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Re: presentation-type OPTIONS

    Date: Thu, 22 Oct 1992 12:54 EDT
    From: Jeff Close <jclose@chesapeake.ads.com>


    Scott,

    thanks for the reply, as always; 
       ...
       Presentation type options do not inherit.  This was an explicit design
       decision, but since it was made about three years ago, I can no longer
       remember what the rationale was.

On p.169 (17.6.1 Concept of Defining a New Presentation Type in CLIM) it
says "Supply *PARAMETERS* that further restrict the type ... Supply
*OPTIONS* that affect the appearence of the type" (emphasis mine). Given
this, it is clear that parameters (type restriction) must be inherited,
but that options (appearances) needn't be and you wouldn't want to force
it. Sound reasonable?

The above quotes only appear in the introductory section, which is
rarely where you look as you go back and try and use stuff - it would be
nice if it also appeared in the reference section. In general, it seems
to me, there is not a lot of rationalization as to why various features
are included in CLIM and how they are anticipated to be used. The more I
get to know CLIM (and now that I'm somewhat familiar with CLIM 2) the
more impressed with it I am. We do need a Sonya Keene-type "Programmer's
Guide to CLIM" though, because there are few people who'll give it as
much of a chance as the readers of this list.

    ...
    Sorry to ask something that might be in the book
    (i.e., READ...THE...BOOK!), but I couldn't find it.

    jeff

Yea, when you're looking for this kind of information in the book it's a
bit hard to find - you know you've read it, but where. The stuff about
how to pass options and parameters, in particular is in 17.2 How to
Specify a CLIM Presentation Type (p. 157).  Read in conjunction with the
dictionary entry for define-presentation-type (p. 305) and section 17.6
Defining a New Presentation Type in CLIM you can figure out most of
what's going on, though it is scattered.

It is also (as far as I've found in my readings) left to the reader to
infer that parameter lists can contain lambda-list keywords. This can be
inferred from examples in 17.5 Predefined Presenation Types in CLIM.

0,,
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