tasks-refactor issues

[Aaron J. Seigo]

hi ...

so i've been playing with tasks-refactor now for a bit and here's a list of 
issues i've come across:

smaller things that can be fixed easier:

* the config dialog is .. well .. reversed =) the labels are on the right and 
the controls on the left. the dialog must be reworked to be HIG compliant

* actions must not be named things like "Start/Stop grouping this program" 
(e.g. in ProgramGroupingStrategy::strategyActions) but reflect the actual state 
of the action

* ProgramGroupingStrategy::toggleGrouping shows we have some API issues in the 
new libtaskmanager additions. from reading that method it is completely 
unclear what the interplay between blackList, handleItem, closeGroup and add. 
this must be sorted out either with proper commenting of the method (which is 
anything but clear) or by fixing the code to read clearly (the preferred fix)

* defaults for the tasks widget: sorting by alpha and grouping my program 
should be on. no sorting/grouping is a bit silly and manual management is not 
something most users will crave (though it's awesome that the option is there)

some not-so-small things:

* we're going to want to have a "only group when full" option in there

* multiple rows are still missing

* i'm getting a consistent crash-on-exit with program grouping is on


but we have a biggers issue with the new widget than above, mostly to do with 
user interaction. here are the outstanding issues i see:


* all grouping interaction is done via the context menu. this is a non-
starter. there absolutely must be visual feedback on this, e.g. an arrow to 
expand collapsed groups

* when a group is expanded, it becomes a cloud of little icons in about the 
same space as original button. the icons are not recognizable.

* i had no clue how to trigger manual grouping


so ... how to interact with grouped items ... 

expanding groups:

* a single click on a collapsed group could expand it

* an expand arrow when clicked could could expand it

* something else .. ?

showing expanded groups:

* we could do it like in kicker and show a popup with the grouped window 
inside that popup.

* an expanded group could overlay other buttons, temporarily 'taking over' the 
tasks widget

* an expanded group could push other buttons aside, giving the buttons inside 
as much room as buttons not in the group (making an all-groups-expanded 
taskbar as cluttered as the current bar)

* something else .. ?

-- 
Aaron J. Seigo
humru othro a kohnu se
GPG Fingerprint: 8B8B 2209 0C6F 7C47 B1EA  EE75 D6B7 2EB1 A7F1 DB43

KDE core developer sponsored by Trolltech

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