[Qgis-developer] Better options dialogs

[Larry Shaffer]

Hi,

I've been working on reducing overall clutter and excess space, and
trying to increase efficiency and extensibility, with options dialogs.

Problems with current option dialogs' parent QTabWidget approach:

* Tab widget uses unnecessary vertical space (bad for small screens).
* Tab widget limits the use of reasonably needed tabs for option
sections (avoiding tabs-within-tabs unfortunately trumps useability).
* Horizontal parent tabs limit how many option sections can be offered
(already too wide, without text truncation, on Mac).
* Horizontal parent tabs dictate the width of the dialog, causing form
layout elements to optically stretch too far apart.


Possible solution: Move 'tabs' to simple list widget on left side of a
splitter and have option sections loaded on right.

I have done mockups for the app and vector layer options [0], which
show the following advantages:

* Vertical height is maximized without sacrificing layout of option
section form elements (good for smaller screens).
* Number of option sections is not graphically limited.
* Number of option sections no longer dictates width of option section
forms (forms look much better).
* List item widget can have its splitter section collapsed to a set
size to show only icons for sections.
* Consistent look across platforms, with larger icons for sections.
* More current 'look' for v 2.0 without too much work.

Other than making the dialogs clearer and less cluttered IMHO, the
full useability of the dialogs at smaller sizes helps the user see
more map canvas when testing options with Apply.

Any comments or suggestions?

[0] https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yy0j3mmg4l4kw7x/Ar_S-eYqCv/qgis/options-dlgs?lst

Regards,

Larry