Re: Dashboard Was: Creating Menu Bar Extras
Re: Dashboard Was: Creating Menu Bar Extras
- Subject: Re: Dashboard Was: Creating Menu Bar Extras
- From: Dale Gillard <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 01:57:52 +1000
Andreas wrote:
Am 10. Apr 2005 um 15:30 Uhr schrieb Dale Gillard:
It seems to me that Apple have given us Dashboard in Tiger to resolve
the problem of third-parties not being able to create Menu Extras. It
would seem to address all the drawbacks above, though it's limited to
10.4.
Huh? It does not address *any* of those problems. (*)
OK. My reply was a bit hasty and lacking in detail. Sorry.
1. No way to convey dynamic UI feedback to users who run with the dock
hidden.
You can't see any Dashboard widgets without activating the Dashboard.
I agree that Dashboard's not the most direct way to provide dynamic UI
feedback to a user. I just don't see how the Dock can do it
meaningfully. It only provides for very simplistic feedback in the
limited space it has. If you want to provide dynamic UI feedback then
it should be done in the app. But I do think Dashboard has a role here.
It appears that at a press of a function key you can toggle between a
Dashboard widget and an app, allowing the widget to provide feedback
about what's happening in your app. For example, a word processor's
Dashboard widget could display a dynamic word count for the document
and a selection, as well as a range of other tidbits without the user
having to dig around in menus or having half the screen taken up by
status bars, toolbars, etc.
2. No way to customize the format of the menu (graphics or special
formatting).
Dashboard widgets usually don't have any menu at all.
No, but you've got a canvas on which to draw, and this provides many
possibilities. Much more than a dock item or menu extra.
3. No way to appear in the dock as an LSUIElement.
Dashboard widgets don't appear in the Dock.
They don't. And I was wrong suggesting that Dashboard addresses this
criticism. But then I don't really want my Dock filled with a zillion
items providing dynamic feedback all at once. For many apps, I'd much
rather pick and choose when and what visual feedback I get, and have it
available in more than simple terms. For example, Mail icon in the Dock
displays the number of unread items in your mailbox. That's nice, but
I'd love to also have a Dashboard widget that told me this *and* gave
me a summary of what the unread items are about, and at the press of a
function key.
4. No way to provide keyboard access to the menu.
No menu, no keyboard access.
Why look at menu when you can look at the same or more detailed info in
a Dashboard widget? A function key displays Dashboard according to
Apple's site.
Dale
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