Mark (and the programmers), Thanks for the explanation, but as far as "Hope this helps take some of the mystery out of the confusion", no, it doesn't. These explanations have already been mentioned much earlier in the discussion, but there has never been an attempt to justify them. Taking your points in reverse order...
(1) The right-click actions are standard Windows behavior, and they neither alter any data on the current screen nor navigate to a different screen. They do exactly what one expects when right-clicking. (2) The invisible navigational hot spots (AKA mine fields) on the Family View, which rotate through husbands, wives, and siblings are merely aggravating, but not destructive. From time to time I have also had the misfortune of clicking on "nothing" in those areas and having my screen suddenly change. Luckily this is very obvious and no data has been harmed in the process. After a few brief curse words I can navigate back to where I already was with only my time wasted. Is there any reason in the world why these functions are not identified on the screen? Since there is already a group of icons on the husband, the wife, and the marriage areas of the screen that allow one to perform INTENTIONAL navigation, that would appear to be the logical place for the rotation controls to appear. So just why do they have to be hidden so that they can be accidentally triggered, rather than placed consistently with all of the other controls? Sounds to me like different programmers came along and, rather than following in the existing style and design that was started by others, they simply went off on their own tangent of doing things differently. Change for the sake of change. It is inconsistent and it does not need to be that way. Is it thought that it would be too much trouble for the user to click on the existing Spouse, Parents, or Siblings icons to display the list and then make a selection? If so, then why not make a single click on those icons display the list and a double-click perform the rotation? That not only eliminates the hidden hot spots, but it is consistent with the design of the Family View, and it doesn't even require any extra icons to accomplish. At the moment, both single and double clicks on those icons do exactly the same thing. (3) Regarding the check boxes and radio controls on the Individual screen, it has already been pointed out by others familiar with PC programming that this is simply the result of sloppy screen design and coding -- not separating the actual control from its label. There is no reason why the active area needs to be any larger than the box or circle itself, but there is reason why it should not be. Labels are a totally separate issue from the active control and they should never have been active in the first place, no matter how long or short they are, or whether they are the exact length of the displayed text or contain a lot of extra blank space. If the text that constitutes the label is hot, then the preceding box and circle are not only unnecessary, but they are completely misleading to the user, since they serve no purpose whatsoever. Bob -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Mark Lang Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 04:51 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Hidden "hot spots" [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >As this problem has been verified and reported to the programmers, I've a >question. I know the programmers are busy trying to get v6 finished and >released...grin. > >Sherry, would the programmers be interested if users began cataloging and >reporting, in detail, where these hot spots exist? Would that make their job >easier? > > Jon, Jay, Bob et al, I have received a response from the programmers, and the answer was that simple that even I had overlooked this. Although I can sympathise with you that if you click on some (what seems like) background space, you would not expect to see some erratic behaviour, naturally thinking this to be a bug of some description. In this case, there is a bigger picture that must be looked at. Some of you may be aware of the internationalisation project that is currently in progress, and it is this effect that you are seeing coming through in Legacy. Before when Legacy was available in English only, the string of words ("This Individual Never Married") that sit next to the checkbox, you could put your mouse just over these words or the checkbox, and it would check. Now you notice that is mysteriously being checked "near" the Private checkbox, and this is because this same string in other languages could take up more room that what is displayed in English, and Legacy is accommodating for this internationalisation. As for the other topic of hot spots appearing in Legacy, these have been introduced gradually over Legacy's development. You can left click to the left of the Husband and rotate through his wives, and likewise, left clicking to the right of the wife and rotate through her husbands. Left-click in between the husband and wife and rotate through the siblings of the highlighted individual. You can also right click certain areas to reveal either a context menu (if you click on some background), or over some labels for quick dates/locations (memorises last 10 dates/locations), or to even change labels. Hope this helps take some of the mystery out of the confusion. Mark -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 265.5.3 - Release Date: 14/12/2004 Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ To unsubscribe please visit: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ To unsubscribe please visit: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp
