Geometry Question

[Richard Gaskin]

David Bovill wrote:
> On 30 Oct 2005, at 20:16, Richard Gaskin wrote:
> 
>> Just roll your own and move on to more interesting challenges.
> 
> 
> OK - thanks Richard. Have reverted to your suggestion for complex  
> layouts. Pity though Geometry Manager is a real time saver - I often  
> spend a good percentage of my time on a stack dealing with the  geometry 
> management by hand :(

And for many layouts the GM does a fine job.  But as you've discovered, 
there's are limits inherent in generalization.

Attempting to create a one-size-fits-all solution for adjusting layouts 
is a very difficult task, requiring something just this side of strong 
AI to pull off for complex layouts, esp. those in which some object 
positions are dependent on others.

Ken Ray and I have an ongoing ritual in which one of us will call the 
other in the middle of the night while we're stuck designing a library, 
and ask, "Am I overgeneralizing this?"  As often as not we manage to 
talk the other down from the ledge of generalization where it risks 
over-generalization.

Sometimes rolling up one's sleeves and cutting some code is a 
cost-effective way to get through the task and on to more interesting 
ones. :)

Chipp's split the difference on this approach with the best of both 
worlds: the altLayoutManager plugin automates the generation of code for 
a resizeStack handler, leaving you free to tweak it directly at will.
<http://www.altuit.com/webs/altuit2/altPluginDownload/Downloads.htm>

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  Richard Gaskin
  Managing Editor, revJournal
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