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From: langz@athena.mit.edu (Lang Zerner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Finishing up YAIP (Yet Another Input Handler), Need info.
Summary: Why bring it to the front when you're pushing it back?
Message-ID: <5316@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
Date: 13 May 88 03:00:34 GMT
References: <8805110247.AA21015@cory.Berkeley.EDU>
Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: langz@athena.mit.edu (Lang Zerner)
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lines: 49

I've been using dmouse 1.03 for a bit now and I have a little aesthetic
objection.  However, it is a picky thing that is probably more of a pain in the
but to handle than it's worth.

I almost always have a nearly full screen CLI window on my WB screen.
I had the following situation:

WINDOW1 is in front of the CLI window.
The CLI window is in front of WINDOW2.
I want to do some stuff in WINDOW2.

When I click in the Window-to-Back gadget in the CLI window, instead of the
window just going to the back, it goes to the front *then* goes to the back.
Furthermore, if there isn't anything behind the window but I don't know that
and try to check: (1) I click the Window-to-Back gadget, (2) the whole screen
is filled with the full-screen CLI window for the time it takes to click the
button, (3) the CLI window stays at the back (since I just clicked the button.
This looks and feels really ugly, but it makes sense under dmouse.

A way I've seen this fixed is in ClickToFront (or was it ClickUpFront?), which
requires a double-click to bring the window up.  When I thought about that some
more, I realized that it isn't such a bad idea, since then dmouse could have an
*orthogonal* system which would not require keyboard modifiers or the kludgy
and already overused left-right click:

	Double click left:  bring window to front.
	Double click right:  push window to back.

(And the same for screens if you double click without a window under the
pointer.)

Possible problems:

	(1) You have to be careful not to be over an icon when you are bringing
	    a window or screen to the front, unless you want to open the icon
	    while you are at it.

	(2) There is some contention if you use an application that uses
	    a DoubleMenuRequest.  But then again I have only ever seen one
	    of these, and I can't even remember what it's called.  Hmmm...

Well, there you have it.  That's how I'd like dmouse to be changed, before
`backward-compatibility' becomes a real major issue :-)


Be seeing you...
 Lang Zerner      langz@athena.mit.edu     ihnp4!mit-eddie!athena.mit.edu!langz
"Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage..." 
      -- Bill Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, I.v.19