First cut. CC'd to XEmacs Beta to get opinions on the proposed organization. _Extremely_ incomplete. But I'll be out of town for several days. Very verbose ChangeLog: 2000-02-29 Stephen J. Turnbull <stephen(a)xemacs.org&gt; * xemacs/frame.texi (GUI components): New node. (XEmacs under MS Windows) New node, placeholder. (GUI components | Menubar Basics): New node, placeholder. (GUI components | Scrollbar Basics): New node, placeholder. (GUI components | Toolbar Basics): New node, placeholder. (GUI components | Gutter Basics): New node. (GUI components | Inhibiting): New node. (GUI components | Customizing): New node, placeholder. Index: man/xemacs/frame.texi =================================================================== RCS file: /usr/CVSroot/XEmacs/xemacs/man/xemacs/frame.texi,v retrieving revision 1.2.2.1 diff -u -u -r1.2.2.1 frame.texi --- frame.texi 2000/02/24 13:44:39 1.2.2.1 +++ frame.texi 2000/02/29 08:56:28 ＠＠ -80,8 +80,11 ＠＠ ＠menu * Point:: The place in the text where editing commands operate. * Echo Area:: Short messages appear at the bottom of the frame. * Mode Line:: Interpreting the mode line. +* GUI Components:: Menubar, toolbars, gutters. * XEmacs under X:: Some information on using XEmacs under the X Window System. +* XEmacs under MS Windows:: Some information on using XEmacs under + Microsoft Windows. ＠end menu ＠node Point, Echo Area, Frame, Frame ＠＠ -169,7 +172,7 ＠＠ typing ＠kbd{C-g}. ＠xref{Minibuffer}. ＠end itemize -＠node Mode Line, XEmacs under X, Echo Area, Frame +＠node Mode Line, GUI Components, Echo Area, Frame ＠comment node-name, next, previous, up ＠section The Mode Line ＠cindex mode line ＠＠ -272,7 +275,130 ＠＠ default is ＠code{t}. For X frames, simply set the foreground and background colors appropriately. -＠node XEmacs under X, , Mode Line, Frame +＠node GUI Components, XEmacs under X, Mode Line, Frame +＠comment node-name, next, previous, up +＠section GUI Components + +When executed in a graphical windowing environment such as the X Window +System or Microsoft Windows, XEmacs displays several graphical user +interface components such as scrollbars, menubars, toolbars, and +gutters. By default there is a vertical scrollbar at the right of each +frame, and at the top of the frame there is a menubar, a toolbar, and a +gutter, in that order. Gutters can contain any of several widgets, but +the default configuration puts a set of "notebook tabs" which you can +use as a shortcut for selecting any of several related buffers in a +given frame. Operating the GUI components is "obvious": click on the +menubar to pull down a menu, on a button in the toolbar to invoke a +function, and on a tab in the gutter to switch buffers. + +＠menu +* Menubar Basics:: How XEmacs uses the menubar. +* Scrollbar Basics:: How XEmacs uses scrollbars. +* Toolbar Basics:: How XEmacs uses toolbars. +* Gutter Basics:: How XEmacs uses gutters. +* Inhibiting:: What if you don't like GUI? +* Customizing:: Position, orientation, and appearance of GUI objects. +＠end menu + +＠node Menubar Basics, Scrollbar Basics, , GUI Components +＠comment node-name, next, previous, up +＠section The XEmacs Menubar + + #### Not documented yet. + +＠node Scrollbar Basics, Toolbar Basics, Menubar Basics, GUI Components +＠comment node-name, next, previous, up +＠section XEmacs Scrollbars + + #### Not documented yet. + +＠node Toolbar Basics, Gutter Basics, Scrollbar Basics, GUI Components +＠comment node-name, next, previous, up +＠section XEmacs Toolbars + + #### Not documented yet. + +＠node Gutter Basics, Inhibiting, Toolbar Basics, GUI Components +＠comment node-name, next, previous, up +＠section XEmacs Gutters + +Gutters are the most flexible of the GUI components described in this +section. In theory, the other GUI components could be implemented by +customizing a gutter, but in practice the other components were +introduced earlier and have their own special implementations. Gutters +tend to be more transient than the other components. Buffer tabs, for +example, change every time the selected buffer in the frame changes. +And for progress gauges a gutter to contain the gauge is typically +created on the fly when needed, then destroyed when the operation whose +staus is being displayed is completed. + +Buffer tabs, having