The Old New Thing

Scrollbars, part 2

July 25, 2003 Jul 25, 2003 07/25/03

Raymond Chen

Managing scrollbars is not hard in principle. The basic idea is not that difficult, but there are a lot of small details that need to be ironed out. If you don't get the details just right, your program will feel odd in a strange way that you often can't pinpoint, much like a subtle background hum that ...

More terse Q&A on Tweak UI 2.10

July 24, 2003 Jul 24, 2003 07/24/03

Raymond Chen

I'm going to try to alternate between programming entries (where I actually try to teach something) and random entries (where I get to spout off or go into storytelling mode). So here's another random entry. Why does Tweak UI put up a totally incomprehensible error message ("Cannot locate...

The scratch program

July 23, 2003 Jul 23, 2003 07/23/03

Raymond Chen

Occasionally, there is need to illustrate a point with a full program. To avoid reproducing the boring parts of the program, let's agree on using the following template for our sample programs. For expository purposes, I won't use a C++ class. I'll just keep all my variables global. In a real program, of course, instance data would be ...

Why do you have to click the Start button to shut down?

July 22, 2003 Jul 22, 2003 07/22/03

Raymond Chen

Short answer: The same reason you turn the ignition key to shut off your car. Long answer: Back in the early days, the taskbar didn't have a Start button. (In a future history column, you'll learn that back in the early days, the taskbar wasn't called the taskbar.) Instead of ...

Tweak UI 2.10

July 21, 2003 Jul 21, 2003 07/21/03

Raymond Chen

What are you talking about? Tweak UI is part of the Windows XP PowerToys. It was recently updated to version 2.10. What OS is required? Windows XP Service Pack 1 (or higher) or Windows Server 2003 (all versions). Not supported: Windows XP RTM, Windows...