[RkWard-devel] Command log / Console

[Pierre ECOCHARD]

Hi Thomas,

It's a big usability issue indeed, in my opinion.

I understand that it can be confusing for the user not to see the commands
s/he entered with the script editor in the console. This behavior (the
current behavior) is unlike any other GUI I know.

However, I think that it is even more confusing to see in the console
commands you did NOT enter in any way, ie commands ran by RKWard itself or
by plugins. On the other hand, it's sometimes useful to be able to watch
commands sent by RKWard. The way I see it, the command log and the console
serve different purposes, and are useful for different kind of users.

A middle-of-the-road idea could be to show commands sent by the script
editor in the console. Thus, the console would show all commands sent by the
user, and only these. The command log could in this case be hidden except if
you actually ask for it.

I think that secondary consoles, while nice for advanced users, would be a
usability nightmare for others. If you go ahead with your original idea, a
better option could be to have a "show only user-commited commands" checkbox
in the new console.

br,
Pierre

2006/11/3, Thomas Friedrichsmeier <thomas.friedrichsmeier at ruhr-uni-bochum.de
>:
>
> Hi all,
>
> a while ago Ralf Tautenhahn pointed out the following problem in private
> mail:
> When running a script file (using F8/F9), the output is always sent to the
> command log. If at the same time you're running some commands in the R
> console, this means you'll have to switch back and forth between command
> log
> and console.
>
> Also, of course, the command log does not have any syntax highlighting,
> altough it also shows R syntax.
>
> Now, my idea is to actually get rid of the command log as a separate
> entity,
> and combine it with the console. Rather, there would be a "Main console",
> and
> this main console would also act as a log, in that all commands (also
> those
> from plugins, etc.) would be shown in exactly the order in which they were
> executed. At the same time, of course, you could still use it
> interactively.
>
> There might be secondary consoles, which you can open in additional
> windows,
> if needed. Those would only display the direct interaction done in that
> console. A copy of all the interaction would also go to the "Main
> console",
> however - just like now commands entered in the console also show up in
> the
> command log.
>
> One usability problem might be, that it might be confusing to have logged
> command inserted intermittently, while interacting with the main console
> (I
> hope you get what I'm trying to say, I don't find a better wording right
> now). Do you think this is a serious problem?
>
> Also, can you think of further problems? Other ideas on how improve the
> current situation?
>
> I'm asking, since this change will not be entirely easy to code, so
> instead of
> going ahead and trying it out (and then it might turn out to be worse than
> before), I'd like to ask you for some input on this.
>
> All of this will be *after* 0.4.1, of course, which I plan to release on
> Sunday.
>
> Regards
> Thomas
>
>
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