Abstract
Window systems underlie many successful human-computer interfaces.
But constructing them involves several fundamental design issues which
are resolved in various ways by different implementations. These
affect both user's and programmer's interface, and include tiling
vs overlapping windows; program vs
user control of windows; techniques for coping with changeable
window sizes; design of transient windows; low-level vs
high-level tools for the programmer; local vs distributed
control; and the role of a controlling window manager process. There
is no broad consensus among designers as to how best to make such
decisions.
This paper illuminates the issues involved by surveying characteristics of
window systems and discussing dominant design questions. The philosophy
and implementation underlying the JADE window manager constructed at the
University of Calgary is revealed, and the design is reevaluated from the
perspective of three years' experience of using the system and programming
within it.
Notes
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