[as-devel] 1.9 Wishlist

Andrew Ferguson Andrew_Ferguson@walnut.prs.k12.nj.us
Wed, 15 Mar 2000 17:26:15 -0400 

Well, AS 1.9.16 seems very usable to me, so I thought now would be a good
time to send in my wishlist of features. Since Sasha has already made it
extremely compliant with just about every wm spec out there, I can remove
that from the wishlist and rattle off my other wishes.

Configuration Program
---------------------------------
Well, I'm working on ASCP, so that takes care of that wish........

Instantaneous Application of Configuration Files
--------------------------------------------------------------
Basically, I would like to be abe to hit Test or Apply in ASCP and see the
modules change right there, updating the configuration files takes a very
long time. This also makes the theme implementation way to slow.

Themes
---------------
I would like to be able to have more than one desktop background in the
theme tarball. I would like to be able to have different themes for
different desks. Making the theme configuration more complex is ok, as
long as there is a way I can hook all of this up in ASCP. Besides, it
would be cool to be able to manage your themes from ASCP. The wmaker
config program even allows users to drag and drop themes off of
wm.themes.org and apply them.

Pager Desktops
------------------------
I already understand that I can't make different desktops have different
numbers of pages, but that would be cool. I know I only need one page for
my games and web desktops, yet I could use 5 or 6 for my General and Work
desktops. Also, currently, the pager only support pure rectangular arrays
of pages and desktops. I would like to be able to have different shaped
arrays. Such as:
		 ___________
		 ||_____|_____||
____________||_____|_____||___________
||______|_____||_____|_____||_____|_____||
||______|_____||_____|_____||_____|_____||

With || separating the desktops and | separating the pages. Charlie also
brought up the fact that "a rather nifty feature of placing windows
against an edge, and having a little resistance (ie, you have to push for
a while to make them move past the edge) is gone."

Titlebars
---------------
It has already been noted that title bars are a mess. I would like the
ability to specify the number of pixels from the left and right of the
title bar, as well as the ability to specify certain title bar pixmaps on
a per app basis. It would also be neat to have certain title bars be
un-passable, just like pimps in the Wharf can be. Perhaps if the user
could specify a unique, AS-specified name for each button, that name could
be hooked up to the button's Context ID, which would associate it with the
proper action in the feel file. Charlie also wants scalable pimps in the
title bar. Perhaps it would be cool to not have to have pimps in the
buttons, instead the user could specify gradients just like for any other
pimp. And shaped title *are* cool. :-)

Forms
--------------
I think forms could be a powerful feature of AS, if the user could figure
out how to build their own with ease. The idea of having your own,
customizable, input boxes is cool. The best way I can think of doing that
would be to implement a strong Forms parser in alison and then I could
write a QUI forms builder. The only problem is writing the parser. One
approach would be along this line:
widget[i].name = "food"
widget[i].type = "check"
widget[i].action = "Exec footer-AP"
or something like that.

Wiliest and Pager Functionality
-----------------------------------------
I would like to see the ability to execute actions on windows in the
Wiliest and Pager. By right clicking on the window in the Pager or the
window's button in the Wiliest, I would be able to minimize it, maximize
it, close it, kill it, etc. This would keep me from having to switch
desktops to do that. On the subject of the Wiliest, I would also like to
be able to have to Wiliest expand to two (or more) rows (or columns in a
vertical Wiliest) if more than X amount of window buttons are shown, this
would reduce clutter and would enable you to read the names of the open
programs if there are a lot of them open.

I know this is a long list, with features that will most likely be added
to the "What Will Never Be" list, but I think they are useful and would
appreciate any consideration for adding them. With that, I will now get
back to ASCP coding.

____________________________________
Andrew Ferguson
http://owsla.cjb.net | andrew@owsla.cjb.net
Tintin Webring: http://owsla.cjb.net/tintin/ring/