U
Uriel
*See the thread "window title file name."
--Suzanne S. Barnhill, "Another 2003 Degradation -- ruler reappearance"
thread
Whew. I read it, as well as checking out
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/customization/SDIMDI.htm (grammar quibble: "drag
the Exit command onto your File menu, replacing the existing Exit button
with your one"?).
It was quite a strain, mainly because there's so much emphasis on aspects of
the user interface that I absolutely never use (if I have them visible at
all).
Also, I note the quotation Suzanne offers from an MS training doc:
-----------------------------------
Other Office 2000 applications (Microsoft Access, Excel and PowerPoint)
handle SDI slightly different [sic] than Word 2000. They utilize a modified
version of SDI. Documents are trapped in an MDI frame, but are listed in the
task bar individually. You can ALT + TAB through the documents.
SDI cannot be disabled in Word 2000 because it is the basis for the Word
2000 application and uses 'true' SDI. However, other Office applications
that do not utilize 'true' SDI can disable it by removing the checkmark next
to the option Windows in Taskbar.
-----------------------------------
I don't think much of statements like "SDI cannot be disabled BECAUSE it is
the basis for the Word 2000 application and uses 'true' SDI."
When you say "X because Y," the reader should be able to see a causal link.
The reader can see none here. The statement comes off as a phony
rationalization (which is exactly what it was, given later versions'
Tools:Options:View:Windows In Taskbar.).
On UI generally, it's amazing how much you have to fight to reconfigure
Windows for efficient use. I hate to even think how most people use their
computers. That MVP document
(http://word.mvps.org/faqs/customization/SDIMDI.htm ) has statements like,
"if you tile your documents (in order to drag and drop between them, for
instance), each document has its own toolbar(s), menu and statusbar, so you
can end up not being able to see your text at all, for the clutter of the
toolbars." This makes me shudder.
Some principles I'd convey if I were running a boot camp:
- Avoid touching the filthy rodent. (It'll help if you overcome Windows's
preference for inefficiency by finding the non-default setting to turn on
shortcut indicators. In WinXP: Ctl Panel / Display / Appearance / Effects:
uncheck "Hide underlined letters".)
- Using the keyboard means not obsessing over "icons." You don't need icons.
You don't need toolbars. You don't need the taskbar. Those things are a
waste of real estate. And it's a waste of time to be hunting for little
cartoons all the time.
- You shouldn't EVER "drag and drop" -- an activity that elevates the rodent
to partner status. If you'll be using computers as much as another month,
save time by investing the time to learn how to use the tool properly. What
you should be doing is highlight, copy, get to where you want, paste. That
principle applies everywhere -- e.g. Windows Explorer (set up 2 instances of
it, one for source directory, another for destination).
- Use Alt-Tab to change tasks. And don't use Close, Minimise and Restore
buttons; learn that Alt-Space gets you the control menu, ctrl-F4 closes the
document.
- In fact you should never use the Minimise and Restore functions at all,
since you should....
- Do one thing at a time! Working at a computer should involve THINKING, and
how can you think with a million distractions? So *maximize* the app, and
*maximize* the doc within it that you're working on. Multiple tasks is
great -- I usually have over a dozen. But focus on one at a time, for
goodness sake. Turn off the music too.
- Oh yes, on MDI versus so-called SDI: This is just another illustration of
the general rule that in the commercial computer world, no technical
terminology ever has a fixed meaning. SDI used to mean the app could NOT
have multiple windows. An example of an app that's partly like that is MS
Outlook Express: you can't, for example, have 2 windows showing 2 folders.
Which is unfortunate. (You can however have as many "Find Message"
dialogues, opened via Edit:Find:Message, as you want.)
So Word's "SDI" is not SDI at all. Unless you want to pretend, which is
silly, that when you have 3 documents open that's really 3 separate
instances of the Word application. With a real SDI app I would never dare do
that because I'd expect mass cross-firing into the registry and other
conflicts causing incurable entanglement and corruption. I certainly
wouldn't expect the app to happily allow copy/pasting between documents, as
Word does.
