From: Randy Kramer (rhkramer_at_fast.net)
Date: Fri Nov 07 2003 - 08:29:35 EST
I know that the consensus seems to be that AbiShow should be split off as a
separate project, nevertheless, I wanted to get my $.02 in. ;-)
On Friday 07 November 2003 12:46 am, Martin Sevior wrote:
> > First thing you need to do is determine the metaphor - are
> > you a "slide-based" tool or an "outline-based" one? Each has
> > advantages and disadvantages...
>
> The metaphore is a "slide based" I think. At least I think that is what
> PowerPoint is and I want a program like Powerpoint.
Outlines rule (at least collapsible outlines in wordprocessors and editors).
Among other things, outlines can enforce some discipline on a person's
thought and writing processes (or make it appear that a person's thought and
writing processes are somewhat disciplined).
But, I've never used Power Point beyond watching (or clicking through) an
occasional presentation.
> > Then you should consider how "masters" work. Are they
> > initial "templates" or are they true "style sheets"?
>
> OK I see what you mean. In my view they would be styles. We would
> enlarge our style coverages to allow per fl_SlideLayout properties.
I'd suggest (without really knowing what I'm talking about) that masters *be*
templates but *make use of* styles (existing or new). A number of reasons
that I can't immediately articulate, but one that stands out is to minimize
the proliferation of styles.
OT: IMHO, AbiWord has, simultaneously, too many and not enough styles. Too
many because there are a lot to scroll through, and not enough because some
that I'd like to have (it's been a while, so I don't recall which) don't
exist. One specific case (of too many): rather than have a style for the
myriad of different bullet styles, I'd prefer something more like the Word
(97 and earlier, anyway) approach of a few bulleted styles with perhaps
different levels of indentation (IIRC, some of those were my own custom
styles) combined with their feature (on something like the "Bullet and
Numbering" menu) to adjust the bullet character, indentation, and style of
numbering (for numbered bullets -- various permutations of Roman, outline,
Arabic (?), and legal style numbering).
Randy Kramer
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