Re: GNUstep GUI design

[Pascal Bourguignon]

> Date: Fri, 04 Oct 2002 11:52:18 -0400
> From: "Yen-Ju Chen" <address@hidden>
> 
> Hi,
> 
>   I just notice that the GNUstep applications tend
>   to separate the folder into another window than its content.
>   For example, the folder of GNUMail is in a separated window than mails,
>   so does the LuserNET.
>   Is it a common GUI design for GNUstep applications ?
>   Personnaly I prefer the folder is in the same window with its content
>   so that I can switch the folder easily,
>   not to search where the folder window is first.
>   I guess that's the reason why Cocoa add the NSDrawer.
>   While I'm working on the MusicBox,
>   I'm thinking whether to separate the playlist into
>   a window as GNUMail and LuserNET do.
>   Any comment ?
> 
>   PS. I prefer to discuss in apps-gnustep maillist
>   because it is something about application.
> 
>   Yen-Ju

I think that's a design choice depending on the application.

For example,  the WorkspaceManager  (GWorkspace) show the  contents of
the directories  in the same  browser window.  Other  applications may
consider,  like  UNIX,  that  directories  and files  are  both  files
(documents)  and as  such  are  entitled each  to  their own  document
window.  (One  cannot say that  files are contained  into directories,
the best proof being that the same file (inode) can have two (or more)
names in several directories (or the same)).

Also,  there's a point  of ergonomics,  but depending  on the  task at
hand, one way or the other may be better.  See Nestcape Messenger that
may  show the  list of  mailboxes, the  message list  and  the message
content in  one big  window, where it's  quite hard to  manipulate the
slides.   It could  be handy  when you  have a  big screen  and you're
reading small emails that fit  into the restricted space that remains,
but in some  other cases it would be better  to have separate windows,
which is possible also in Netscape.


In general, the window paradigm is  quite nice because it let the user
skip from  one window to  the other (one  task to the other)  at will.
But I've seen some customers  needed a much more directive application
where multiwindows were actually  an serrious impediment to productive
work  (and  dangerous   :  a  window  could  hide   a  very  important
information; that was not to  be allowed in this environment).  So, in
these cases,  we would  have one big  window covering the  screen, and
every thing would  be on that same plane, and the  user would not have
the  option  to  go and  browse  some  porn  web  or do  his  personal
comptability while at  work...  (this was a case  where we skipped the
WorkspaceManager too).


-- 
__Pascal_Bourguignon__                   http://www.informatimago.com/
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 The name is Baud,...... James Baud.