Showing Status bar new trend?

[David Nelson]

This past year I notice all demos are including status bar.  I am wondering if it is because of iPad.  Or are developers using it more now because it can be better controlled?  And with web direct, my layout does not fit right because of browser bars.

 

I got a file by Jeremy Bante on window size for example and it shows leaving status bar.  You can get it by going to ModularFM.  I would prefer not to have the status bar.  But does iPad and iPhone need to show it?  I see that web direct shows a funny status bar which I can not remove.  I really like Jeremy's file.  This helps me a lot.  Now I just need to decide on whether to show status bar or not and if I do NOT use it, would it give me that additional space for the layout?  I do not have iPad or iPhone to test but I must plan for it.

 

Can someone please give me a higher level overview of their thinking in regards to status bar?  I have decided to use different layouts but I cannot figure out what to do with the layout size and whether to use status bars or not.

 

 

[jbante]

Whether to show the status bar or not usually reflects a philosophical position of the developer, whether someone prefers "letting FileMaker itself show through" more, or taking more deliberate control of the application behavior. As FileMaker has added features to address requests for richer functionality, it becomes less necessary for developers to implement that themselves. For some folks, FileMaker itself has become useful and controllable enough to show the toolbars; for other folks, it hasn't yet.

 

Showing the toolbar starting becoming more popular with the release of FileMaker 10 when it moved to the top of the window rather than the side and became much more attractive. The ability to use custom menus to override what the buttons on the toolbar do is also an important technique for applications working with the toolbar exposed.

 

FileMaker Go has the option to hide the toolbar, the same as in FileMaker Pro; and hiding the toolbar in FileMaker Go gives you an additional 44 points of vertical layout real estate to work with.

[David Jondreau]

I agree with Jeremy, it's a philosophical decision. Personally, I do use the status bar and have ever since 10.

 

People were kind of pissed when FM 10 moved the bar from the side to the top, because most monitors are wider than tall so it was reducing the already short axis. But 90% of users interaction is on a web browser where the x axis is very cluttered. They're used to it.

 

The layout navigation, record navigation, and find options mean I don't have to worry about about a custom menu bar. Developing a menu bar has its own issues. If FM supported "sublayouts" like MS Access does subforms, I'd reconsider.

 

Screen real estate doesn't really matter to me. I think most users are happier with less elements requesting their attention. Popovers have reinforced this design choice for me.

[David Nelson]

Thanks guys this has helped a lot.  For me being yet a newbie it feels more comfortable to add on the things I want them to be able to do rather than know all the things necessary to keep them from doing things they shouldn't.