Subject: RE: ASSERT(modeless dialog != toolbar) (was: Re: SV: Insert Symbol dialog)
From: James Montgomerie (jamie@montgomerie.net)
Date: Thu Jan 27 2000 - 19:22:52 CST
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-abiword-dev@abisource.com
> [mailto:owner-abiword-dev@abisource.com]On Behalf Of Martin Sevior
> Sent: 27 January 2000 03:35
> Subject: Re: ASSERT(modeless dialog != toolbar) (was: Re: SV: Insert
> Symbol dialog)
>
>
> >
> > 1. Open documents in four different windows.
> > 2. Detach each of their toolbars.
> > 3. Ask your Mom to figure out what goes with what.
> >
From experience, the "Church Secretary", and probably "your Mom" too, would
go "arrgh, the toolbar's come off the window. I only wanted to insert a
symbol, and I've broken the computer!" and call tech support (well, there is
no tech support, but you know what I mean). They wouldn't even try to close
the windows/toolbars in case they 'broke it more'. I worked on an IT
helpdesk in a fairly large office last year, and there were MANY cases of
'floating toolbar confusion' with MS Word. [Even bigger panic ensues when
they /do/ close the toolbar and then can't figure out how to get it back.
Sometimes they don't tell anyone until they really need it, because they
think they've done something really terrible.].
> I would rather have a toolbar o'symbols off to the side ready give me
> that "pi" or weird Euuropean character when I need it for the window
> that openned it than have to open a dialog every time I need a new symbol.
>
> Actually now that I think about it I would rather have just one mouse
> click (select a symbol and insert it immediately) to give me a symbol
> rather than the "Select" - "Insert" used by the current crop of word
> processors. If you get it wrong just press the "delete" key like normal
> typing. In the majority of cases you select correctly the first time so
> why waste time with two mouse clicks when the penalty for selecting wrong
> is so small?
Perhaps a 'symbol toolbar' for common symbols would be good, as an option,
but I don't think it should replace the dialog (can you imagine toolbars
with the whole charset of a font on it?).
I feel we're rather getting off the topic of whether we could use the
toolbar code as a base for modeless dialogs though.
Jamie.
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