[rkward-devel] Request for feedback on plot history

[Prasenjit Kapat]

Hi,

On Sun, Sep 5, 2010 at 11:38 PM, Stefan Rödiger <stefan_roediger at gmx.de> wrote:
> Am Dienstag 31 August 2010, 03:43:57 schrieb Prasenjit Kapat:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Following this thread from Thomas:
>> http://www.mail-archive.com/rkward-devel@lists.sourceforge.net/msg00872.htm
>> l
>>
>> I would like to get some feedbacks, especially bugs.
>
> I used the latest SVN and found no bugs (I use the feature relative
> intensively during my work).

Thanks for the testing, Stefan. I'm re-writing the whole thing,
hopefully, for the better. I'll make another call for testing once
done...

> To my pleasant surprise it works (move through history, remove elements, ...)
> without problems with "split.screen()" too. But trouble here is that I find it

You were working with version before the recent overhaul. But still,
every plot () -type call after split.screen () should create a
separate entry into history. Let us not worry about it, for now.

> hard to tell which window is "open" without calling Plot properties manually
> (this issue would be addressed in future versions for non-splitted windows if
> I understand you right). Either Plot properties get a more prominent position
> (persistent status bar as you suggested) or you could establish some kind of
> visual feedback (see below "Visual feedback", or other active GUI elements of
> RKWard have a read square  for example) in future version. But this has no
> priority in my opinion.

I see that Thomas has already added a drop-down list. I haven't tested
that version yet. That should help in the visual feedback.

> One thing I find a bit distracting is the output presented in the console and
> command-log when a plot is invoked (example output attached). This is an issue
> for me since I use to work on a 10 inch netbook from time to time and
> therefore need to scroll more than I used to.

Yeah, sorry for that, the output is mainly there for my debugging
purpose. All the non-error outputs will be suppressed in the final
version.

>> 1. Settings > Configure RKWard > Output has settings for the history
>> length and size
>>
>
> Found it finally after this hint. I which there was a help button as in the
> plug-ins. Even in the current stat the plot history is quite powerful and some
> easy accessible documentation -as users of plug-ins might be used to- would be
> highly appreciated.

Oh, yes! once the whole thing settles, I'll write the rkh file.

> The dropdown menu ("What next? c") would be really helpful. Indicating the
> number of the plot and the fist bit of the commands used would be sufficient
> for me. Something like:
>
> 1       plot(rnorm(...
> 2       hist(data...
> ...

This will be impossible to get for standard graphics functions (in
package:graphics). But already there for the lattice functions. I have
some ideas, but I don't think it is going to work.

>> 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
> Definitely (see above). My suggestion would include some more feedback within
> the plot region (red square, a plot number, ..., what ever) which would also
> help when working with a splitted screen.

Do we need a status bar even after the plot history drop down menu?

>> c. A drop down menu for the history?
> Definitely (see above)

Thomas has already added that.

Thanks again.
BTW, hold off you plot-history related testing for a week now. I'm
re-writing the whole thing.

Regards,
-- 
Prasenjit