Re: NSMenu* and NSPopuUp* issues

[Alexander Malmberg]

Tim Harrison wrote:
[snip]
> An additional thought would be of which menu type would be seen as more
> comfortable for users.  NEXTSTEP/OPENSTEP are no longer in common use
> (and, arguably, were never really all that common), and OS X does not
> use vertical menus.  Nor do any other environments that I'm currently
> familiar with.  I'm not saying that because no one else is using it, we
> shouldn't.  I'm just pointing out that users might not be as comfortable
> with vertical menus.

Vertical menus are actually very common. In horizontal menus, it's
actually only the first layer that's horizontal. Sub-menus,
sub-sub-menus, ..., are all vertical. Additionally, right-click pop-up
menus are near ubiquitous nowadays, and they are pure vertical menus.

> When it comes right down to it, maybe providing hooks for modifying the
> menu behaviour via a third party bundle, and allowing for modifiers
> within the code to specify where in a menu one might find an entry (such
> as "Quit" going within an application menu, or what have you).
> 
> I'm unable to give a better answer than that, but I don't want to see
> the vertical menu behaviour negate the ability to modify that menu
> behaviour.

I don't think you could make it impossible even if you wanted to. It can
be made easier or harder to do, though, and while not the primary goal
in -gui, it's something to keep in mind when deciding how to arrange
things internally.

- Alexander Malmberg