[783] in testers
Xmh in 7.0 needs different font
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Thu May 17 15:04:55 1990
From: kcunning@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
To: testers@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
Cc: kcunning@ATHENA.MIT.EDU, aleslie@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
Date: Thu, 17 May 90 15:03:59 EDT
In the current font and sizing setup of xmh, you cannot read all of
the text of a typical mail message without having to take some
special action. I believe the default font used for Xmh in the 7.0
test release (I'm on an RT) is inappropriate.
Because a typical plain-text file such as a mail message is usually
created in an 80-character-wide window (this is the effective
default xterm/emacs window size), a font used for Xmh should allow
80 characters to be shown in a default xterm-width display. The
font used by the current test version shows only 70 characters, and
does not wrap long lines to make up for its inadequacy.
We should use another, thinner font (the previous default font,
6x13 I think, admirably allowed 80 characters in a typical
xterm-width xmh display); or we should have the message text
automatically wrapped for lines longer than the display window.
The "solution" actually implemented in the current version of xmh
-- using a horizontal scrollbar -- is unacceptable and based on a
misunderstanding of the appropriate use of scrollbars. A
horizontal scrollbar is appropriate for horizontally structured
information such as columns of data; it is NOT functional for
running paragraphs that are formatted for a presumed column width
larger than the display width. The idea that a horizontal
scrollbar is fine because a vertical scrollbar is fine is not
correct: a typical text document (e.g., a mail message) IS
structured vertically (into paragraphs, fields, etc.) -- it is NOT
structured horizontally in an analogous way, and horizontal
scrollbars are NOT APPROPRIATE.
--Kevin Cunningham
P.S., I might add here that the current font in 7.0 is
objectionable for other more aesthetic reasons -- for example, it
seems to be a bold font, which is inappropriate for plain-text
display (it's like putting too many exclamation points in a piece
of writing), and it seems to create too much contrast over the area
of the window (my impression of the font is like a letter written
with a fountain pen -- too many blotches). But I think the reasons
offered above are sufficient to change this font as the default.
