Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 14:39:29 -0600 (MDT)
From: Scott Raney <raney_at_metacard.com>
Message-ID: <199610232039.OAA02728_at_deck.metacard.com>
A reasonable thing to do, but only if you ask the tens of millions of
Windows and Mac users and billions of non computer users to vote too.
Most people like what they used first, that's what their belief
system is set up to believe is naturally correct. This applies
to window systems, editors, operating systems, cars, ...
Most new users (first time users) I have observed can't believe
that you actually have to click the button to make a window active,
and keep forgetting. Sure they learn soon enough, but it is by
no means intuitive.
You were probably not given any choice and accepted the default. This
is a common event, and one we should recognize means that the default
setting is important.
yes, it certainly is, and should be mouse focus, not click, always.
This only works if the dialog gets the focus when it's opened.
yes.
Unless you want to head down the slippery slope of pointer
warping, this means explicit focus.
Rubbish - simply create the dialog box under the pointer. Then
you know the pointer will be in the window without warping. What's
more it is more natural, as the pointer will be in the app window,
and thus in the area where the user is concentrating. It is only
those rude applications that insist on putting pop-ups in the middle
of the screen which cause problems.
If you want to (and you probably do) work well with users who do
use click focus, and so may have moved the pointer somewhere in
oblivion, check if the pointer is in the window, if it is, put the
dialog under it, if it isn't, and the app still has focus, then
put the dialog anywhere over the window. If the app doesn't have
focus, then the user is working elsewhere, and the dialog should
not demand attention in any case.
Your other complaint (pop-ups being obscured) I think was a
complaint about auto-raise, which I consider a heinous crime against
morality, and would like to ban totally, if the user wants a window
on top, let it be explicitly moved to the top, not just spring
there.
kre
ps: I use both xterms & true guis, whichever I use, pointer/mouse
focus always works better. Some apps annoy me no end, because they
contrive to make life difficult rather than easy, but that isn't
the fault of the focus model.
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Received on Wed Oct 23 1996 - 16:27:38 BST