At 03:22 pm 2/11/01, Lex Spoon wrote:

>[snip]  The main point is, we ought to try very hard to pick something that
>most anyone can use and then set up the initial image with those choices.

Yes please. The choice has nothing to do with the religious preferences or 
what working habits you have developed. The desire is to have a NewSqueaker 
look at Squeak for the first time and see that this is something new, 
different and wonderful must also not frustrate them or they will go away.

Most NewSqueakers will have never seen a Smalltalk-80 style ScrollBar, 
while even those who have never touched a computer will probably have seen 
the Macintosh HI style ScrollBar, inboard on the right and may even know 
the term ScrollBar.  Having the ScrollBar inboard on the left is a slightly 
different look, that catches peoples attention (which we want), yet the 
Human Interface of how to use the control to manipulate the view is the same.

I have never met a person used to the Smalltalk-80 style of ScrollBar , 
external to the content Pane, who could not easily use an inboard ScrollBar 
control, perhaps while searching for a switch to request their old friend 
the flap. Those NewSqueakers, I expect to have no trouble finding the 
Preference panel for scrolling and knowing exactly what the term 
inboardScrollBars means when they find it. So for that set of NewSqueakers 
we can show them something new and different in Squeak and they will not 
get lost.

While I have seen many people embrace and love having the ScrollBar as a 
flap on the left, I have also seen that style control freeze many people in 
confusion the first time they see one.  It is primarily that effect that I 
would like to avoid, until the NewSqueaker chooses to try that Preference. 
If they get lost then, they most likely will learn what the term 
inboardScrollBars means and have a better chance to reverse the preference 
or just quit Squeak without saving the change.

" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "
" Scrolling Preferences for NewSqueakers "

Preferences
   enable: #inboardScrollBars
     "- Works the same as the more familiar Mac Human Interface style ";
   disable: #scrollBarsOnRight
     "- The Different Look For Most NewSqueakers ";
   disable: #hiddenScrollBars
     "- less confusing at first and gently provides more information";
   disable: #scrollBarsWithoutMenuButton
     "- Show the tiny control that has good feedback and information ";
   disable: #scrollBarsNarrow
     "- larger control instead of the PDA size ".

"  -- zL 2/11/2001 18:45"
" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "

I have not observed any NewSqueaker get confused or stuck when starting 
with these scrolling preferences.  With my suggestion that they use these 
settings for a few days before playing with some of the options available, 
I find that those who refuse to try these settings for even an hour are 
going to either enable: #scrollBarsOnRight or to disable: 
#inboardScrollBars, but will try the other settings as is for a while.

As a tangent, while I understood the mindset and assumptions when it first 
appeared, I consider the BalloonMorph we present NewSqueakers for 
inboardScrollbars to be ... misleading information.

         Preferences helpMessageForPreference: #inboardScrollbars .
" ==>
'inboardScrollbars:
If true, then ScrollPane
will place scrollbars
inside on the right and
will not hide them on exit'  "

I suggest  we change this to:

'inboardScrollbars:
If true, then ScrollPane
will place Scrollbars
inside of the pane
next to the content and
will not hide them on exit'

Depending on the Project I am working on at the time, in Squeak, I freely 
adjust any of these to fit the task. As to my personal (religious) 
preferences for scrolling, I dislike the constraints imposed when I am 
outside of Squeak.

>PS -- the best way to scroll is probably to use a special gesture with
>your stylus  :)

<chuckle> Naa.

The best way, is for the content to scroll itself when it knows you need it to.

Lantz

--
   Lantz Rowland <lantz at aabysgallery.com>  PgpKey: 0x67E5DFA5
   Squeakers doIt, all the time!
   zL - Lantz's Scriptible Web <http://Lantz.EditThisPage.com/>
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