Re: Some more tricky questions........ [message #14122] |
Wed, 20 January 1999 00:00  |
J.D. Smith
Messages: 214 Registered: August 1996
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning wrote:
>
> Phil Aldis (jmkimber@dera.gov.uk) writes:
>
>> Everything always goes wrong at once doesn't it. Here are some more
>> things which I suspect can't be done.....
>>
>> 1. I'm trying to create a properties box and I thought it would be
>> quite nice to have tabs, like windows properties boxes.
>
> The RSI Professional Services Group guys once wrote an IDL
> program with tabs. I can't quite remember how they did it, but
> lots of draw widget images, I think.
>
> In any case, I agree with JD. Ten minutes hard thinking about
> alternative presentations that stay within the normal bounds
> of IDL widget capabilities is usually the preferred solution.
> If you really want to do the fancy things, think about becoming
> a Windows or Motif programmer. :-)
>
But I suppose I should add that not *all* attempts at widget trickery
fail. One of the trickiest widget manipulations I've come up with is
the hotkey widget, which allows textual events to be processed on draw
(or other) widgets, by hiding a text widget behind it (see posts from
last year). I use this technique in almost all of my widget
applications. So, by all means, keep pushing the limits.
Just don't be surprised if the limits snap.
JD
--
J.D. Smith |*| WORK: (607) 255-5842
Cornell University Dept. of Astronomy |*| (607) 255-6263
304 Space Sciences Bldg. |*| FAX: (607) 255-5875
Ithaca, NY 14853 |*|
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