Re: patching into the standard get file dialog...

[burke@lostboys.ils.nwu.edu (Robin Burke)]

In article <9203061852.AA20959@MIT.EDU> Christopher Fry writes:

   > Is there a way to patch into the standard get file or save as dialogs? I
   > would like to add a button for selecting the current directory (without
   > selecting a file within that directory. 
   I have often wanted a choose-directory-dialog. It should be part of the 
   system. It should have an arg as to whether you see files or not in the 
   scrolling list. In either case, you should not be able to selecta file. 

   In such a dialog there is an ambiguity. Are you choosing the directory 
   currently displayed, or the one which is highlighted?
   I'm not sure whether I want both capabilities or just one [which one?].
   In any case, making it crystal clear to the user which dir they are 
   selecting is paramount.

Hear, hear. It is a nuisance to have the user click on a file when
what you really want to do is select a directory. The answer
(which I've seen in custom choosing dialogs in other applications)
is to have two buttons: "Open" which opens directories, and
"Choose" which selects the current one. Files are greyed out
and can't be selected. The first hacker that comes up with one
of these in LISP gets my undying gratitude.

BTW: How many people are using the SERIES package to replace the
standard iteration macros (FOR, LOOP, etc)? I find it very clean
and elegant but with significant space overhead. I'm not sure whether
it is inefficient timewise or not, but I'm assuming if they've
done it right, it will be as efficient as those ugly non-functional
things.

The reason I ask is that I'm developing some utilities that are
intended to be portable. Is SERIES on its way to becoming part
of the standard or not? (If I get a vote, it's thumbs up.)

--
robin
=:-{)

institute for learned scientists
northwestern university