[Kde-games-devel] Re: Review Request: new libkdegames class KGameBasicWindow to replace KXmlGuiWindow on mobile formfactors

[Ian Wadham]

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Had a look at your code, Stefan.  My C++ is not as fluent as yours, but I wonder if it would be possible to polymorphise the view layer, with toolbar as a default type, but leaving the way open to add other view types, such as paged menus or button boxes.  If so, one should be able to specify a view type for each group, rather than using the same for all groups, and that would go a long way towards providing the kinds of user interfaces mobile devices typically have.  Just a thought.

- Ian


On July 9, 2011, 6:53 p.m., Stefan Majewsky wrote:
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> (Updated July 9, 2011, 6:53 p.m.)
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> 
> Review request for KDE Games and usability.
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> Summary
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> General outline: Many games present only a small set of menuitems and toolbar actions to the user. Even on mobile form factors, all relevant actions can in many cases easily fit in the toolbar, thus removing the need for the (touch-unfriendly) and redundant menubar. On the implementation side, it would be beneficial to replace KXmlGuiWindow, which provides important features to desktop apps, but overcomplicates the problem for apps as simple as most games.
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> Solution: The new KGameBasicWindow class provides a hard-coded toolbar arrangement, in which only one toolbar is created at the top of the window. The most relevant actions are placed here directly, like one expects for a toolbar. Less used actions (like those commonly found in the "Settings" and "Help" menu) can be placed in a hierarchy, but only one level of the hierarchy is made visible at once in the toolbar.
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> For example, if the user wants to open the handbook, he finds the "Help" button on the toolbar. Upon clicking it, the toolbar changes and displays all actions in the "Help" group (plus a "Back" button). After selecting the "Handbook" action (and thus opening the handbook), the toolbar automatically returns to its default setup and presents the "important" actions again.
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> Implementation: KGameBasicWindow is a new class in libkdegames. Besides this new class, the only change is in KGameDifficulty, whose init() function may now take not only KXmlGuiWindows, but also KGameBasicWindows. This change is trivial because KGameBasicWindow provides an action collection, too.
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> What's missing? The standard dialog for editing shortcuts. Also, I have not yet decided on how to decide between KXmlGuiWindow and KGameBasicWindow. Do you think it should be offered as a compile-time or run-time option? (Obviously, this question depends on the open question above.)
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> 
> Diffs
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>   /trunk/KDE/kdegames/kdiamond/src/mainwindow.h 1240604 
>   /trunk/KDE/kdegames/kdiamond/src/mainwindow.cpp 1240604 
>   /trunk/KDE/kdegames/libkdegames/CMakeLists.txt 1240604 
>   /trunk/KDE/kdegames/libkdegames/includes/CMakeLists.txt 1240604 
>   /trunk/KDE/kdegames/libkdegames/includes/KGameBasicWindow PRE-CREATION 
>   /trunk/KDE/kdegames/libkdegames/kgamebasicwindow.h PRE-CREATION 
>   /trunk/KDE/kdegames/libkdegames/kgamebasicwindow.cpp PRE-CREATION 
>   /trunk/KDE/kdegames/libkdegames/kgamedifficulty.h 1240604 
>   /trunk/KDE/kdegames/libkdegames/kgamedifficulty.cpp 1240604 
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> Diff: http://svn.reviewboard.kde.org/r/6744/diff
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> Testing
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> As usual, my guinea pig is KDiamond. The needed changes are included in this patch. Everything works fine here.
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> Screenshots
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> Side-by-side comparison of KXmlGuiWindow (back) and KGameBasicWindow (front) for KDiamond
>   http://svn.reviewboard.kde.org/r/6744/s/616/
> Overview of available toolbar states for KDiamond: main category, Settings subcategory, Help subcategory
>   http://svn.reviewboard.kde.org/r/6744/s/617/
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> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Stefan
> 
>

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