Why is Konfabulator "Pretty?"

J. Landman Gay jacque at hyperactivesw.com
Wed Dec 7 12:05:08 EST 2005


Bill Marriott wrote:
> Richard,
> 
> Even for so-called "HIG-compliant" applications, Rev is behind the times.

If you mean that Rev should implement some of your suggested HIG 
enhancements automatically, then yes, I think you are probably right. 
However, almost everything you mention can already be done with some 
scripting. The capabilities are mostly all there. You may be too new to 
Revolution to know about some of these things, but except for a few 
exceptions (which I agree should be addressed) you can create very 
compliant apps.

> Rev cannot directly support even icons in menus, which 
> has been around many years.

Rev does support this. What you need to use are stack menus, rather than 
the simple button menus which are the default.

> Consider draggable, dockable tool bars.

Very easily scriptable, and many of us do this routinely. Trap the 
moveStack message and position your toolbar accordingly. You can do it 
in 1 or 2 lines of script.

> These have been a mainstay of 
> Windows applications for more than five years now. Rev does not have even a 
> rudimentary toolbar facility.

Rev opens with a toolbar at the top. I'm not sure what you mean here. 
Toolbars can be built pretty easily.

> 
> True grid controls. Tree controls. Popup balloons. Notification tray. 
> Flow-layout panels.

Right. These are the things that aren't easily scripted. There are 
existing tree controls but they are all a little clunky. You could fake 
popup balloons pretty easily by showing an image or a graphic and a 
field, but it's also clunky. There's an external that allows you to put 
stuff in the system tray, but it isn't native to Rev. So yes, I agree 
with these.

> Hyperlinks in text.

Built-in already, very easy. See the commands and functions dealing with 
"link" -- linkText, primarily.

> Calendar popups.

Many available. Sarah has some and someone else too (sorry, I've 
forgotten who.) I have made many of these. You only have to make it 
once, after that  you can use it anywhere.

> Property grids.   Status strips.

Not sure what you mean here.

> Web browser control.

You can launch a web browser with a URL. Not sure what other control you 
mean.

Some of your points are quite valid, but I think after you have been 
exposed to Revolution a little longer and discover more about what it is 
capable of, your list will shrink.

I also know that the company is well aware of some of the things you ask 
for, and they aren't ignoring that. Stay tuned.

-- 
Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com



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