[Kstars-devel] UI For Memory Management

[James Bowlin]

On Wed July 16 2008, Jason Harris wrote:
> I like it.  How about "Faint limit at low zoom" instead of "Faint
> limit when zoomed out"?

If we go back to the simple formula:

  maglim = const. * (lgz - lgmim) + Option::Something()

Then I think the Something() should be StarDensity().  In other words, I 
think the control that is currently labeled "Faint limit zoomed out"
should be called "Star Density".  Furthermore, I think it should be the 
only part of the UI that controls the star density.

Right now the const. in the above formula is linked to Options::memUsage
which makes sense if we want to use it to tune the constant but does not 
make sense for the publicly advertised UI.

It was my intent to move away from dual controls that end with 
either "... zoomed out" or "... zoomed in".  Right now, the control 
labeled "faint limit zoomed out" adjusts the star density at *all* zoom 
levels.  You can also adjust the star density using alt + mouse-wheel 
(or alt + "-" or "=").  The default is to adjust the maglim by 1.0.  
The shift key cuts this to 0.5 and the ctrl key cuts it to 0.2, when 
combined (shift + ctrl), the step is 0.1.

IMO, the simplest form of memory control will simply put a limit on 
the star density so the star density can't be increased past X.X where
X.X is controlled by the memory control slider.  It is a little like the
safety on a gun.  There are two steps to firing the gun.  First you 
release the safety then you pull the trigger.  For KStars, displaying
the highest star densities would be a similar two step process, first
you move the memory slider to "maximum memory usage" (or a higher memory 
usage) then you increase the star density.


-- 
Peace, James