Improving the KDevelop UI

[Alexander Dymo]

On Saturday 16 April 2005 08:00, Lasse Kärkkäinen / Tronic wrote:
> However, I found out that the "tabbed pages mode" is very close to my
> proposition, after customizing a bit. 
I personally prefer ideal mode, it takes fewer space.

> I can't get the toolbars exactly the 
> way that might be optimal, especially since the edit functions are included
> in the main toolbar. 
We inherit those edit buttons from kate part and can't change them.
If you choose, for example, kyzis editor part instead of kate, you will see
that you have remarkably small toolbar ;)

> Unfortunately I didn't find a way to add the right hand side tool views to
> the bottom panel. They just won't go in there.
You should be able to drag them to the bottom.

> > In KDevelop 3.2 there's a "simple ideal"
> I couldn't find this "simple" part. Where can I get that? IDEAL was
> selected by default.
Sorry, it's in KDevelop HEAD (development version).

> > No, some views are docked to the right because in typical workflow you'd
> > want to have several views opened at the same time. Most common case
> > is when you have "project manager" view on the right and "class view"
> > or "file selector" on the left.
> What is this "project manager"? I suppose that you mean "Automake Manager".
> I have hard time seeing why this would be something to keep open often.
> Thus, it could go to the bottom (and thus share same screen space with
> other things). Could you explain your workflow on this
Yes, automake manager, qmake manager. I often need those views when I start
new projects because they allow you to create subdirs, targets, etc. When the
project is already set up, they allow easier file management because
non-project files are filtered and project files are organized. 
At the same time project manager is not a navigational tool for classes (so
class view should be at the left) or navigational tool for opened windows
(file list could be at the left).

> Actually this was better in 3.0. In 3.2.0 (with default settings) I get
> popup panels that go over the edit area, and that instantly go away when
> the edit area is clicked.
The "overlap" mode is turned on by default for views. I personally dislike it
so new "simple ideal" mode doesn't have such feature.

> > Disagree, embedded terminal emulator is pretty useful and it exist in
> > most IDEs as well.
> I fail to see how it is more useful to have it embedded than in another
> window. They are, after all, pretty much the same thing anyway. However, I
> don't think that it would be that big problem to keep the embedded one by
> default either, it just feels odd. By same logic you should also embed
> KHTML for web browsing (viewing online documentation).
We do embed KHTML part for html files ;)

> > As from KDevelop 3.1 debugger views will appear only while the debugger
> > is executing.
> I get breakpoints, debugger toolbar, etc. even when not in debugger. This
> is in 3.2.
You need breakpoints window because breakpoints should be set before executing
the debugger.

> > IIRC new file view is disabled by default now  and the corresponding
> > functionality is available from the toolbar.
> It is still enabled by default in 3.2.
I will check.

> > It was removed in 3.1 and replaced by function selector which shows
> > current function under the cursor.
> Yes, so I noticed. However, it still doesn't seem more useful.
Disagree. I got very positive feedback on that feature. It shows where you are
in the code - it's quite important.

> Btw, I have to point out that 3.2.0 currently refuses to work on my system
> for some reason and thus I cannot compile anything with it. This
> significantly limits which features I can test. Autotools are having
> trouble with libtool, it seems.
Join #kdevelop on irc.kde.org, we need to track down your problems or use
our forum.

-- 
Alexander Dymo
ICST Department, National University of Shipbuilding, Mykolayiv, Ukraine