Re: [Jsynthlib-devel] Menu and toolbar question...

[Joe E. <jo...@em...>]

Rib Rdb wrote:
> On 2/28/06, Joe Emenaker <jo...@em...> wrote:
>   
>> 2 - Same thing goes for menus. All frames seem to get a common menu...
>> even the main app window (which would be the DesktopPane in MDI mode).
>> This seems a little redundant. Would we want each library to get its own
>> menu? Are there certain menu items which belong only in the context of a
>> library/scene frame or in the context of the main app frame? For
>> example, perhaps cut/copy/paste shouldn't be in the main app frame (only
>> in library and scene frames) while the "Preferences..." item would be
>> only available in the main app frame?
>>     
> I'm not sure I follow here.  In MDI mode, only the DesktopPane has a
> menu since it is the only window. As far as I remember, there is no
> main app frame in SDI mode.
Well, there's a "toolbar" frame that, initially, is the only frame you 
get when you start JSL in SDI mode. I'm calling that the "main app" 
frame. I'd call it the toolbar frame, but individual libraries and 
scenes can have their own toolbars.
> Instead, each window is supposed to be
> independent.  Why should I have to switch to some other window in
> order to open the preferences?
>   
Well, I think it's a context thing. If a user sees a "Preferences..." 
menu in a LibraryFrame, they might believe that it accesses the 
preferences for *that* LibraryFrame *only*.

I'm not very familiar with what the common behavior is for Mac or SDI 
apps, but I know that Logic Audio behaves a little like this (look at 
http://www.audiomidi.com/classroom/thomsontips/images/tt3_logic_keycom_menu.gif 
and you can see a little menu within the frame... hidden behind the top 
menu). There's the main app menu on the top of the screen and then each 
window has a completely different menu which has options just for that 
menu. Personally, I find *that* to be a little strange... but I find 
Macs, in general, to be strange. For a normal Mac user, this might seem 
the most-intuitive way.
> SDI was designed for Mac OS X, where MDI does not exist.  Apple's UI
> standards require that menu items be disabled instead of removed for
> windows where they don't apply.
>   
But that's just for the case of the system menu (or whatever you call 
that thing at the top of the screen), right? For a menu that's *in* that 
particular frame, does that still apply? Or does the Mac spec discourage 
per-window menus altogether?

- Joe