Menu manager/switch problem

[Ken Norris]

**********
> Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 00:16:31 -0800
> Subject: Re: Menu manager/switch problem
> From: Richard Gaskin <ambassador at fourthworld.com>
> 
> Ken Norris wrote:
> 
>> OK, but I'm tellin' ya, I didn't edit the Apple menu, I edited the Help
>> menu. Why should an item edited in the Help menu, regardless of what name it
>> has, end up in another (Apple) menu? IMHO, that's crazy %)
> 
> Once again, the engine compensates for Apple's unique ways:  all other
> modern OSes don't have an Apple menu, placing the About item as the last
> item in the Help menu.
----------
Well, the Menu Manger tutorial _says_ it's supposed to be the last item of
the Help menu, which is where I put it. The shift it made to the Apple menu
was totally unexpected and not mentioned or explained in any way. How on
earth will we know if and when the engine does things like that if it isn't
made obvious in the docs?
----------
> In a Mac-specific tool like SuperCard, it makes sense to have an Apple menu,
> but if a multi-platform app this would complicate menu handling, requiring
> you to build three different sets of menus:  One for Mac Classic, one for OS
> X, and another for all other OSes.
----------
I understand, but I think that would be OK. The Menu Manager has the Mac OS
choice. If I hadn't clicked that would it go where I put it? What other menu
shifts might that cause to happen?

Does the shift-to-Apple-menu always happen to the LAST EDITED item of the
Help menu? Or does it happen to ANY item of the Help menu named "About"? Or
does it happen ONLY IF the last item of the Help menu is the word "About"?
----------
> The solution is simplicity itself, if a little counter-intuitive intially:
> the engine automatically moves the last item of the Help menu to become the
> first item in the Apple menu in Mac Classic, and becomes the first item in
> the application's menu under OS X.
----------
OK, but this is the first I've heard about that. The docs don't say anything
about it, so how would we know? In fact, as I mentioned, the Menu Manager
tutorial leads us to believe otherwise.
---------- 
> As with the stack resizing automatically to hide the meny group on Mac, this
> approach lets you build one menu bar and it will work on all platforms
> without additional scripting.
----------
Yes, I'm beginning to understand that. Also, there seems to be anomalies in
stack resizing/menubars for full screen windows which can only be prevented
by setting it in preOpenStack. Just a warning to others.

I like Rev a lot. It's a truly awesome RAD tool, but because of xplatform
abilities it apparently does unexpected things from time to time.

Is there a list with explanations of _all_of the known  "compensating"
shifts which the engine makes between platforms so we can have a way of
knowing what to expect?

Thanks so much for your patience.

All the best,
Ken N.