keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) (04/21/87)
References:
While we're on the subject of new feature suggestions:
Is there any way to modify the system requester that says
"Please insert volume xxxxx"
To also let one know what file it is looking for? There are many times when
I'll be generating a new disk for the purpose of being a work disk for
a certain program, and don't know exactly all the libraries/devices etc.
it requires. So, I run it and keep copying stuff to it until the requesters
go away. I'm sure that much of the time I end up copying stuff that isn't
necessary because I'm not sure if it is or not, and don't want to take the
time to go back and find out if it really is required. So, I end up with
extra junk on the disk when I'm trying to make maximum room for work files
in the first place.
I suppose there could be a problem if the requester occurs deep down
in some 'open volume' logic below the level where the code knows what
the file name is, the volume name being parsed out at some higher level.
If not, some way of communicating what file the system is looking for
would sure 'friendly-up' the system in that area.
And, I'm sure you can make the comment that it is up to the applications
to report 'can't find xxxxx file' or xxxx library etc. but as we all know
not all apps do that. Since a requester pops up anyway, if there's a way
to add a little extra info, it would help. A lot of applications just
seem to bail out silently if they can't get at their resources.
Keith Doyle
# {ucbvax,ihnp4,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!keithd
# cadovax!keithd@ucla-locus.arpaccplumb@watmath.UUCP (04/22/87)
keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) says (in <1496@cadovax.UUCP>): >While we're on the subject of new feature suggestions: >Is there any way to modify the system requester that says > >"Please insert volume xxxxx" > >To also let one know what file it is looking for? Good suggestion, but I'd like to extend it: There should be a way to completely modify all system requesters. So, if the urge struck me, it could appear in reverse video, and say `Stick in volume xxxxxx, ya geek!'. Or I could change it to french. Or dutch. Or add a picture of sticking a disk into a drive. Or whatever. Essentially, this allows the user to stick a bit of their programming into the system, without replacing the module completely. I wish I knew enough about Amiga internals to tell if this could be extended to allow a window to pop up whenever a print request was sent, so I could fiddle the aspect ratio and things. Is there a nice place to fit such a feature in? (Of course, what we really need is the source, but I ahven't noticed its availability. Anybody want to disassemble 256K?) -- -Colin Plumb (watmath!ccplumb) Silly quote: Every cloud has a blue horizon.
page@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu (Bob Page) (04/22/87)
Should these go on paper to West Chester, or is Usenet/BIX sufficient?
Since we're talking about enhancement suggestions, here's two for ENDCLI.
A small hack to ENDCLI that looks at the CLI list. If WB is not loaded
and I am the last CLI, I won't go away, stranding the poor user with
a useless machine. Never mind hotkeys. For people who know what they're
doing, an option that says "I know what I'm doing" like ENDCLI LAST.
Also to ENDCLI (amazing how a small program can get enhanced): if other
people are hanging onto my window for input or output, I won't go away.
It ALMOST does this now - it hangs the window, which does nobody any
good, since the window isn't closed. Might as well leave the CLI
around for input until all processes using it are dead. Again, provide
an option for people who know what they are doing, like ENDCLI HANG.
..Bob
--
Bob Page, U of Lowell CS Dept. page@ulowell.{uucp,edu,csnet} papa@bacall.UUCP (Marco Papa) (04/26/87)
A couple of things that I have found I badly needed and were a pain to program
are "scrolling arrows" gadgets like the ones used in the workbench windows.
Those gadgets should be part of the "system" gadgets and selectable with flags
like WINDOWSIZING. The same for the vertical and horizontal scrollbars. They
should be system gadgets. One side effect would be that everybody will have
the same arrows and same pot sizes.
-- Marco
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