[TxMt] how do you close excess tabbed files?

[Justin Henry]

Ryan Schmidt wrote:
> On 01.01.2005, at 21:15, Drew McLellan wrote:
> 
>> Justin Henry wrote:
>>
>>> I think it would be much more helpful if one could expand the tab bar 
>>> and have the tabs "wrap":
>>> http://jdhenry.com/tm-wrap-tabs.png
>>> This way the files in the tab overflow would be accessible via the 
>>> tab bar.  Adjusting the height of the tab bar (i.e. by dragging the 
>>> bottom of it) would affect the number of tabs visible - those not 
>>> able to fit would still go into the overflow.
>>
>>
>> Looks good Justin. What would happen when a tab from the top row was 
>> selected? Would the selected tab's row jump to the bottom?
>>
>> (I'm thinking about the consistency of the tab metaphor, and the 
>> highlighted tab being 'attached' to the document)
> 

Yes - I'm thinking specifically of how UltraEdit for Windows works, 
where the tab row containing the selected tab jumps down.  This way the 
tabs stay in order within their row.

> 
> That would be how Windows does it, and I personally find it infuriating. 
> It's bad user interface design. Interface elements should not jump about.
> 
> Multirow tabs are also bad interface design, which is why Apple's 
> operating systems don't support it or do it. If they weren't tabs but 
> instead pushbuttons then it might be ok. (I'm thinking of OS X's square 
> toggle buttons here.)

Are you referring to something in the HIG?

Introducing multirow tabs would not necesarily directly impact all users 
- by default, it would be set to not wrap (just one row would be 
displayed), and excess tabs would dump into the overflow, just as it 
does now.   If a user wanted to see more of their tabs, they could 
choose to expand the tab bar to the number of rows of their choice by 
dragging down the bottom of the bar.

The point of having tabs, at least in this application, is to provide 
you with easier and quicker access to the files you are currently 
working on.

I find that once the file goes off of the tab bar and into the overflow 
list, going back to that file isn't that much easier than looking 
through the project drawer - especially if I am working on a decent 
number of files.  This kind of defeats the purpose of having my files 
available to me in tabs at the top of the window.

-Justin