Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mit-eddie.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!ucbvax!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!barmar From: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) Newsgroups: net.micro.mac Subject: Re: menubar items without menus? (suggested enhancement...) Message-ID: <5387@mit-eddie.UUCP> Date: Wed, 25-Sep-85 23:53:26 EDT Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.5387 Posted: Wed Sep 25 23:53:26 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 28-Sep-85 07:36:07 EDT References: <3281@nsc.UUCP> Reply-To: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) Distribution: net Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA Lines: 27 I tried to send this as mail to chuqui, but it didn't go through, so I'm posting it: I don't like your proposal, primarily because it is confusing to use the menubar for multiple things in this way. By the way, Switcher does something like your proposal, with its double-arrow icon at the righthand end of the menubar; while it doesn't really confuse me, I can imagine that it would confuse less experienced computer users ("the rest of them"), especially since one has to be very precise and point at the correct little arrow head. There are several command styles that I have seen which provide the functionality you are describing. First of all, you can have ordinary "Next/Forward/Previous/Backward" menu items, but have command key equivalents; this is probably the most standard way to do this, and it provides the simplicity that novices need and the shortcut that experienced users want. Another possibility is to use Forward/Backward buttons somewhere in the window. Finally, a method I have seen in some software (although I don't fully approve of it) is to make use of the horizontal scroll bar when real horizontal scrolling doesn't apply in the current context; the standard Scrapbook DA does this, although I would much prefer real scrolling, or at least the ability to resize its window (I seem to be digressing). -- Barry Margolin ARPA: barmar@MIT-Multics UUCP: ..!genrad!mit-eddie!barmar