Re: Options menu

[David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org>]

"Lennart Borgman" <lennart.borgman.073@student.lu.se> writes:

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Eli Zaretskii" <eliz@gnu.org>
>
>> > Most applications I use on w32 have a "View" top menu.
>>
>> This was considered when the menu bar was restructured in preparation
>> for Emacs 21.1.  The conclusion, IIRC, was that View is generally
>> inappropriate in a text editor, because it is not a program whose
>> purpose is to show you something, in which case View selects what
>> details you are being shown.
>
> I think that "View" here mostly is a synonym for "Appearance". In for
> example Firefox View menu the main items are:
>
>     Toolbars, Status Bar, Sidebars;
>     Stop, Reload;
>     Text Size, Page Style, Character Encoding;
>     Page Source, Full Screen.
>
> So if that was the reason not to have a View top menu then it might be time
> to rethink?

"Page Source" is not exactly "Appearance".  I have to admit being
surprised at this usage, nevertheless.

Gnumeric offers

New View (generate a new frame into same "buffer")
Freeze Panes
Windows -> (list of available windows to jump to)
Toolbars -> (list of available toolbars to enable)
View Statusbar (checkmark)
Full Screen
Zoom

This is a bit more mixed than just static appearance setup, but also
carries weight in that direction.

Personally, I find "View" strongly associated with viewing files, in
particular in the contest of Emacs.

I find "View" less appropriate for what it is used in Firefox et al
than "Appearance".  The one thing that speaks for "View" is that the
name is shorter, taking up less space as a top item in the menu bar.

But I don't think this sort of functionality would warrant a top menu
item in most modes in Emacs.  If for compatibility reasons or whatever
it was decided to make this a top item, I'd probably also opt for
"View" just for saving menu bar real space.

One argument for that would be that _when_ you use this menu, you are
likely to use it several times in succession until Emacs' appearance
meets your needs, and then it will be tiring to go through
Options/Appearance for every selection.  In GTK+, you would probably
just tear off the menu (if you know how to do it) for this process.

But we are running short of menubar space for a typical LaTeX editing
session with preview-latex, RefTeX, AUCTeX (two! top menus) and
LaTeX-math-mode already.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum