Previews - another new thread

Thu Feb 4 14:19:01 UTC 2016

Hi,

On Thu, 04 Feb 2016 14:23:06 +0100
meik michalke <meik.michalke at uni-duesseldorf.de> wrote:
> yes, i did adjust them. i meant that if you want to see more of the
> code here while the plot is active, you have two choices:
>  - changing width will also resize the plot preview, they are tied to
> each other
>  - changing height also resizes the plot, but more importantly, you
> must enlarge the window to the full dialog's width, covering more and
> more of the screen with useless plain areas
> 
> the code preview in the past was always working great for me (except
> for the vertical resizing problems of Qt, but that's not an issue of
> RKWard's design). yes, it needed some resizing now and then, but most
> of the time that didn't bother me much. resizing never wasted space.
> 
> if we move the code preview like above, i would consider this a
> change for the worse, because it doesn't really improve anything from
> my point of view, but introduce new hassles.

hm. Well, I have started making some changes to allow us to test the
side+bottom variant. Let's see how it works out.

> > b) This also depends on the placement of buttons, and we can't
> > really discuss the two issues, separately.
> 
> yes, i meant the same thing.
> 
> > most dialogs would become 1/4 to 1/3 wider, if we place buttons at
> > the bottom, instead of the side
> 
> what about splitting them up -- moving the "help" button to the top
> right and "submit" and "cancel" to the bottom?

Frankly, I'd find that a bit confusing...

> btw, when i moved them to the top, i didn't really imagine them as
> "boring" buttons like now, but more like toolbar controls that could
> also be enhanced or even replaced by icons (see below). i don't have
> strong feelings for either position, but these icons are probably
> useful anyway?

Yes, _adding_ icons sounds like a good idea. I still think that text on
buttons generally provides a better idea of what will happen.
(Admittedly, "Submit" never was too self-explanatory, but still...)

Note that we also have "Use Wizard" in some (currently rare) cases, and
the "Auto close" control.

> > - "Intelligent resizing rules" sounds rather scary to me. I think I
> >   understand the problem you are trying to fix, but I'd be skeptical
> >   both that it is important enough, and that really good rules
> > _can_ be formulated at all.
> 
> maybe the wording wasn't so good. what i meant was, if you pull at
> what end of the dialog, what should remain fixed and what is being
> resized? e.g., with plots to the right and code at the bottom, i
> would like to be able to resize the plot when pulling on the right
> side or top, and only the code preview when i pull the left side or
> bottom.

I see. Not sure it can be done, though, or within reasonable effort.
What is easy enough is to make sure the preview area(s), not the dialog
area, will get any additional space by default (until you start
resizing with the splitter). I guess that's what you want most of the
time, too.

> some more sketches -- here's code below with buttons as icons on top:
>  http://reaktanz.de/stuff/R/RKWard_previews_remix3.png
> similar, but with "submit"/"cancel" below:
>  http://reaktanz.de/stuff/R/RKWard_previews_remix4.png
> personally, i'd still prefer the top variant, because the buttons
> always remain in position, independently of any preview/resize
> action. how do you feel about this?

Will have to give it some time in my head. As a first reaction, I don't
think I like the buttons at the top (too unusual; I want to use the
buttons _after_ dealing with the UI, too), and esp. not splitting the
buttons to two places. Moving the buttons to the outside, again (i.e.
to the right or bottom of any preview areas), seems like a good idea,
though.

> you might have noticed i've left out the preview checkboxes. they
> seemed redundant to me when previews are active, so why not replace
> them with toggle buttons like this (code is collapsed now)?
>  http://reaktanz.de/stuff/R/RKWard_previews_remix5.png
> this could be the dialog when it's opened without active previews:
>  http://reaktanz.de/stuff/R/RKWard_previews_remix6.png
> similar, but with "submit"/"cancel" icons on top:
>  http://reaktanz.de/stuff/R/RKWard_previews_remix7.png

Hm, nice idea, but the interesting case is: Code preview is active,
Plot preview is not. Won't that be a bit confusing?

(Also note, that the code preview will probably also get the
menu-button, I think. Having direct access esp. to Run selection, might
come in handy at times.)

> there's a lot of variance in alignment, and icon sizes are a bit too
> much, i guess. but you get the idea, pick one if you like it ;-) 

Again, let's give it some more time. Also, I'd like to hear Jan's
opinion on this.

Regards
Thomas
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