A COMMAND EDITOR TOOL FOR NEXTSTEP AND X-WINDOWS SYSTEMS

MARBLE ASSOCIATES, INC., PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A COMMAND EDITOR TO RUN UNDER NEXTSTEP, MOTIF, AND OPEN WINDOWS. THIS TOOL WILL ALLOW USERS TO CUSTOMIZE THE MENUS AND COMMAND-KEY EQUIVALENTS USED WITHIN APPLICATIONS TO SUIT THEIR INDIVIDUAL NEEDS AND TO CONSTRUCT PALETTES OF FREQUENTLY USED COMMANDS. IT WILL INTEGRATE SEAMLESSLY WITH VARIOUS DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENTS, ENABLING DEVELOPERS TO ADD THIS FUNCTIONALITY TO THEIR APPLICATIONS WITH MINIMIAL EFFORT. IT THEREBY PROMOTES TWO IMPORTANT GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE GOALS: EASE OF DEVELOPMENT AND USER CUSTOMIZATION. THE COMMAND EDITOR WILL BE A SET OF INTERFACE CLASSES THAT CAN BE ADDED TO APPLICATIONS WITH LITTLE EXTRA PROGRAMMING. IN PARTICULAR, THE NEXTSTEP VERSION - TO BE DELIVERED AT THE END OF PHASE I - WILL INTEGRATE SEAMLESSLY WITH INTERFACE BUILDER AS A SET OF OBJECTIVE-C CLASSES WITH PALETTES AND INSPECTORS. THE MOTIF AND OPEN WINDOWS VERSIONS WILL SIMILARLY INTEGRATE WITH PROGRAMMING TOOLS AVAILABLE ON THOSE ENVIRONMENTS. WITH THE COMMAND EDITOR, USERS WILL BE ABLE TO ADD, REMOVE, OR REARRANGE APPLICATION MENUS TO SUIT THEIR NEEDS. FURTHERMORE, THEY WILL BE ABLE TO ASSIGN ANY NUMBER OF COMMAND-KEY EQUIVALENTS TO ANY COMMANDS WITHIN A PROGRAM, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE COMMANDS APPEAR IN MENUS. FINALLY, USERS CAN GROUP FREQUENTLY USED COMMANDS INTO PALETTES FOR EASY ON-CLICK ACCESS. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS: BOTH USERS AND DEVELOPERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BENEFIT FROM MARBLE'S COMMAND EDITOR TOOL. USERS WILL BENEFIT BY BEING ABLE TO RECONFIGURE THE COMMAND STRUCTURES OF THEIR PROGRAMS TO MAKE THEM EASIER TO LEARN AND MORE EFFICIENT TO USE. DEVELOPERS WILL BENEFIT BY BEING ABLE TO ADD THIS FUNCTIONALITY TO THEIR APPLICATIONS WITH VERY LITTLE PROGRAMMATIC EFFORT.