Mac Menus
There is one specialty with the Mac that I never liked: The global menu bar. While on Windows, each application has its own menu, all applications must share the same menu area on top of the Mac screen.
This is quite ok for apps that have a single document window, like a word processor, but fails for apps that have multiple types of windows, each requiring a different menu structure. With Synfire we have Arrangements, Libraries, Palettes, Progressions, the Catalog, Phrase Pools, and Songs. It is next to impossible to squeeze all these into the same menu structure.
Local Menus
That said, Synfire works much better on the Mac with local menu bars enabled. Until now this has been a preference setting that many Mac users may not have noticed yet. With the next update, local menus become the default setting. Mac purists may turn them off, although I would not recommend it.
With local menus, it is much clearer which objects are affected by a menu command. The nature of Palettes and Progressions being standalone objects that can be saved to disk is more obvious. There should also be less confusion as to why the global menu bar switches back and forth between different menus all the time.
If you are a Mac user, try enabling local menus in the preference settings next time you run Synfire. Arrangements are considered the "main" document and therefore use the Mac's global menu bar until release 1.6.3. With the new update 1.6.4, also these "main" windows can be supplied with a local menu (seel picture).
Until recently, I have always been reluctant to using local menus, because Mac purists may probably not like it. But let's face it: Since even Logic Pro uses local menus -- even multiple menu bars inside the main window -- I don't see why we should be confusing our users only to comply with design guidelines that do not suit complex software.
Comments
Sweet! Might you consider implementing some other Mac UI standards while you're at it?
I've detailed these problems in these Synfire forum posts:
It would cool if SFP worked consistently with Mac shortcuts and Apple scripts like most other Mac apps.
Let me add sidescrolling to that list.
As long as you give us the option to use OS windows or SFP's. At this point I'm much more comfortable with Mac OSX. Perhaps as I become a SFP 'Power User", I'll swtich over to that..
But for any program to have so many differnent approaches to processes, is un-mac like.. And that is the reason, you get a Mac in the first place.. With SFP there is just no counterpart to what other applications do, so Andre must charge forward into uncharted territory.
Still the more you can keep familiar options available, the more friendly the program will be.. Although SFP has come a tremendous way in just the two years I've been using it.. I think as more people join in, and voice their observations, SFP will continue to grow and morph a bit.
The last few updates, have really been right on target.. I was especially thrilled to see 'static all' import. and batch import.
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