Notable Implementation Differences Between Toolkits

Many features are roughly equivalent in the OPEN LOOK user interface and Solaris Motif but have significant implementation differences. The following are the most important differences:

• Tear off Menus

• Input focus indicators

• Widget classes (sliders and gauges versus scales, for example)

• Secondary text selections

Other significant differences include the following:

• Keyboard bindings

• The window manager controls associated with each window

• Internalization

• Mouse button behavior

The remainder of this section provides information on some of these features.

Tear-off Menus

In Solaris Motif, tear-off menus replace the pinned menus of the OPEN LOOK user interface. Selecting the dashed line on the top of the menu "tears-off" the menu.

Secondary Text Selection

The OPEN LOOK secondary text selection is roughly analogous to the Motif quick transfer mechanism.

Window Controls

One of the most critical implementation differences involves window controls. When the Motif user presses the Window menu button in the upper left corner of the title bar, or the OPEN LOOK user presses the MENU button anywhere on the window background (including the header), a menu is displayed. The options offered under the two GUIs introduce a key contrast.

The Motif Window menu offers a choice of Restore, Move, Size, Minimize, Maximize, Lower, and Close. The OPEN LOOK base Window menu offers Close, Full Size, Properties, Back, Refresh, and Quit. The two lists are fundamentally the same, but have very different effects.

In the OPEN LOOK user interface, the Close option minimizes (iconifies) the window, and Quit terminates the application.

In Motif, the Minimize option minimizes the window, and the Close option terminates the application. Many users familiar with the OPEN LOOK user interface have found themselves exiting a Motif program when their intent was to close its window to an icon.

Mouse Button Behavior

The structure of the mouse buttons is very similar in both specifications; however, the difference is significant enough to cause some confusion.

Table 5-1 shows the default left-to-right mapping of the three OPEN LOOK mouse buttons.

Table 5-1 OPEN LOOK Mouse Buttons

BUTTON	Description
SELECT	Specifies an object or manipulates objects and controls, drag
ADJUST	Extends or reduces the number of selected objects
MENU	Displays a menu associated with the pointer location or  specified object

The three Motif mouse button assignments, described in Table 5-2 , also start by default with the left mouse button.

Table 5-2 Motif Mouse Buttons

Button	Description
BSelect	Selects, activates, and sets the location cursor, drag
BTransfer	Moves and copies elements, drag and drop transfer. Can be customized to be the OPEN LOOK Adjust button.
BMenu	Displays menus