[comp.sys.amiga] ARP FileRequest

svermeulen%Ins.MRC.AdhocNet.CA@UNCAEDU.BITNET (04/17/88)

Some thoughts on the ARP1.1 Rel 2   FileRequest()  function.

I was intending to add the ARP FileRequester to Express Paint, but I have
come up against some limitations.  The only real hard limitation is
that the FileRequester gets messed up when it is used on a 2 colour
screen.  In particular the text in the CANCEL gadget is not visable
(it is rendered in colour #3) and the text strings that say "(DEV)",
"(dir)", "Drawer", and "File" are also invisible (they are also
rendered in pen #3 which is equivalent to pen #1 (the back ground pen).
One way of avoiding this problem would be to render these text strings
in pen #0, this would make them a different colour to the rest of the
text while still keeping them visable on 2 colour screens.

The other problem with the FileRequester is just a nitpick.  Rather than
using some simple non-zero default values (about 20, 20) for the
windows TopEdge and LeftEdge values it would be better to use 0, 0
since the Requester will then automatically work on LORES screens.
An even better way is to automatically open the window in the CENTRE
of the screen using

       Window.LeftEdge = (Screen.Width - Window.Width) >> 1;
       Window.TopEdge  = (Screen.Height - Window.Height) >> 1;

although the FRF_NewWindFunc bit and fr_Function() can be used to do
this  -  which is a nice capability.

        --> so how about it?   do we get ARP1.1 rel 3?

                  Stephen Vermeulen
                  Author: Express Paint.