Subject: Re: Zero-length Runs and show codes
From: Randy Kramer (rhkramer@fast.net)
Date: Wed Feb 14 2001 - 14:53:34 CST
Paul Rohr wrote:
> Your best bet is to draw that character using the same font as its
> neighboring text. I forget whether it should look left (into the end of
> the prior para) or right (into the next one), but it's probably similar to
> the cursor-sizing logic. I'm sure Randy will know.
(Well I went and looked just to be sure ;-) -- It looks left, into the
end of the prior paragraph!
As usual, Paul makes excellent points about the width of the breaks (and
now I'm embarrassed to admit that I still always use View All ;-)
> One minor suggestion, though -- keep the widths the same even when the
> breaks are invisible. Not only will this be easier to code, but it makes
> for a much more consistent and predictable user experience.
>
> In short, what you select should be the same "size" whether you're currently
> seeing it or not. This is already true for spaces and tabs, and the same
> principle should apply for breaks of various kinds. People very quickly get
> used to the idea that:
>
> I just selected a single something, but it's invisible.
>
> By getting the widths and locations right, people can quickly infer what
> they just selected by noticing the answers to 2 questions -- Where is it?
> How wide is it?
>
> between two words ==> either a space or a tab, so check the width
> at the end of a paragraph ==> obvious
> at the end of a line ==> obvious
> bottom of column, full width ==> obvious
> bottom of page, full width ==> obvious
>
> In fact, as soon as you get the hang of this, you rarely need to turn on the
> View All mode, because you can tell what's going on based on this selection
> feedback. View All simply becomes a more explicit cheat sheet.
>
> > This may be post 1.0 - but more likely it's needed for completion
> > of the end-of-paragraph code.
>
> Yep. However, feel free to commit earlier patches which don't include this
> functionality. The behavior we currently have in CVS works, but it's very
> annoying.
>
> Keep up the good work!
>
> Paul,
> pixel pusher
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