[Win32] Better chat/recall windows

[Berendol]

It's honestly about time for a total overhaul of the chat window in the Win32 client, and the message recall window can benefit from the same changes. I tried playing with it myself but only broke things worse and worse every time... time to invest in a good Windows programming book and spend a good long time learning what to do.

Nice features would be scrolling, a new chat input box that doesn't override standard Windows functionality, and selectable text, with the standard Copy/Select All context menu. Timestamps would be nice as well but unnecessary at this juncture as I could add that myself. Automatic and/or manual exporting to a file would be great but again, unnecessary as I can do that myself too.

I don't know how mIRC did it, but that program has exactly what I envision and indeed extends it way beyond what I would ever consider necessary. Yes, this will break away from the Term system - but perhaps the Term system is inferior to what a well-made Windows GUI is capable of in terms of flexibility and good looks. I refer you to BAE, which would not be possible with Terms.

If I can assist in some fashion other than writing the actual Win32 code, please let me know. I can make a nice mockup and I can also offer suggestions.

[edit] Things I like about the current chat window that I'd like to keep:
* The behavior of : (chat key) in the main window, and the behavior of the Esc key in the chat window. Switching between them should not require a mouse.
* The ability to paste text from the clipboard

Tabbing between the edit box and the scrollable backlog would be a great feature, as would the ability to scroll up and down with PgUp/PgDn/Home/End and the arrows.

[Jug]

If the radical move was made to move away from the Term system for chat, I think that all operating systems would have to be supported.  We currently have *nix, Windows and Mac OS players (at least).

To my mind the easiest and fastest way to achieve this is to take an existing cross platform IRC client and loosely couple it with the mangclient.

- Jug

[Berendol]

I wasn't looking for something cross-platform for this. The Windows version specifically looks and behaves different from other Windows programs. It may be intuitive for Angband players, but what if someone who isn't a prior Angband fan just randomly decides to download it and try it?

I'd prefer to see something basic which can be augmented by platform-specific things, like a GUI, and more specifically a nice one for popular OSes like MacOS/X and Windows XP, that doesn't leave less-computer-literate users scratching their heads.

However, anything would be an improvement.