Re: [Usability]Re: An alternative proposal for instant-apply vs. non-instant-apply

[Michael Rogers <banthafodder connectfree co uk>]

Calum Benson wrote:
> Is there any reason why we couldn't do this in GNOME?  Can a GNOME app
> control its window decorations in the same way we could in Motif?  I've
> only just realised that pretty much every secondary window in all my
> GNOME apps still has minimize, maxmize and close buttons, which doesn't
> seem like a Good Thing to me, since it doesn't make sense to minimise or
> maxmimise most dialogs.

The Gnome/KDE window manager hints don't allow an app to specify how the
window frame should look, which buttons should be present etc. This is
the result of a deliberate move away from the appearance-based Motif
hints, in the hope of providing better consistency between applications.
Instead, the app sets a hint that describes the window's type (either
virtual desktop, dock/panel, toolbar, menu, dialog or normal; a
fullscreen type is likely to be added). The WM can use this hint to
decorate the window appropriately (eg not putting a maximise button on
dialogs, keeping docks on top, keeping docks underneath, not putting
borders around tear-off menus etc).

We could distinguish between instant-apply and explicit-apply dialogs by
giving instant-apply dialogs the TOOLBAR type and explicit-apply dialogs
the DIALOG type. (Am I right in thinking that an instant-apply dialog is
supposed to be more like a persistent floating palette than a transient
data entry window?) However this wouldn't *guarantee* different
decorations for instant-apply and explicit-apply dialogs, since visual
interpretation of the hint is up to the window manager.


Michael