A simple version of what's being called a "MorphDock" that can be 
directly constructed with today's Squeak using flaps, simply by 
setting a few options appropriately.

Here's a way to build a dock that behaves like the one Russell Allen 
suggests below:

(1)  Create a new global flap at the bottom of the screen.
	(enable global flaps if not already done, then choose
         'new global flap' from windows-and-flaps menu.)

(2)  Drag the new flaps's tab to make it perhaps 2 cm high.

(3)  Bring up the halo menu on the new flap tab, and "keep that menu up".

(4)  Set the following options from the tab's menu:
	* use solid tab
	* flap color... (and then choose an attractive, translucent color)
	* tab color...  (and then choose an attractive, translucent color)

(5)  Bring up the halo menu for the open flap (not the tab, but 
rather the open flap itself -- the halo tile will say "flap" rather 
than "flap tab"), choose "playfield options...", and "keep that menu 
up".

(6)  Set the following two items from that "playfield options..." menu:
	* start showing thumbnails
	* start doing auto-line-layout

(7)  Now go back to the *tab's* menu and choose
	* start opening on dragover

(8)  Dismiss any lingering color-pickers and menus, and try it out.

Since you created this as a "global" flap, it will stay up and 
function equally in all morphic projects, and indeed will provide a 
handy way to move morphs from project to project.

The dock can accommodate any number of morphs inside it, and they 
will never obscure one another; when there are more than one 
screen-width's worth, you can just open the flap a little farther to 
get at the next "line" of thumbnails.

   -- Scott


At 5:12 PM +1000 4/27/00, Russell Allen wrote:
>"Jim Benson" <jb at speed.net> wrote:
>>Russell,
>>
>>I've already implemented the core of this about a month ago. I watched the
>>Apple video, and thought "I think you could do that with Squeak in about an
>>hour."
>
>Excellent!
>
>>>  + Could the dock be extended to hold any minimized morph?
>>>
>>
>>It can hold any morph, in case you need a holder to keep one of your Morphs
>>while you're doing something else. After all, I want to hold project views
>>in there too.
>
>What would be good would be if I could add any morph to the dock by picking
>it up and slamming it against the bottom of the screen before dropping it.
>This would be the equivalent of minimizing.  Maximizing would involve
>dragging the morph from the dock back to the desktop.
>
>Voila, you have a system which allows minimizing and maximizing of morphs
>without needing them to be in SystemWindows, or needing halos.
>
>>>  + Make the left-most icon in the MorphDock a button which brings up the
>>>  world menu and you have a Squeak Start Menu! ;)
>>>
>>
>>I like this idea. Right now I just have a landing area as the first entry to
>  >throw the first Morph.
>
>If the MorphDock covers the entire bottom of the screen, then throwing
>morphs anywhere along that bottom should be enough to add them to the
>MorphDock.  That increases the size of the target and thus the ease of the
>throwing :)
>
>Put the trashcan as the right-most icon (ie right hand bottom corner) and
>you can delete morphs by throwing them into the trash...
>
>Now why exactly did we need SystemWindows again? :)
>
>:)
>Russell
>
>----------------------------------------
>Russell Allen
>
>russell.allen at firebirdmedia.com
>
>----------------------------------------