Re: a web-browser UI concept

[Camille Bourgoin]

On 2007-03-01 15:52:04 +0100 Graham J Lee <leeg@thaesofereode.info> wrote:
 
> As far as the NSDocument architecture is concerned, the way current  browsers 
> work a document/classeur would be the page currently visible  in a tab _and_ 
> the history of that tab, I think.  I also think that's  a confusing way of 
> doing things...unless I'm going back to the page I  was only just reading, it 
> causes great mental anguish to try and  determine exactly what URI I will be 
> looking at when I next hit the  back button.  I end up not using the back 
> button and going for the  history menu instead...so a history inspector would 
> be more useful  and the "document" in the document view could just be the 
> currently- visible page.
> 
>> This is the reason why :
>> 
>> 1) the toolbar is separated from the document window. When you gather
>> two documents together and the toolbar is integrated with the document
>> : two toolbars (two window) became one toolbar => two documents became
>> one document. This is an application oriented application.
>> 
>> With the model in my mind (not very useful, I know  ;) ) the document
>> who are gather with another one, is just "behind" the other document.
>> 
> 
> I get this, and I think it's how most tabbed browsers work.  As I  say, 
> multiple documents per window...the user can't really cope with  multiple 
> documents at the same time though so only one is being  interacted with (and 
> usually is the only one visible).
> 
>> 2) this is the reason why the Edit action act only on the document
>> who are selected. When you click on another document (even if it is
>> gather with it), you return to the navigation mode. Go back to the
>> edited document, and you are in edition mode etc. I don't know if it
>> is possible :(
> 
> - (BOOL)[MyNSDocumentSubclass isBeingEdited];
> - (void)[MyNSDocumentSubclass setBeingEdited: (BOOL)editing];
> 
> ....unless I'm missing something subtle?  Then when a new document  becomes 
> the 'active' document, the View draws it in editing/viewing  mode as 
> appropriate.
> 
>> 
>> 3) back and forward are seperated from documents because they are
>> your hands who turn the pages. And we haven't 10 hands  ;)
>> 
> 
> True, but we often don't have more than one book open ;-)
>

Yes, you're right. When I dream about this UI, I dream about a web who
is only constituted with documents linked together with hypertext's
links. I drivel ... blah-blah ;)

When I think about this UI, I think web-page like classical paper
document who can be classified or placed apart other documents etc.

But the web is not a succession of interconnected paper-like documents.

So, my UI does'nt work.


>> Thank you for your comments ! They are very very interesting.
>> 
>> I hope my franchglish is understandable !
>> 
> 
> Ja, es ist sehr gut.

Danke schön ;)

Camille B

-- 
Je n'entreprendrai de guerre que si j'ai essayé
tous les arts et moyens de la paix.
        -+- François Rabelais (1494?-1553), Gargantua (chap. 28) -+-