Subject: Re: saved replacement texts?

From: [email-masked] (Byron Rakitzis)
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 22:19:58 -0500

>This suggestion, I am afraid, is just plain stupid, emacs or no.

Oh, come off your high-horse. Emacs has a command-line which is
separate from the current window. Obviously Scott was not talking
about replacing the command window with the new file.

>Pike did an excellent job designing the sam interface.

I agree. But I don't think he achieved perfection, nor do I think
that suggestions for improvement are inappropriate.

>The single click to place the usual edit window is just what you want.

I'm sorry, maybe it's what you want, but it's not what I want.

>Sometimes, you want to put the command window in the middle of the top-level
>window, and have edit windows above and below.

Yes, about 1% of the time. Does it make sense to have the user interface
revolve around this remote possibility?

>It's not broken and doesn't need any fixing.

Obviously a matter of opinion.

I would prefer either of two options:

1) automatic placement

2) non-placement, i.e., leaving the files in the menu with a minus-sign.
(this makes opening the file into a two-click operation, assuming that
sam points the "lasthit" of the menu at the newly opened file)

In both cases, it means that I don't have to automatically reach for
the mouse after typing B. (though I prefer solution #1)

For example, I often want to make a quick change to a file with commands
of the form

	B file
	cmd
	D

at *least* as often as I want to tile or otherwise futz with the sam
layers.

---

From: John (For the colours are many, but the light is one.) Mackin <john@ civil.su.oz.au>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 23:02:50 -0500

Well, hell.  How about cutting me some slack, Byron?  I can only go by
what the words in the mail actually say.  If I were being deliberately
obtuse, you'd have a case.  I wasn't.  _I_ don't know how emacs's user
interface works -- I've never had to use the damned thing.  I thought this
was the sam list, not the emacs list.  What may be `obvious' to someone
who's used the software is by no means obvious to someone who hasn't.

What I think would be appropriate would be for people who've just started
using the editor since it's been available free to accumulate four years
worth of experience with it before leaping to suggest how it should be
improved.

It would also be as well to remember that sam's interface was designed
to integrate nicely with its surrounding window system environment, viz.
mux on the Jerq.  Since ordinary X environments are nothing like that,
and since X literally _cannot_ be made to be _precisely_ like that (I
tried very hard), sam tends not be that well-integrated with the usual
X environment.

Of course, it's the X environment that's wrong here (grin).

OK,
John.