That's generally considered to be bad practice (a faux pas if you will).
You don't really know what the user is doing with essentially anonymous (to
you) applications, and if they want them to be closed. I believe there is a
rule in Windows certification (logo qualification or somesuch) that mentions
this, or at least mentions something tangentially related.
If there's a serious resource problem, the user is most likely to be aware
of it. If you absolutely must, then you shouldn't do any more than indicate
that there might be a resource problem that could cause poor performance (a
dialog consisting of "Continue" and "Quit" buttons, and a "Don't Show Me
This Crap Again, I Know What I'm Doing" check box).
"Helping" the user is really just silly, as they might not want to close all
their running applications. Besides, it's probable that some applications
are going to pop up a Save As/Save Changes, Confirm Quit, or some other form
of dialog asking for user input anyways, so let them take care of it.
Finally, it's not your problem (i.e., not a support issue) if they've
decided to tie up the majority of system resources and thereby have problems
running your program. Add a FAQ entry to your manual if it makes you feel
better. :p
-Brian
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Offerman [mailto:j.o...@in...]
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2000 1:02 PM
To: gda...@li...
Subject: [Algorithms] Can I do this?
I'll save you guys the lengthy situation introduction (my situation
introductions tend to end up being very logn, but it is available on request
though...) and get right down to the point:
Can I have my application request a few applications to shut down if my
resources are below a certain level? (I.e. my application is running on a
machine with 64 Megs-o-RAM, but since the user has also running, say, 3D
Studio MAX in the background, nearly 90% of system's resources are already
used and locked away - trust me these things happen and if you have a little
bad luck will even completely trash the system, even if all running
applications are essentially stable) I stress the 'request' bit, as in
sending some applications (.exe files only) the same window message Windows
uses when you choose to switch off your computer, there is no way an
application could get away with just 'killing' other applications.
Is this a reasonable solution, or I am just being selfish?
(I know that I can always use a popup to warn the user that resources are
low, but I figured it would be nice behaviour if the application assists the
user in freeing up the necessary resources...)
Jim Offerman
Innovade
- designing the designer
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