Atari Mega Archive 1/Atari Mega Archive - Volume 1.iso/lists/gem/l_1199/1139

Internet Message Format | 1994-08-27 | 1.7 KB

Subject: Re: Scope of an APP_DEFS file
Date: Mon, 01 Aug 1994 11:14:46 +1000
From: Warwick Allison <[e-mail]>
Precedence: bulk

Rick Flashman wrote:
>On Fri, 29 Jul 1994 [e-mail] wrote:
>
>> The advantage of not using dialogs is speed
>
>That must depend on code speed. I can't see any noticeable difference in
>opening a windowed dialog vs. a regular dialog under Geneva (that's on an
>8mhz 68000).

The advantage comes if the dialog routine uses a temporary raster storage of
the screen under the dialog rather form_dial.  This means no redraw is needed
(just replace the saved area).  LTMF provides this, as do some GEM libraries
(eg. GEM++ saves the area under dialogs, if it can get the RAM).


>> programs will not use their own preference files: Am I right or wrong?
>
>I disagree. Programs like Geneva and NeoDesk keep a substancial amount of
>additional information (everything from a program_flag list for Geneva to
>dialog_positions for NeoDesk). I doubt you would want an APP_DEFS file
>overwhelmed by all that application specific stuff.

Some bulk preferences may perhaps be left out, but for most things, it
shouldn't be a big deal.  While reading the app_defs file, an application
can instantly skip any lines that don't start with their name (app-specific
preference) or a "*" (global preference), so the cost is low.  Perhaps we
can think of some recommendation, such as "If your app has more than 100
app-specific options, consider moving some of the bulk options to a separate
file.  That file should, however, be pointed to from the app_defs file,
so as to enable all the other advantages of app_defs (such as multi-user)".

--
Warwick