MDI or SDI?

[Jono Bacon]

On Friday 09 March 2001 23:09, you wrote:
> On Saturday March 10 2001 06:49 am, Jono Bacon wrote:
> > One thing which I feel is seriously letting Krayong down at the moment,
> > is that it does'nt use the MDI style that Photoshop uses for displaying
> > multiple documents within the Krayon window. I know from personal
> > experience as a web designer, that this method of accessing multiple
> > documents is essential, and Photoshop's method of MDI is better than
> > GIMPs.
>
> This can almost be a religious issue for some people. The common opinion in
> the Unix world is that the MDI model is wrong, to the extent that the KDE
> style guide says not to do it. My opinion is that MDI is like HTML frames.
> They need to be done very well or they suck. I don't like the typical MDI
> that Windows uses.
>
> But let John finish Krayon first. In the meantime, creating some mockups of
> an appropriate interface would be worthwhile.

I know many people don't like MDI, but the use of MDI/SDI depends on the type 
of document the application processes.

SDI is a great model for text based documents such as word processors, 
spreadsheets etc, but for image editing applications where you are often 
taking multiple images and editing them into a single image, you need to be 
able to do the following:

 - You need to be able to see *all* open images at the same time so you can 
compare images and combine parts of seperate images.

 - You need a solid colour as the background so you don't percieve the 
colours in the image the wrong way. This is a problem with GIMP - if you have 
a bright flashy wallpaper, it affects your perception of the shade of the 
colour. Photoshops method of placing a gray background behind it is the best 
option IMHO.

 - If SDI is used for image editing, it does'nt make sense. You don't need a 
full set of toolbars and menu's for each image. If you had a seperate window 
for each image, or a seperate tab, bit does'nt make sense.

I think the most important thing is in being able to see multiple images at 
the same time.

Konquerors MDI of split panes would not work in this case as if you were 
editing two images which are 600x600 and 700x700, you would note be able see 
them without resizing frames which would interfere with the work flow.

I agree MDI and SDI both have good and bad uses, but I think we should learn 
from one of the best designed pieces of software, and most used in the image 
editing world. The fact that Photoshop is most used by digital image editors 
would also be a good model to base Krayon on as people would not need to 
learn an alien interface.

Let's learn from Photoshop...I think it will make a better Krayon. The reason 
I say this now is that I wouldnt want John to code it all and then people 
start saying this and it means a lengthy rewrite. It is better to catch UI 
flaws early.

Regards,

	Jono