Two window behaviors that are very non-intuitive

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alanterra
Posts: 77
Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2017 4:55 pm

Two window behaviors that are very non-intuitive

Post by alanterra »

I'd like to draw attention to two behaviors of Bookends that I find very non-intuitive, and, the first especially, keep getting in the way of my using Bookends effectively.

1) The "Inspector" or "Reference Links" window looks like any other window, but it acts like a panel. It floats on top of all other windows and just gets in the way if you aren't using it. It has a normal title bar and red/-/green buttons. But if you try to close it with cmd-W, you end up closing the next window below it, which is usually your database.

I would prefer that the Inspector window would just act like any other window (for example, the Term List window, which closes with a cmd-W when on top). But it would also work that if the Inspector window looked like a panel. (See Photoshop for an example of what a panel should look like).

2) This is just strange, but doesn't get in the way: If you close your database in Bookends but leave the application open, if you click on the icon in the Dock, the last database used will open. No other application does this, AFAIK.
Jon
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Re: Two window behaviors that are very non-intuitive

Post by Jon »

1. The Inspector window is a floating palette. That's not going to change. The thin title bar, if nothing else, is visual feedback for that. I'll see if there are any other small tweaks that would reinforce that.

2. Lots of apps do that. One example is word (and other word processors). Close all windows and go to another app. Come back and a new empty document will open.

Jon
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alanterra
Posts: 77
Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2017 4:55 pm

Re: Two window behaviors that are very non-intuitive

Post by alanterra »

Hi Jon

I don't want to be annoying, but I don't understand what you mean by a "thin title bar."

This is the inspector:
Reference Links.png
Reference Links.png (38.23 KiB) Viewed 2950 times
and this is the terms list:
Term Lists.png
Term Lists.png (30.88 KiB) Viewed 2950 times
I don't see any difference. A visual reminder that the windows behave differently would seem in order to me. But, obviously, this might not be your highest priority.
Jon
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Re: Two window behaviors that are very non-intuitive

Post by Jon »

You're right, they're not very different now in Mojave (maybe earlier, too). They were clearly different when the Inspector palette was created (many years ago, I forget the OS). I don't know if I can do anything about that, but I'll take a look when I can.

Jon
Sonny Software
alanterra
Posts: 77
Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2017 4:55 pm

Re: Two window behaviors that are very non-intuitive

Post by alanterra »

THANK YOU. I much appreciate the UI update in 13.2.3.
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