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- Path: sparky!uunet!decwrl!csus.edu!csusac!unify!openlook!openlook-request
- Message-ID: <n1zftww@openlook.Unify.Com>
- Newsgroups: comp.windows.open-look
- Distribution: world
- Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 15:06:10 EDT
- From: fgreco@fis1026.shearson.com (Frank Greco)
- Sender: news@Unify.Com
- Subject: Re: In Search of a Better Scrolling List
- Lines: 56
-
- > fgreco@fis1026.shearson.com (Frank Greco) writes:
- > [...]
- > > It's ironic that there's a table object in the OPEN LOOK specs
- > > (addison-wesley), but no implementation in XVIEW, OLIT or TNT!
- > >
- >
- > I don't think it would be hard to do an XView multi-column scrolling list
- > if you didn't want users to be able to select individual cells,
-
- Ah... but I do want them to select individual columns. I also
- want different colors and fonts per cell, selectability on/off,
- ability to select an entire row *or* column *or* both,
- horizontally scroll the thing with column "locking", variable
- size columns, data-defined rows/cols (ie, the object to be
- scrolled is not pixel-based) and a few other things.
-
- All of this is available in either MS Windows or Xt-flavored
- windows. Two MSW vendors sell src for such an object for $99.
- OIT has an object like this and I believe there is an Xt-based
- object that gives you most of the features above.
-
- You *almost* can do the above with the XView-based SlingShots
- pkg... *almost*, but not quite... There's still a bit of work
- you have to do, and SlingShots does not implicitly have
- variable-sized columns.
-
- > only entire tables. And even that would be useful.
- > I tried to get something working with multiple scrolling lists, but the
- > XView scrollbars are so buggy that I gave up.
-
- The XView scrollbars are, to be polite, awful. If you want to
- simulate scrolling ... good luck. Use a slider or some buttons
- instead.
-
- > F'r example, if you make them invisible w/ XV_SHOW set to false, they still
- > work when you click on the place where they ``aren't''! Sigh.
-
- You cannot determine when the user makes a "pageup" or
- "pagedn", or "gotofirst" or "gotoend" actions (these should be
- bonafide high level Xview *actions* IMHO). You have to get the
- x,y coordinates and figure it out yourself (not as
- straightforward as it sounds). You have no explicit control
- over the proportional shaded part of the scrollbar. You cannot
- even explicitly "busy" the scrollbar" (not the same as
- unshowing it). Even MS Windows allows this. MS Windows even
- has automatic scrollbar-off when the object cannot be
- scrolled.
-
- And... when doing "real" scrolling, if you change the XV_X and
- XV_Y coordinates of the underlying canvas, the scrollbars *do
- not* move along with you. You have to position them explicitly
- despite being *owned* by the canvas!
-
- Frank G.
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