Atari Mega Archive 1/Atari Mega Archive - Volume 1.iso/lists/gem/l_1199/1133

Internet Message Format | 1994-08-27 | 8KB

Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 18:15:29 -0400 (EDT)
From: Timothy Miller <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Digest
To: [e-mail]
In-Reply-To: <[e-mail]>
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:

][e-mail] 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."