[RkWard-devel] Latest CVS : bugs and usability

[Thomas Friedrichsmeier]

Hi David,

nice to hear from you again!

Some comments on your comments:

> - In the levels/value levels editor, there is a bug : start by adding a few
>   values, then click on one of the values of the index. The "Add" button is
>   greyed out, and you're stuck.

Actually the levels editor is not really user-friendly anyway (even if it was 
not buggy). Probably a better approach would be to provide the user with a 
small one column table (or two columns, one r/o for the index, one for the 
label).

> - In the command file editor, after F8/F9 has been pressed to have R run
> the file, the focus does not come back to the command window. This requires
> the use of the mouse, which kind of negates the point of the keyboard
> shortcut in  the first place...

Can't reproduce, focus stays for me. But of course, if you can hunt it down...

> - The command file editor is *very very* well hidden. The only reason I
> knew there was one was because I had used RKward previously. Even worse,
> *knowing* it was  there, it took me about 10 minutes to find it, because I
> had to look at the  source code! I'd suggest having a command file opened
> by default, with sample  commented R-code, that cannot be closed at all.

Ok. We'll have to find a way to make it more prominent, then. However, I don't 
think I like the idea of having a new window that can't be closed.
One (not very convincing approach) would be to add tip-of-the-day 
functionality for this and other problems. Anybody with further ideas on 
this?

> - It took me a while to understand what "Command Stack" meant in the tabs
> at the  bottom. How about renaming it to "Pending Jobs" or something like
> that?

Yes, sounds good. You never think of those things, when in designing the 
backend you've called it a stack for years...

> - The menus keep changing depending on where we are (command file, data
> editor,  etc.). I suppose it is partly unavoidable. However, when in the
> command file  editor, there are *three* new entries to the menus (View,
> Bookmarks, Tools).
>   Besides:
> 	- "Tools" is a little bit overkill. We are editing R files here, not
> 	  writing a major project. How about keeping only comment/uncomment,
> 	  indent/unindent, maybe "End Of Line" (for those who have to switch
> 	  between MS/Apple/Linux), and move them to the Edit Menu?
>
> 	- I don't understand the point of the "Bookmarks" entry. And how do I
> 	  add a bookmark?
>
> 	- As to the "View" Menu, I feel it is a bit on the overkill side as
> 	  well. Maybe "line numbers" is useful?  I suppose all these entries
> 	  come with the KatePart but I have to admit they are all fairly
> 	  confusing (at least to me) because they make the UI change
> 	  drastically.

Well, yes, the problem is, it's what you get with the Kate-part. Some of this 
can be avoided, and in fact, esp. the bookmarks menu should be removed 
entirely.
If you want to work on this, have a look at RKHelpWindow/RKOutputWindow. There 
I used RKCommonFunctions::removeContainers () to strip down the KHTML-part 
(seems to be the only way to exclude some portions of a parts-GUI).
Moving entries to a different menu, as you suggest, is not a trivial thing to 
do, unfortunately, but maybe you could move the entire tools menu to a 
sub-menu of edit (ugly, yes, but at least the shortcuts would continue 
working for power users, and a novice user might one day discover the 
possibilities).

> - "Configure Packages" is available in the "Workspace" menu and in the
>   "Settings" menu.  Any reason in particular?

Never really noticed. When merging File and Workspace, it will probably be 
removed, there.

> - The Scatterplot script behaves oddly in wizard mode : between step 1 and
> 2, the "select variables" window switches from the left hand side to the
> right hand side of the window

Unfortunately, I believe there are worse bugs than that in some of the 
plugins. We'll definitely need some more cleanups (I've already started some, 
but CVS is down ATM), and we'll definitely need some more testing on the 
plugins. Volunteers for testing?

> - When exiting RKWard, the following message appears :
> "Quitting RKWard: Do you want to save the workspace?
> Press Cancel, if you do not want to quit"
> This is a bit confusing (I had to read it three or four times before really
> understanding what was happening), since it asks whether you want to save,
> then tells you what to do if you do not want to quit (two seemingly
> unrelated possibilities)

Ah yes, I could not figure out, how to make the "Cancel"-Button say "Don't 
quit" (which I think is a fairly useful option in an MDI-GUI: Maybe you just 
wanted to close the current window, but were not thinking and closed the 
whole app). Laziness.

> Most of these comments are about general usability, and I suppose I could
> make the changes in Rkward's sourcecode myself (including the minor bugs).
> Hence my questions :
>  - Do you agree with my comments ?
>  - If so, can I make the changes ?
> Finally, I can keep looking at usability matters if you want me to (I'm
> finding it increasingly interesting).

Unless stated otherwise, I agree with all the comments. And of course you're 
very welcome to work on it yourself. Please don't make major changes to large 
portions of the code at this point of time, as we should really be 
stabilizing for a new release. Small changes and bugfixes are fine, however.

> I hope I didn't sound too negative with all these remarks,  I really
> believe RKward has a great future ahead. So, keep up the good work!

Actually it's about time, somebody started pointing out usability problems. 
Some I was aware of, most I simply do not see anymore, after having looked at 
them for so long. So, yes, please continue to look out for such stuff, and 
point out all the problems you find! It's the only way to get things 
improved. Thanks!

Regards
Thomas
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