We seem to be getting a whole jumble of things here. A window is a very generic thing. A dialog is a type of window, normally used to show messages or let users select options. A dialog is not embedded in the top level window but can be such that it prevents the user going back to the main window. A dialog might not cover the main application top level window. Then there are child windows (they may have another name) which usually is embedded into the top level window. These may be used for multiple documents (eg. MS Word has been known to work like this I don't know about their latest version). Finally then there are what I am calling a top level window, these don't have any other window containing them.
My feeling is:* BrailleBlaster will have a top level window containing the menus and such like which are common to all situations. * The daisy viewer and Braille viewers will be child windows or may be even panes within a child window or may be this will all work on the tab idea. Anyway the main idea is these will be embedded into the top level window. * Print and preview will be dialog boxes as these are both actions (IE. I go to print/emboss a document or I go and view how it will be printed). I see no reason why print preview would need to be open continually.
Michael Whapples On 08/12/10 20:13, John J. Boyer wrote:
I've never actually looked at a print preview window. Has anyone seen an embosser preview window? I would think that programs would handle preview by opening a temporary window that either hides the existing window or minimizes them. John On Wed, Dec 08, 2010 at 12:27:33PM -0600, qubit wrote:Regarding What happens to the windows when a print preview is active: I wonder if opening a new window is a good idea. I am growing to like one feature in eclipse's UI: eclipse will cycle through all the various windows if you hold control and type F7 repeatedly. It has a lot of rather busy windows. I wonder what it looks like to a sighted person. As for print preview, I have no idea what to do if you are embossing a document. The image in the braille window doesn't necessarily look like the output of the device. Do the various embossers provide any kind of API for knowing what the braille will look like? Also, if viewing it on screen, you are further limited by the display capabilities. Interesting question. But do you really want there to be a hard coded window for print preview, print and emboss? Couldn't it just be like most apps that put a command for print and emboss and print preview in the file menu? That could bring up a dialog. Just wondering. --le ----- Original Message ----- From: "John J. Boyer"<john.boyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To:<brailleblaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 9:24 AM Subject: [brailleblaster] Thoughts on the Specification I have just reread the specification carefully. It certainly hangs together better for me than at the beginning. Here are some thoughts. There is a menu item for opening a list of recent documents. These documents should be on the menu, just below the exit choice, as they are ikn most word processors. The ability to open recent documents means that the users will want MDI. Fortunately, this is not hard to implement. We may need a third window for each document for print and embosser previews. What happens to the Daisy and Braille windows when a preview is chosen? Are they minimized? John -- John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer Abilitiessoft, Inc. http://www.abilitiessoft.com Madison, Wisconsin USA Developing software for people with disabilities
