[Kst] Update release plan ?

[Brisset, Nicolas]

I was just wondering why the list has been so quiet lately (at least in
terms of commits!) and thought I'd look at the release plan to figure
out if there was something *big* coming that you'd all be working on :-)
Well, the least one can say is that the release plan in devel-docs is
*outdated* ! How about trying to update it ? To get the process started,
below is my own list of expectations :-)
I'm not in a position to prioritize, nor to decide what should be done
now and what should be held back until 2.0/Qt4/KDE4 (for instance
because it will be much easier there, like possibly efficient datasheet
view of data, undo/redo framework, etc...) but I'm sure there'll be
feedback ! So, here we go:

- certainly the number one feature requested by users is undo/redo, but
as just hinted I suspect it will have to wait until 2.0
- proper handling of metadata, that is *both* import and integration in
plots is certainly the most urgent need in my eyes, and I believe it is
accessible without extensive changes. That was initially expressed in
bug #109430 "reserved areas/flow-around + list of fields" which is
probably the most concise presentation of the needs even though it's two
requests in one bug (I know, that's wrong :-)). Relevant discussions to
this can also be found in #132954 "can't use metadata in labels" (and
#120772 "list of strings" which may need to be closed ?). I insist on
the need to put labels along the sides of the windows without
interference with plot layout... Possibly #124573 "headers/footers for
printing" could be linked as well (in an interactive session you have
access to metadata, which you don't on paper unless it appears there).
- easy selection of items from long lists (like #104935 "easier search
for vector names" but extended to all cases/objects where long lists can
occur, with a case-insensitive substring filter approach)
- the ability to mask points or work on subsets (bug #110734 "ability to
mask datapoints...") very conveniently. Even though it had been
suggested to wait for InterView for that and do it in spreadsheet mode,
I think a graphical way to select regions/points is *required*
- the new plugin system that will hopefully allow to group plugins and
make them more usable (that is not really a new funtion and if I'm not
mistaken that is what Adam has been working on lately)
- the ability to save data with plot layout as an option, if possible in
a compact format :-) But very often data files change content and only
storing a link to them can cause trouble...
- some usability improvements for which I'll create bugzilla entries
soon. They come from an extensive discussion with one user, who
complained that some things took too long to do in kst and for which we
found fairly simple "fixes". Stay tuned :-)
- 3D would certainly be useful as well, but that sounds like a major new
feature requiring in-depth discussion... So not today !

Thoughts ?

Nicolas

P.S.: I often notice that users tend to ignore some nice kst features. I
think we should add "tips of the day" like in other KDE apps, with a
list of the nicest "tricks". It shouldn't be too hard to add, and
non-developers can easily contribute...

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