Scrollbars and arrows; also the mouse.

[Gregory Merchan <merchan baton phys lsu edu>]

Sorry to post this after the topic seems to have dropped off; I've been 
behind on my mail queue.

One possible scrollbar configuration that I did not grep in the 
discussion is that of the JX toolkit - place the arrows together, but 
place a pair at both ends of the scrollbar. The arrows for any direction 
are 'linked' so that pressing one also makes the other pressed. (I don't 
recall how the rest of the bar works.)

Also, to mention an unwanted feature, Compaq PC's (at least) running MS 
Windows 98 have an option to scroll by mouse location. Clicking both 
mouse buttons on a scrollable window draws under the pointer a white 
circle with a black center and black arrows as indicators. If the 
pointer is within one of the circles (I don't recall which) then arrows 
are present to indicate available scrolling directions. If you are to a 
side of the circle, the window scrolls in that direction at a rate 
proportional to the distance from the circle to the pointer, and only an 
arrow indicating the direction of scrolling is visible. (As if you 
couldn't tell in what direction the window is moving.  :-) Clicking on 
an area of the screen stops the scrolling. This is one of the first 
features I disable if I must use that OS.

The location of the scrollbar may best go the way of the MDI and the 
notebook tabs; make a gnomecc item for it. Don't forget the weirdos, 
whoever you think they may be. (I disabled those in emacs and jade 
doesn't have any.)

Any number of design elements could be done this way, including the type 
of arrows. Perhaps a gnome-themer (a la sawfish-themer) should be 
created; perchance whoever is working on mega(meta?)themes is also 
working on this? If not: "Oh, great! Something else to do!"

As for the mouse buttons: Please, don't break the X mouse model! It's 
already enough to have to switch between  the keyboard and the mouse for 
any task; if I have to use C-(X|C|V) to cut/copy/paste, I'll toss my 
keyboard for a chord board and go to work on a 1600x1200 pixel contact 
lens. Indeed, copy part of the dtterm model: typical X button setup, but 
the 3rd button's popup menu duplicates the terminal menubar. Simply make 
the third button's popup show cut/copy/paste/(drag?) if there is an an 
active selection. (I think CDE on Solaris does this. It's been a while 
though.)

Now, to read the rest of the threads...
Greg Merchan
(a.k.a. auspex on IRC)

P.S. - I'll try to conjure up some usability studies or more explanation 
if the threads starts again and I have time. Meanwhile, these are just 
my thoughts based on personal experience.