[GRASS-user] Some suggestions

[Glynn Clements]

Michael Barton wrote:

> > I think that this is a crucial point.
> > There should definately a option to run all Grass sub-windows all in one
> > master windows.
> 
> An MDI hearkens back to Windows 95 and gets to be a real problem if you want
> to have multiple displays open.

I wouldn't suggest using MDI. Being able to [un]dock windows via wxAUI
is the way to go, IMHO.

IOW, whether a panel is its own window or part of another window
should be the user's decision. Forcing one or the other will be the
wrong solution for some proportion of users.

> > Maybe others like their screen cluttered but especially newbie for whom
> > the new GUI is a *real* improvement will get confused.
> > Don't forget that besides Grass users may also use a folder browser,
> > terminal and mail application at the same time. And now that Grass is
> > being ported to Windows don't forget that Windows doesn't have virtual
> > workspaces like Gnome, KDE, etc.!
> 
> The basic GRASS application design is a minimum of one display and one layer
> manager window. Every new instance (new display) adds only one more window
> because the single layer manager works for all displays
> 
> Each display needs layer management, which takes up a fixed amount of
> horizontal space (due to the width of layer names, on/off checkbox,
> icon/button to ID layer type and launch properties dialog). If you
> permanently attach a layer management window to each display, every display
> window must be that much larger (or the display area of the window that much
> smaller). You also waste additional vertical space in the layer manager area
> when the display is considerably higher than the layer manager needs to be.
> This is often the case unless you have a LOT of layers contributing to a
> single display.

If the user has a sufficiently large screen, this isn't a problem. 
Again, this should be the user's choice.

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn at gclements.plus.com>