as well, but if
>> > you look at, e.g. afterstep, the whole root menu works that way. it's great.
>> > if you want to test all the backgrounds, you take decorations->pictures and
>> > then just stick the list to the desktop and click on them in succession. :)
>>
>> AFAIK GNOME does not have tearable menus.

> not yet. :)

> I remember it was suggested on this list and greeted with a lot of "yes". I
> sincerely hope someone is working on this already. it's probably a gtk issue
> anyways.

Hm. It's interesting question to whick library it belongs: to GTK or to
gnome-libs... Anyway this will lead to significat change in API...

>> etc: layout is stored somewhere deep in configuration files (Normal.dot for
>> Word, for example).

> eh... config files are called .dot by M$ ? geez... they can't come up with
> ONE original idea, eh? :))

No. Not configuration files. TEMPLATE files. There are definition of document
style (Which font should be used for headline, how title header footed should
look, etc). Plus macroses. And there are stored configuration of menus/toolbars
as well. So you could have one menu for letters and completely other for books.
I'm not know how useful this idea is. At least I never seen this concept
"at work" (customized toolbars used quite often -- at least in our school,
but different toolbars for letters and books???)... In fact I'm pretty sure
that different layouts for "text-entering" mode and "editor" mode will be
usefull but this is EXACTLY what is not possible in M$ Office ! You could not
have few different layouts and easy way to shitch between them. Not without
changing document style and this is hardly acceptable... Of course you could
make few copies for each style, etc but this way is to sophisticated for most
users (even for geeks like me :-))

>> > the self-adjustable menus are one of the most stupid things I've ever seen
>> > in a gui. if there's a single rule of ui design they don't violate, someone
>> > please tell me.
>>
>> > they're simply awful.
>>
>> Do you seen them "in work" ?

> do, no. did, yes. it's like watching a battlefield after the show - you get
> a certain feel for what's been destroyed there that day.

Hm. May be yes, mey be now. I'm NOT self-adjustable menu proponent. Here was
other point: if we'll have flexible enough API to support tearable and tunable
menus/toolbars ON ALL LEVELS (including context menus like it's done in
M$ Office) then this will allow us not only to have few different themes for
menus (like Mac, like M$ Windows, like Next and few GNOME-specific ones)
but also will allow self-adjustable menus WITHOUT applications redesing...