Merry Christmas.
--Suzanne S. Barnhill, "Another 2003 Degradation -- ruler reappearance"
thread
Whew. I read it, as well as checking out
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/customization/SDIMDI.htm (grammar quibble: "drag
the Exit command onto your File menu, replacing the existing Exit button
with your one"?).
It was quite a strain, mainly because there's so much emphasis on aspects of
the user interface that I absolutely never use (if I have them visible at
all).
Also, I note the quotation Suzanne offers from an MS training doc:
-----------------------------------
Other Office 2000 applications (Microsoft Access, Excel and PowerPoint)
handle SDI slightly different [sic] than Word 2000. They utilize a modified
version of SDI. Documents are trapped in an MDI frame, but are listed in the
task bar individually. You can ALT + TAB through the documents.
SDI cannot be disabled in Word 2000 because it is the basis for the Word
2000 application and uses 'true' SDI. However, other Office applications
that do not utilize 'true' SDI can disable it by removing the checkmark next
to the option Windows in Taskbar.
-----------------------------------
I don't think much of statements like "SDI cannot be disabled BECAUSE it is
the basis for the Word 2000 application and uses 'true' SDI."
When you say "X because Y," the reader should be able to see a causal link.
The reader can see none here. The statement comes off as a phony
rationalization (which is exactly what it was, given later versions'
Tools:Options:View:Windows In Taskbar.).
On UI generally, it's amazing how much you have to fight to reconfigure
Windows for efficient use. I hate to even think how most people use their
computers. That MVP document
(http://word.mvps.org/faqs/customization/SDIMDI.htm ) has statements like,
"if you tile your documents (in order to drag and drop between them, for
instance), each document has its own toolbar(s), menu and statusbar, so you
can end up not being able to see your text at all, for the clutter of the
toolbars." This makes me shudder.
Some principles I'd convey if I were running a boot camp:
- Avoid touching the filthy rodent. (It'll help if you overcome Windows's
preference for inefficiency by finding the non-default setting to turn on
shortcut indicators. In WinXP: Ctl Panel / Display / Appearance / Effects:
uncheck "Hide underlined letters".)
- Using the keyboard means not obsessing over "icons." You don't need icons.
You don't need toolbars. You don't need the taskbar. Those things are a
waste of real estate. And it's a waste of time to be hunting for little
cartoons all the time.
- You shouldn't EVER "drag and drop" -- an activity that elevates the rodent
to partner status. If you'll be using computers as much as another month,
save time by investing the time to learn how to use the tool properly. What
you should be doing is highlight, copy, get to where you want, paste. That
principle applies everywhere -- e.g. Windows Explorer (set up 2 instances of
it, one for source directory, another for destination).
- Use Alt-Tab to change tasks. And don't use Close, Minimise and Restore
buttons; learn that Alt-Space gets you the control menu, ctrl-F4 closes the
document.
- In fact you should never use the Minimise and Restore functions at all,
since you should....
- Do one thing at a time! Working at a computer should involve THINKING, and
how can you think with a million distractions? So *maximize* the app, and
*maximize* the doc within it that you're working on. Multiple tasks is
great -- I usually have over a dozen. But focus on one at a time, for
goodness sake. Turn off the music too.
- Oh yes, on MDI versus so-called SDI: This is just another illustration of
the general rule that in the commercial computer world, no technical
terminology ever has a fixed meaning. SDI used to mean the app could NOT
have multiple windows. An example of an app that's partly like that is MS
Outlook Express: you can't, for example, have 2 windows showing 2 folders.
Which is unfortunate. (You can however have as many "Find Message"
dialogues, opened via Edit:Find:Message, as you want.)
So Word's "SDI" is not SDI at all. Unless you want to pretend, which is
silly, that when you have 3 documents open that's really 3 separate
instances of the Word application. With a real SDI app I would never dare do
that because I'd expect mass cross-firing into the registry and other
conflicts causing incurable entanglement and corruption. I certainly
wouldn't expect the app to happily allow copy/pasting between documents, as
Word does.
Merry Christmas.