Simulating 'drawer' behaviour on Windows

[Scott Rossi]

Recently, Ben Rubinstein  wrote:

>> Thus far from my testing I've been able to successfully create a drawer
>> that slides open and close on either side of the window.  The only thing
>> it can't do is keep the "focus" on the main window.  But if that's the
>> only side effect, I can live with that.
> 
> The problem I have with focus is more than that; my problem is that other
> normal
> stack/windows can interleave between the 'main' window and its drawer, and I
> seem to be powerless to stop it.  If you or anyone else has a solution to this
> I'd be very grateful to hear it.

Maybe an option is two palettes, and making sure the "drawer"-ed palette
lines up at the exact edge of the main palette.  You could add a little fake
shadow on the interior edge of the drawer palette to make it look like it's
layered below the main palette.  The biggest issue is that when dragged, a
gap may be visible between the drawer and main palettes, but once dragging
is complete they should line up.

Also, to start the effect, you may need to open the drawer offscreen, make
the main palette the default, the reposition the drawer at the same loc as
the main to prevent any unwanted window visibility.

Regards,

Scott Rossi
Creative Director
Tactile Media, Multimedia & Design
-----
E: scott at tactilemedia.com
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