RE: ANNOUNCE: Style Guide available for review.

[Ryan Cresawn <cresawn bmh com>]

Paul Hepworth writes:

 > My preference for menu-bar vs tear-off is not global.  Rather it is
 > per-application.
 > 
 > Here's one idea:  use the established X mechanism for setting
 > preferences:  the X Resource DAtabase.
 > If I want all menubars (the default):  *appMenuBar:  True
 > But if I want my DesktopFileManager to use only pop-and-pin menu's
 > DesktopFileManager.appMenuBar:  False

Yeah OK, but editing the config files is cumbersome.  Perhaps what you 
say below is best.

 > But my preference is to have all apps sport a menubar the first time
 > they are run, but ALL menubars may be torn-off (and they convert to
 > pinned NeXT-like menus).  If I want to re-dock it, I drag it to the
 > menu-bar are.  Likewise all toolbars may be floated or docked.  (A menu
 > is just a type of tool palette;  menus and icon tool palettes should
 > even be able to share a line (be docked side by side)).
 > Then, the *application* saves the state of the menu (and toolbars) in
 > whatever way the application uses for storing settings (the user doesn't
 > care).
 > The next time I run the application, it has the menu and toolbar
 > configuration I left it with.
 > 
 > This way, if I'm a die-hard NeXT-menu guy, I need only drag the menu bar
 > off the app the first time I run it.  (I.e. once ever per application.)

I like it.  I think your idea makes the most sense.  The only thing to 
keep in mind is that all applications need to conform to it.  This
idea is better than NeXT and the Mac, because both menus are
incorporated.

Another thought on NeXT menus.  What do you think about the menus
blinking maybe twice after the application starts to indicate where
all the menus may be.  The thought here is that if the desktop is
cluttered and a user starts an app that they haven't run in a while
then they will need a little help finding the menu that they pulled
off 6 months ago.  So the application starts.  At the same time the
main frame appears and the torn-off menu.  After maybe a .5 second
pause the menu title bar blinks or flashes in some way.  Perhaps the
color is XORed once or twice to alert the user of the location of the
small menu bar now on the desktop.  What do you think?

-- 
Ryan