Re: combo-box vs. gtkoptionmenu

["Norman Black" <stonybrk ix netcom com>]

> For large lists, it usually makes sense to use a full-on list widget,
> rather than any kind of popup.

Why would an always displayed list be better than a popup list. A list
is a list is a list. A combo box is/has a list that only shows itself
when the user requests to see the list. A normal list takes up valuable
screen real estate, which might be best used for other things, or which
might be in short supply for some dialogs or pages of a tabbed dialog.

> And of course there's no reason the basic option menu UI couldn't
> support the keyboard navigation you like.

But then it would not be a "normal menu" as the user knows it, which was
a part of the argument against combo boxes, made by those in the web
pages you linked to. The argument was that since combo boxes can behave
differently and it is not immediately apparent to the user that this is
the case. The same argument would be applied if the popup menu in an
option menu behaved differently than a "normal menu".

Best Regards,
Norman Black
Stony Brook Software

----- Original Message -----
From: "Havoc Pennington" <hp redhat com>
To: "Norman Black" <stonybrk ix netcom com>
Cc: "gtk-app-devel-list" <gtk-app-devel-list gnome org>
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2002 05:35 PM
Subject: Re: combo-box vs. gtkoptionmenu


> "Norman Black" <stonybrk ix netcom com> writes:
> > Interesting read. However menus can never handle a large number of
items
> > easily. A Windows combo box does full text selection (not just first
> > letter) and Gtk can be coaxed into this with some coding. By typing
a
> > few to a handful of characters someone can get to what they want
with
> > minimal effort. With a menu you are forced to scroll, possibly
> > significantly, with the mouse.
>
> For large lists, it usually makes sense to use a full-on list widget,
> rather than any kind of popup.
>
> And of course there's no reason the basic option menu UI couldn't
> support the keyboard navigation you like.
>
> Havoc