Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ncrlnk!wright!odin!adatta From: adatta@odin.wright.edu (Amitava Datta) Newsgroups: comp.windows.x Subject: Re: Window Managers and Client Menus Keywords: Window Managers, Client Menus Message-ID: <672@thor.wright.EDU> Date: 25 Sep 89 00:11:45 GMT References: <653@thor.wright.EDU> <291@auto-trol.UUCP> Sender: news@wright.EDU Lines: 41 marbru@auto-trol.UUCP (Martin Brunecky) writes... >>If you are building an X client and don't quite like the Xt support >>for creating popup menus you may want to consider the following: >> >> Why not have the X window manager display and manage menus for clients? >> (Of course, the window manager would need to inform the X client when >> a menu item gets selected) > I vote NO ! > Pretty soon, somebody else would like the Window Manager to do this, > taht and even more. Seriously, I don't think that's a reasonable arguement against any extension to software in general. If there are deficiencies in a system we must always be ready to extend the functionality by some means. I have suggested one way of making all menus look and feel the same regardless of which WM and client you are using using mechanisms available in X. If anybody comes up with a better solution to this problem we should go for that. (Please don't ask everybody to use the same toolkit since that most likely will not be accepted). > After a little while we'll have Window Managers > that do everything in the world, but nothing RIGHT. In such user interface issues what is RIGHT for you may be DEAD WRONG for another user. That is precisely the reason why you can choose from a wide variety of X WMs. And of course if you don't like any of them you can write one on your own (or get GWM and program it in lisp). What I have suggested is a "mechanism" not a "policy". > Let the Window Manager do it's job, and don't try it to do more than > that. And if you are having problems with creating cascaded menus > of your own, just wait till the toolkits mature to make it easy. You missed the point completely. I don't have any problems in creating menus. Amitava Datta (adatta@cs.wright.edu)