Re: Menu guidelines updated

[Michael Rogers <banthafodder connectfree co uk>]

colin z robertson wrote:
> Imagine the user had a
> file open, and wanted to use that file as a template for another file,
> while keeping the original file open. The first thing that would occur
> to me in that situation would be to save the first document, open that
> file again and save it to a new filename, but this wouldn't be allowed
> if the same file couldn't be opened twice. (This situation actually
> happens to me quite often.)

I think you're right - we should allow users to "fork" a file by working
on two copies simultaneously. Disasters can be avoided by comparing the
mtime of the file with the time it was last saved, when the user saves
the file. If it has been modified by another app since being saved,
present the choice: [Overwrite] [Don't Save] [Save As...].

> Another slight advantage of using a submenu occured to me this
> morning. It's the only way to label what happens when you click on one
> of the items.

You could start each entry with 'Open':

----------
New
Open...
Save
Save As...
Close
----------
Open foo.txt
Open bar.txt
Open ~/baz.txt
Open ~/projects/baz/baz.txt
----------

(Please only use the full pathname when the filename is ambiguous - save
me from having to scan through lots of entries starting with
/mnt/nfs/home/students/ug/1997/mrogers!)

Michael