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- Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 18:15:29 -0400 (EDT)
- From: Timothy Miller <millert@cs.csee.usf.edu>
- Subject: Re: Digest
- To: gem-list@world.std.com
- In-Reply-To: <2e38c904216f@elfhaven.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca>
- Message-Id: <Pine.3.87.9407311829.B14922-0100000@undergrad>
- Mime-Version: 1.0
- Precedence: bulk
-
- Hollis:
-
- ]> ute. Very cute. Ctrl-A is the only combination that I have ever hit
- ]> accidentally that also caused me catastrophic problems. Unintentionally
- ]> selecting the whole document can cause anything from minor irritation to
- ]> lost data, depending on the rest of the user interface.
- ]
- ]Hmmm, I wonder what this "UNDO" key is for. Maybe it's there on the keyboard
- ]just for looks...
- ]
- ]> I am one of many people who have complained about Atari Works wiping out
- ]> their documents when their little finger slips and hits Ctrl and A at the
- ]> same time.
- ]
- ]Then get rid of AtariWorks and quit complaining. Anyone who uses AtariWorks
- ]deserves what happens to them :-)
-
- You just don't get it, do you? I don't want to HAVE to recover from this
- problem by hitting UNDO. IT SHOULDN'T HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE. Having
- my whole document selected when I don't want it to be JUST BECAUSE SOME
- ***** DECIDED TO MAKE IT TOO EASY TO SELECT. Whether I lose the document
- or not, it does not make sense that such a dangerous thing should be so
- easy to select.
-
- All this fuss and worrying about stupid ways of getting around the
- problem like not allowing typing to replace a block or not allowing
- typing to replace a block when the block is the whole document or making
- infinite-level UNDO's, etc. would be TOTALLY unnecessary if we didn't
- have this LITTLE problem with Ctrl-A.
-
- If you changed Select-All to something else, then you wouldn't need ANY
- of this other crap!
-
- Not that I don't like certain other precautions, and multi-level UNDO's
- are great, but using them as a 'fix' for another problem that could be
- instantly solved by assigning it to a less likely hit key combination is
- stupid.
-
- It seems to me that you people are so bent on keeping Select All as
- Ctrl-A that you'll do anything and everything to your program to work
- around the problem rather than just fixing it at its source. If
- Select-All weren't so easy to hit, you wouldn't need all these kludges to
- half-ass work around the problem.
-
- I should not have to put up with any program that makes it so easy for me
- to do something dangerous when a LITTLE common sence and a SIMPLE SIMPLE
- SIMPLE change would solve all the problems.
-
- And don't go off with your 'but Return is just as easy to mistakenly hit'
- cop-outs. Selecting the whole document while in a WP is a lot more
- dangerous than hitting return while in a WP.
-
- And have you noticed that this is the ONLY key-combination that I have
- any arguement about now? I am not stupid, and I would not be going on
- and on about this if I didn't have a damn good reason.
-
-
- Ofir:
-
- ]millert@cs.csee.usf.edu said:
- ]>evnt_multi. But since you can't use evnt_multi anyway, there's no point
- ]>in arguing about it. However, since my library doesn't use wind_update
- ]>(since it's not using VDI, it doesn't need to, plus a developer is
- ]
- ]What are you using if not the VDI? And you should always use
- ]wind_update().
-
- I ALMOST always use wind_update. When drawing something or whatnot, I
- do, but when my library calls a redraw routine assigned to a particular
- window, it is the responsibility of the developer to do this.
-
- And _I_ am not using the VDI to draw GEM objects in windows. I'm using
- the AES to do it.
-
-
- And as for you not reading my message, I fear that you are simply
- unwilling to listen to this logic that you do not agree with. I use the
- most logical arguement I can, yet you summarily reject it simply on the
- grounds that you do not agree with it. This is foolish. You don't have
- to ALWAYS be right.
-
- And don't get personal about this! We're SUPPOSED to be professionals,
- aren't we? Just because I think you're misguided on this one point
- doesn't mean I think you're a total moron. Most of what you do makes
- perfect sense, and I feel that you do a rather good job of guiding this
- group. We can have our professional disagreements and not end up
- personally hating each other.
-
- And DO read my messages. I suggest you go back and reread that last
- message you didn't finish reading because I did make some very good
- points involving the following:
-
- physics
- dexterity
- professional/amateur typists
- key positioning
- inter-key spacing
- and a few others.
-
- I do not argue blindly or emotionally. I use FACTS to support my
- arguements, and I have used nothing but facts to support my arguement
- thus far.
-
-
- Forget:
-
- ]>This sounds very interesting. I'll have to figure out Fselect.
- ]>One problem I have with modem I/O is that GEMDOS does not seem to provide
- ]>a way for me determine how many characters are there before using Fread.
- ]>As a result, I have to use Fread (or Bconin) repeatedly, reading one
- ]>character until Bconstat says there are no more characters.
- ]
- ]Use the IOREC to get the address of the modem input buffer. Then
- ]check that address and count the number of characters in it
- ]yourself. It -should- work, right? (The system has to have a way
- ]or knowing when there is no more data, so you should also be able
- ]to use that information.)
-
- I have a routine to do this, plus another routine that reads from the
- buffer directly and quickly. I don't suppose CHECKING how many are there
- would be quite as bad as reading the data directly, would it?
-
- ]
- ]>If I Fread x bytes from the serial port, does it wait until it gets x
- ]>bytes or does it return after it reads as many as it can?
- ]
- ]I think it will sit and wait forever.
- ]
-
- This is not good.
-
-
- ]>It is QUITE CLEAR how easy it is to accidentally hit Ctrl-A, yet you wish
- ]>to assign something as dangerous as Select-All to it?
- ]
- ]Yes, that pretty much sums it up. Standards are not always perfect,
- ]but if we want this one to be accepted it has to be at least somewhat
- ]like the previous standards.
-
- Why would you want to intentionally make a BAD standard? Using Ctrl-A
- for Select-All isn't just imperfect... it's BAD! I thought we were here
- to make GOOD standards! And the REST of the standard is VERY much like
- others. If we make this one little change (to a key-combination so
- seldom INTENTIONALLY used), few will notice much difference, but many
- will experience a lot less crying.
-
- Why are you people so bent on keeping Ctrl-A? You know it's bad, yet you
- want to keep it. Select-All not nearly as vital a function as, say, Quit
- or even Help. If it's changed, no one will care much since most people
- probably go to the menu for that option anyway because they use it so
- infrequently that they don't remember what to hit. If someone wanted to
- change Quit from Ctrl-Q, that wouldn't make much sense. Everyone uses
- Ctrl-Q VERY OFTEN. On the other hand, one could go for months without
- selecting a whole document. It doesn't NEED to stay as Ctrl-A because it
- already is... it may be ingrained into computer programs, but not into
- people's memories because they simply don't use it often enough.
-
- Do you get it? It's not used much, so changing it won't hurt anyone. On
- the other hand, NOT changing it definately WILL!
-
- ]
- ]>Ani rotse harbeh kesef.
- ]>Ich moechte vill geld.
- ]>Don't we all?
- ]
- ]What? Is this Hebrew? (Curiosity killed the cat, but I'd still like to
- ]know.)
-
- The first is Hebrew. The second, as I'm sure you know, is German. They
- both say the same thing, "I want a lot of money."
-
-
-
-