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* scrolling menus
@ 1994-03-22  8:37 Steve_Kilbane
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 5+ messages in thread
From: Steve_Kilbane @ 1994-03-22  8:37 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: sam-fans

> sam on the blit had scrolling menus because someone
> else implemented them in the library that sam linked
> with.  i found them unusably fussy to navigate so when
> sam moved off the blit scrolling menus were left
> behind.  a good implementation might save the idea
> but that is harder than most realize.

they are awkward, this is true. but they do work.

> the simpler solution, the one we apply here, is to keep
> the list of files manageable.  this means the menu works
> equally well for all files all the time.

hmm. not entirely a suitable solution. "sam *.c" is a common
invocation, and it's irritating to have to quit again, just
because the menu's too large.

> of course, this is a matter of taste.  you have the
> source.

indeed. one approach i tried was to have a "more" option on
menu three. the number of files listed in menu three were
limited by the size of the main window, and the "more" option
cycled the files that were available. It worked, but it was
even more sloppy than the scrolling menu, which is what i
use now.

out of curiosity, has anyone tried menus that required a double
click? First click pulls the menu up, second selects an option
or dismisses the menu (if outside of the menu). if the menu had
a scrollbar, it would function like a normal window's scrollbar.
of course, this goes against the "minimum action from the user"
principles in rob GUIs, but it's just a thought...

steve


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 5+ messages in thread

* Re: scrolling menus
  1993-07-01 23:08 ` Chris Siebenmann
@ 1993-07-01 23:10   ` Chris Siebenmann
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 5+ messages in thread
From: Chris Siebenmann @ 1993-07-01 23:10 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: sam-fans

 In the 'is my face red' department: the mailing list is in
/pub/sam on ftp.sys.utoronto.ca, not /pub/sam-fans.

	- cks


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 5+ messages in thread

* Re: scrolling menus
  1993-07-01 20:09 Brian Redman
@ 1993-07-01 23:08 ` Chris Siebenmann
  1993-07-01 23:10   ` Chris Siebenmann
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 5+ messages in thread
From: Chris Siebenmann @ 1993-07-01 23:08 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: sam-fans

 There's a replacement libXg/menuhit.c file in the mailing list
archives that does scrolling menus; it works quite nicely.

 The mailing list archives are ftpable from ftp.sys.utoronto.ca
in /pub/sam-fans.

	- cks


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 5+ messages in thread

* Re: scrolling menus
@ 1993-07-01 20:33 Steve_Kilbane
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 5+ messages in thread
From: Steve_Kilbane @ 1993-07-01 20:33 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: sam-fans

the original version of sam had menus that scrolled when the file menu got
too long (what determined when it was "too long", i don't know) - see the
V10 Research UNIX Programmer's Manual, Volume II. About p399, if i remember
correctly:-).

anyway, when i had the chance to see it, it didn't look too pleasant to use,
because there was too much unpredictability in how the menu scrolled. i
don't know, maybe it was just me. but i don't like the idea of cascading
menus either (too much holding down of the button again). i think the simplest
method would be to just have a "more files" option, just above "~~sam~~",
which cycles through which set of files appear in the menu. it's not
complicated to use, and probably not complicated to implement either (i
haven't looked at the menu code for a while, but it wasn't that difficult).
the main problem is that getting to your file could take n selections from
the menu, and you know how much rob hates unnecessary user interaction... :-)

steve



^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 5+ messages in thread

* scrolling menus
@ 1993-07-01 20:09 Brian Redman
  1993-07-01 23:08 ` Chris Siebenmann
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 5+ messages in thread
From: Brian Redman @ 1993-07-01 20:09 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: sam-fans

 
Would the author please send me their implementation of
a scrolling file menu?  Or a cascading menu.  or perhaps a menu
that execs another sam to select a file when the list would be
to large to fit in the file menu.
 
        ber


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 5+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~1994-03-22  8:40 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 5+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
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1994-03-22  8:37 scrolling menus Steve_Kilbane
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1993-07-01 20:33 Steve_Kilbane
1993-07-01 20:09 Brian Redman
1993-07-01 23:08 ` Chris Siebenmann
1993-07-01 23:10   ` Chris Siebenmann

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