[rkward-devel] Request for feedback on plot history

[Prasenjit Kapat]

Hi,

Following this thread from Thomas:
http://www.mail-archive.com/rkward-devel@lists.sourceforge.net/msg00872.html

I would like to get some feedbacks, especially bugs.

Here is a screenshot of the new screen device window:
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/rkward/index.php?title=Screenshots#Graphics_history_actions_.28from_trunk.29

And here is a screencast (download the ogv file from here; could not
upload it to any of the video sites):
http://www.mediafire.com/?z3gp737xa5h1t
(Meik: see [1] below)

Quoting Thomas:
"Basically, please create a few plots in one or more windows, try the
toolbar buttons, and comment on any aspect that is not intuitive, or
buggy."

Some notes:

1. Settings > Configure RKWard > Output has settings for the history
length and size

2. The arrow icons are self explanatory. Note that: if there is any
"new" plot on the current device then it will be appended to the
history before moving away.

3. The "Add to history" (+) button will be confusing. For modified
(using points () or lines () or ...) standard graphics plot, it will
overwrite the existing plot; for everything else it will append to the
history. I plan to fix this. Suggestions are welcome. Thomas had
mentioned the following:
http://www.mail-archive.com/rkward-devel@lists.sourceforge.net/msg00853.html

4. "Remove from history" is self explanatory

5. "Clear history" will clear the entire plot history, but you can
still add the displayed plot back into the history using "+" icon

6. The "Show info" action currently uses kdialog (recently changed it
from readline ()), but as soon as Thomas returns (and finds time to
implement a dialog box connection on the C++ side) I plan to change it
to a more native version. (Although, wherever rkward can run kdialog
is available, even on windows. One just has to figure out the right
path to it!)

7. Since his (Thomas's) mail, I have updated the svn code to include
lattice plots in the plot history as well. (I use lattice very
frequently.) Recording and replaying these plots is different from
those of the standard graphics plots. The difference is exploitable in
a useful way - the plot call can be extracted / displayed. So, if you
use lattice, give it a try, esp. the "Show Info" action.

What next?
a. Fix the "Add to history" action in a more intuitive way
b. If possible, replace the info button by a persistent status bar
c. A drop down menu for the history?

I plan to have the a. done before the release. The other two can be
delayed to a later version.

-- 
Prasenjit

[1]
The vimeo mail earlier was part of trying to open an a/c for uploading
this screen cast. Unfortunately, although I opened it correctly today,
they won't accept the resolution!