jacob@latcs2.lat.oz.au (Jacob L. Cybulski) (05/01/91)
I am writing an application which in response to user actions constructs the graphics with a lot of buttons and fields for each card. To avoid the screen flicker during mode switching and screen locking (both operations are very slow), I generate all the necessary buttons and fields at the creation of the card and add more or reclaim some when appropriate. I have some problems though :- having an list of free buttons and fields (or their ids), I have no way assessing which buttons precede which fields (or vice-versa). It seems that the numbering scheme for buttons and fields is quite separate. If I decide to use menu "Bring Closer" and "Send Farther", it defeats the whole idea of piggybanking to increase the efficiency (they are very slow again). How can I compare the relative position of buttons and fields, or force them to assume a particular position without a menu call. Perhaps there is an alternative way to efficeintly generate buttons and fields fast? Any comments? Jacob
niski@reed.edu (05/11/91)
In article <1991May1.025303.16314@latcs2.lat.oz.au> jacob@latcs2.lat.oz.au (Jacob L. Cybulski) writes: >I am writing an application which in response to user actions >constructs the graphics with a lot of buttons and fields for each card. [deletions...] >How can I compare the relative position of buttons and fields, or >force them to assume a particular position without a menu call. >Perhaps there is an alternative way to efficeintly generate buttons >and fields fast? One thing i've done is to create template cards that the user doesn't access by browsing the stack; it's often much faster to trap the "newCard" message, and copy the template card you want into the right spot in the stack; then you can empty fields, or delete buttons, etc. In my not-so-extensive experience, if you have more than 8 buttons & 8 to 10 fields, this is faster than waiting for all those "new button" messages to execute. re: numbering items - if you have a bunch of buttons and delete one or two i think the numbering adjusts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Joe Niski niski@reed.edu Mac Support Coordinator Reed College, Portland, OR 97202 503-777-7525