[Kst] Some comments on view objects...

[Brisset, Nicolas]

So... Considering that view objects are one of the major new features in
this release, I think people will want to use them and we should pay
extra attention to making them work as well as possible. This is why I
have performed some usability tests and bug hunting, and below are my
remarks. The list may seem to be long, so I'd first like to say I find
the view objects *really cool* :-)
Note that some points might be known already... Just ignore them !

I actually have only 3 MAJOR complaints (the first 3 points), and a lot
of smaller wishes/usability remarks:
1) I find it _really_ cumbersome to have to switch to layout mode
constantly to move/resize objects. If you look at what other programs
do, they mostly switch to selection(=layout) mode automatically after
creating a new object. One nice feature is when a drawing mode is
double-clicked to become "sticky", but that's going to be hard to do
with a pull-down menu (maybe add a "stay in selected drawing mode"
option in the menu somewhere ?)
2) When using images, it is impossible to find the correct aspect ratio,
and distorted pictures look BAD. Please add an option to maintain the
original aspect ratio, and default to that.
3) the double focus indicators are confusing, and it blinks all over the
place. I'd definitely prefer to have simple focus indicators showing the
object which will be impacted by the next RMB or move action.

Now for the smaller glitches:
4) the layout mode icon is not very standard and users tend to not find
it spontaneously
5) manipulating pictures seems to be slow, and there are drawing
artefacts
6) when moving an ellipse, no outline is shown
7) it would be nice to know what subset of Latex commands is supported
in labels (maybe in a "Help" dialog to be added, called from the label
configuration dialog)
8) when using \sqrt in a label, the upper part of the square root (top
horizontal line) is not visible
9) it would be very nice to be able to double-click an object in zoom
mode and access its dialog directly
10) why have different RMB menus for view objects in zoom mode vs layout
mode ?
11) it seems that labels created by a simple click (as opposite to box
drag) is not properly parented: it does not resize with the plot
containing it
12) labels with borders don't always have equal borders on all sides
(seen with border width = 2)
13) auto-resize for label boxes should be the default, and when it is
unchecked the "margin" spinbox should be deactivated (and moved to live
closer to the "auto-resize" checkbox), otherwise it gets very confusing
!!

I'm sorry about the long list, but I think it's close to being perfect.
Hopefully this can all be solved easily before the release...

Nicolas