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