On 31-Aug-06, at 4:45 PM, Rich Warren wrote:


>
> The biggest UI problem I have is the fact that Squeak's private  
> window really mucks with my regular work flow. Typically I use  
> Expose a lot--it lets me move effortlessly from window to window (I  
> know, a lot of people don't like Expose--my wife can't stand it.  
> But it really works for me). I can move between apps very quickly.  
> I can also move between all the windows of a single application.
>
> There would be a very big efficiency gain if I could manage my  
> Squeak windows the same way I manage my other Mac windows.

There are at least two ways you could achieve this:
a) wxSqueak
b) Ariethfa Ffenestri

wxSqueak uses the wx-whatever libraries as the platform layer and so  
should work on any platform with wx support. Which isn't every  
platform, but quite a few.
Ffenestri (it's Welsh for 'platform windows') provides a relatively  
simple and very low-level interface to ... platform windows. You can/ 
could open arbitrary host os windows and then draw in them with  
whatever means you like. When developing it we tested with several  
sets of connection to the image but it is essentially a case of you  
get a window object and you bitblt to it.

>
> I think this can be generalized to all UI interactions. The more  
> the UI for Squeak resembles the underlying UI of the host OS, the  
> more efficient you can be. You can have a UI that is enhanced above  
> and beyond the host OS--as long as it follows the same behaviors as  
> the underlying OS, users can leverage their existing knowledge and  
> skills while working in Squeak.
Now that I don't think I can agree with entirely. Yes, for ordinary  
usage using host style is beneficial. For enhanced UI designs I'm  
going to assert (because I'm a big bossy noisy person with no mild  
opinions) that you really need to almost forget whatever your host OS  
does because they are *all* crap. Every one of them. All of them have  
some good points, and all of them have many more bad. Don't get me  
started on menubars. Really. If it were possible to write down the  
most suitable curses about menubars in the original pictograms, the  
baked clay would melt.

Anyway, try wxSqueak if you want a substantially platform-like  
experience and consider Ffenestri if you want to have a chance to  
make something compatible(ish) but to your own taste.


tim
--
tim Rowledge; tim at rowledge.org; http://www.rowledge.org/tim
Satisfaction Guaranteed: We'll send you another copy if it fails.