The other thing that has been bothering me lately is the stochastic behavior of our regression tests. False positives are just a bad thing, indicating something is wrong with our engine. I have filed a few bugs on that, which still won't get the job completely done. Fixes pending for two of them.
Posted by jkeiser at April 11, 2003 7:44 PMTo help you become a good Aqua citizen, Apple has created a few guidelines. I've put together a brief overview of them, and we'll be tackling many of them in the months to come.
Posted by: Sampson at January 24, 2004 5:50 PMAt WWDC, I listened to Apple representatives make some excellent points about taking the time to build a 100%-compliant Aqua application, and I think all developers need to look beyond the code and listen to what the folks at Apple have to say
Posted by: Ciriacus at January 24, 2004 5:50 PMUser Assistance. This is helping the user with the proper "next step" when performing a task. Less guesswork for the user on what to do next makes for a better experience.
Posted by: Christian at January 24, 2004 5:50 PMAt WWDC, I listened to Apple representatives make some excellent points about taking the time to build a 100%-compliant Aqua application, and I think all developers need to look beyond the code and listen to what the folks at Apple have to say
Posted by: Winifred at January 24, 2004 5:51 PMDock Animation. Sometimes animating icons in the dock can be useful in communicating the status of the system or application.
Posted by: Samuel at January 24, 2004 5:51 PMThis topic is one we will tackle later in this article, but it refers to making sure that your application and the dock aren't fighting it out for supremacy of the screen.
Posted by: Emmanuel at January 24, 2004 5:51 PMFor example, if you see an AIM window peeking out from behind your browser and you click on it, that window will come to the front, but the main application window will not. The Mail.app/Activity Viewer is another example. The Aqua system of layers works well in many instances, but not in all. Thank goodness that the Dock is always there to come to the rescue. I know that clicking on an application icon in the Dock will always result in not only the application coming to the front, but also any non-minimized windows associated with it. And if the application is active but no windows are open, clicking on the Dock icon should create a new window in that application.
Posted by: Catherine at January 24, 2004 5:52 PMTo put my money where my mouth is, in each new article I'll build a hypothetical application that illustrates the guidelines I'm covering. Today's application is called "Paint" and will be based on the photo-illustrative icon I created in my last article. Together we will complete each step, and by the end of the project we should have a well-designed, 95%-100% Aqua-compliant application. I'll leave some room for personal preferences and the fact that Apple changes the OS every few months.
Posted by: Samuel at January 24, 2004 5:52 PMYou Must Promise. To call your mother, to help old ladies cross the road, and to turn your cell phone off at the movies.
Posted by: Roman at January 24, 2004 5:52 PM