Re: Menu Bar / Tool Bar curiostity question ??

[Adam Tauno Williams <awilliam whitemice org>]

> Just sitting here watching the World Cup game, staring at my desktop.
> Began to wonder why are the Menu Bar and the Tool Bar always on separate
> rows?  The Tool Bar takes up about 9% of my desktop space when a program
> is on full size.  The Menu Bar uses about 30% of its row while the tool
> bar uses approximately 45% of its row.  I realize this (particularly the
> Tool Bar) can be highly variable.
> Nonetheless, it should be possible to combine the two bars on one line
> in some rational contextual way and regain a little desktop space.
> Is there some deep programming problem?

No,  but most applications assume this configuration as the standard;
and in Gtk both the menu and the toolbar are usually in separate rows of
a vbox container.  So combining them would take some programming;  also
the height of a menu bar is usually less then that of a toolbar, so
aligning them horizontally might not work are so well in any case.

> Is the two row configuration simply historical?

Probably, but it makes sense and everyone expects it.  The
resolution/size of most modern displays renders this a moot point
anyway.

> Is it intuitive?

Yes.  A menu does/should provide hierarchical access to all the
features/functionality of an application.  A toolbar provides one-click
access to commonly used functions.  This paradigm exists across pretty
much every platform.   In many applications the toolbar can be disabled,
and in most cases with Gtk applications at least the size of the toolbar
can be adjusted.