ralph@mit-atrp.UUCP (Amiga-Man) (12/06/86)
So, there I am whipping up a handy plotting application in C. I decide
that I want it to work from the Workbench Icon environment. Suddenly,
it's time to write the part that prompts a user for the file name.
My mind's eye turns on, I visualize:
A little text-oriented file requester pops up with the names of the
files and a little slider and.....
HOLD EVERYTHING ! THIS IS FUTILE, CONFUSING, and POINTLESS !
Why should I be dealing with file names in a little text box when I'm running
a machine from an *ICON* interface ? Heck, I started my program with an
ICON, how come when I want to read in a file I can't still pick an icon ?
Isn't this the obvious way for it to work ????? It seems to me that it
should be possible to have the program, in response to a user trying
to read in a file, pop the application window to the back exposing the
workbench and it's open windows with icons. I then click around until I
find what I want and then somehow return to the application again with
that Icon somehow selected. This is the most consistant interface to use.
Understand the idea of multiple selecting Icons and then double clicking
the tool to get the names passed in as a workbench message. This is fine.
I am already writing all my programs to start this way. But once the
application is started then how to I get a selected icon ?
HELP !
I've been reading my serious Amiga manuals (i.e. RKM) and trying to figure
out how to do this. Has anyone thought of this and tried it? Anyone know
how to do it. You realize once we get this code written, no program need
ever worry about how to get a file again. I'm psyched and if you can suggest
a way, send me e-mail. Or, if a discussion here seems appropriate, so be it!
I just have the strong conviction that the ICON interface is THE way to
converse with my Amiga and that this is the way all file requesters should
work.
Thanks for listening !
Ralph, a gradual student.mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike (Don't have strength to leave) Meyer) (12/09/86)
In article <546@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> ralph@mit-atrp.UUCP (Amiga-Man) writes: >Why should I be dealing with file names in a little text box when I'm running >a machine from an *ICON* interface ? Heck, I started my program with an >ICON, how come when I want to read in a file I can't still pick an icon ? Because not all files you may want to read in have icons? That's one problem. If it isn't a problem for you (you know you'll always have icons for everything), how about a requestor with LOTS of gadgets, one per file? >I've been reading my serious Amiga manuals (i.e. RKM) and trying to figure >out how to do this. Has anyone thought of this and tried it? Anyone know >how to do it. You realize once we get this code written, no program need >ever worry about how to get a file again. I'm psyched and if you can suggest >a way, send me e-mail. Or, if a discussion here seems appropriate, so be it! >I just have the strong conviction that the ICON interface is THE way to >converse with my Amiga and that this is the way all file requesters should >work. For an alternative, the people at Xerox PARC dreamed up an interface called the "browser." It lets you wade through a hierarchy of objects via a menu system. In it's original form, it has two windows. The top window has a series of tall panes with names, and the currently selected name from that pane backlit. If you select an object the browser can display, it does so in the bottom window. If you select an object that is a "directory", it lists its contents in the next pane. The Amiga version uses the menu bar. The menu contains the current path, looking like "df0:this/is/a/path/to/a/directory/". Each element in the path is a menu, and pulling it down gets a listing of all the files in the directory. Selecting a directory re-arranges the menu to reflect the current selection (say, selecting "another/" under menu "a" gets you a menu bar of "df0:this/is/another/"); selecting a real file passes it to the main program. There are three versions of the browser on the fish disks. The original lattice version, which is pretty primitive. A MANX version that's been spiffied up (scroll bars and such like). Finally, the mg1a disk uses the browser to do a "find-file" on the selected file. Love wading through include directories with it. One interesting enhancement would be to notice .icon files, and use the icon imagery in the menu instead of the name. Not clear how hard that would be, though. Happy Hacking, <mike
wagner@utcs.UUCP (12/10/86)
One thing I really liked about the atari was the fact that directory listings can either be icon-based or text based. It's a switch somewhere (I don't remember where...I only used it for about half an hour). Michael
lachac@topaz.UUCP (12/11/86)
In article <1986Dec10.110229.19245@utcs.uucp> wagner@utcs.UUCP (Michael Wagner) writes: >One thing I really liked about the atari was the fact that directory listings >can either be icon-based or text based. It's a switch somewhere (I don't >remember where...I only used it for about half an hour). Do you mean something like the MacFinder's small icon, icon, name etc. option? I think that's a kind of good idea, but of no use to people using an Amiga who have a choice of icon VS. CLI. It tries to give the Mac a more 'real' interface. (No flames please, but icons really are annoying!!) lachac@topaz.rutgers.edu