Drawers, documentation issue??

[J. Landman Gay]

Mick Collins wrote:
> What am I missing here?  I am running rev 2.8.1.   I didn't know how to 
> use drawers (in fact, didn't know exactly what was meant by a drawer).  
> So I did what (I hope) anyone would do, I used the rev documentation 
> (and I had downloaded the latest version of the docs a week ago).  It 
> clearly says, and I quote, no, copy and paste:
> 
>   Cross-platform note:  On Mac OS, Unix, and Windows systems, drawers 
> are not supported, so the drawercommand opens the stack as a palette 
> instead. The palette uses the current rectangle of the stack and does 
> not resize or move it.
> 
> ?????????????????????????????????????

Drawers are only supported on Mac OS X, since it is a feature of the 
operating system. The documentation distinguishes between Mac OS 9 and 
OS X by calling the earlier OS simply "Mac OS". If version 10 is meant, 
the docs refer to "Mac OS X". Is that the confusion?

In all systems except OS X, the drawer command causes the stack to act 
like a palette (since those OSes have no way to display or control 
drawers.) On OS X, the stack becomes a drawer, which is a window that 
slides out from underneath another window, and remains attached at one 
edge. Many Apple apps make use of drawers, generally to hold 
supplemental controls for the main window or other infrequently used items.

Apple has some guidelines about using drawers:

<http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/OSXHIGuidelines/XHIGWindows/chapter_17_section_3.html>

If you scroll about halfway down the page, you'll see a picture of one.

Drawers are controversial. Some people hate them. Other people like how 
they tuck away items until you need them.

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