somewhat complex behavior, deserve a closer look. +By default, a row of buffer tabs is displayed at the top of every frame. +(The tabs could be placed in the bottom gutter, but would be oriented +the same way and look rather odd. The horizontal orientation makes +putting them in a side gutter utterly impractical.) The buffer +displayed in the current window of a frame can be changed to a specific +buffer by clicking [mouse-1] on the corresponding tab in the gutter. + +Each tab contains the name of its buffer. The tab for the current +buffer in each frame is displayed in raised relief. The list of buffers +chosen for display in the buffer tab row is derived by filtering the +buffer list (like the ＠code{Buffers} menu). The list starts out with +all existing buffers, with more recently selected buffers coming earlier +in the list. + +Then "uninteresting" buffers, like internal XEmacs buffers, the +＠code{*Message Log*} buffer, and so on are deleted from the list. Next, +the frame's selected buffer is determined. Buffers with a different +major mode from the selected buffer are removed from the list. Finally, +if the list is too long, the least recently used buffers are deleted +from the list. By default up to 6 most recently used buffers with the +same mode are displayed on tabs in the gutter. + +＠node Inhibiting, Customizing, Gutter Basics, GUI Components +＠comment node-name, next, previous, up +＠section Inhibiting Display of GUI Components + +Use of GUI facilities is a personal thing. Almost everyone agrees that +drawing via keyboard-based "turtle graphics" is acceptable to hardly +anyone if a mouse is available, but conversely emulating a keyboard with +a screenful of buttons is a painful experience. But between those +extremes the complete novice will require a fair amount of time before +toolbars and menus become dispensable, but many an "Ancien Haquer" sees +them as a complete waste of precious frame space that could be filled +with text. + +Display of all of the GUI components created by XEmacs can be inhibited +through the use of Customize. Customize can be accessed through +＠samp{Options | Customize} in the menu bar, or via ＠kbd{M-x customize}. +Then navigate through the Customize tree to ＠samp{Emacs | Environment}. +Scrollbar and toolbar visibility is controlled via the ＠samp{Display} +group, options ＠samp{Scrollbars visible} and ＠samp{Toolbar visible} +respectively. Gutter visibility is controlled by group ＠samp{Gutter}, +option ＠samp{Visible}. + +Or they can be controlled directly by ＠kbd{M-x customize-variable}, by +changing the values of the variables ＠code{menubar-visible-p}, +＠code{scrollbars-visible-p}, ＠code{toolbar-visible-p}, or +＠code{gutter-visible-p} respectively. + +Control of frame configuration can controlled automatically according to +various parameters such as buffer or frame because these are +＠dfn{specifiers} ＠ref{Specifiers, , , lispref}. Using these features +requires programming in Lisp; Customize is not yet that sophisticated. +Also, components that appear in various positions and orientations can +have display suppressed according to position. ＠kbd{C-h a visible-p} +gives a list of variables which can be customized. E.g., to control the +visibility of specifically the left-side toolbar only, customize +＠code{left-toolbar-visible-p}. + +＠node Customizing, , Inhibiting, GUI Components +＠comment node-name, next, previous, up +＠section Changing the Position, Orientation, and Appearance of GUI Components + + #### Not documented yet. + +＠node XEmacs under X, XEmacs under MS Windows, GUI Components, Frame ＠section Using XEmacs Under the X Window System ＠comment node-name, next, previous, up ＠＠ -355,3 +481,9 ＠＠ title; the name is used for resource lookup, among other things, and the title is simply what appears above the window.) ＠end itemize + +＠node XEmacs under MS Windows, , XEmacs under X, Frame +＠section Using XEmacs Under Microsoft Windows +＠comment node-name, next, previous, up + + #### Not documented yet. -- University of Tsukuba Tennodai 1-1-1 Tsukuba 305-8573 JAPAN Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences Tel/fax: +81 (298) 53-5091 _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ What are those straight lines for? "XEmacs rules."