[Qgis-developer] Better options dialogs

Fri Sep 7 07:12:06 PDT 2012

Hi

On Fri, Sep 7, 2012 at 1:09 PM, Andreas Neumann <a.neumann at carto.net> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Probably, some day in the future, it would be great if we can have a search
> function. Users could search for a function, menu entry, setting/option or
> maybe even plugins from the central repository that hadn't been installed in
> the system.
>
> As more and more options appear it is hard to find them, but usually one
> knows what to search for (e.g. merge shapes or snap options) - of course
> such a search function would have to be a bit "tolerant".
>
> The idea is a bit similar to the HUD of the new Ubuntu unity version, see
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Unity/HUD
>
> Maybe something for next Google summer of code?
>
> Just an idea for the medium to long-term future.
>

Yes wonderful idea - and again something we can realise by building
our own configuration management gui and backend classes.

Regards

Tim

> Andreas
>
>
> On Fri, 7 Sep 2012 12:30:48 +0200, Tim Sutton wrote:
>>
>> Hi
>>
>> +1 from me to go back to the left if you can manage the issues as
>> mentioned by Alex. On a more general note, we need to make an effort
>> to compartmentalise advanced options away from simple ones and I would
>> really like to see a new QgsPropertyList widget which behaves
>> similarly to QtDesigners property lists, especially for places where
>> we have reams of options. If we implement QgsPropertyList it should
>> make these kind of refactorings 'DRY*' in the future.
>>
>> * DRY == dont repeat yourself
>>
>> Tim
>>
>> On Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 2:47 PM, Etienne Tourigny
>> <etourigny.dev at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Larry.
>>>
>>> I think it's a great improvement. In addition, I wonder if it would
>>> make sense to have the text below the icons (perhaps as an option), in
>>> order to save some horizontal space.
>>>
>>> Have you tried that?
>>>
>>> Etienne
>>>
>>> On Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 6:36 AM, Larry Shaffer <larrys at dakotacarto.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi Alexander,
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 1:02 AM, Alexander Bruy
>>>> <alexander.bruy at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi Larry,
>>>>>
>>>>> as already was mentioned in this thread similar design of options
>>>>> dialog
>>>>> was used several versions ago but then we switched to tabs. List widget
>>>>> only with icons IMHO not user friendly, especially for newcomers.
>>>>>
>>>>> If icons will be with captions we again come to initial problem for
>>>>> translators:
>>>>> translating some text when listbox is used is a real pain in some
>>>>> languages.
>>>>> I think Jean-Roc Morreale can explain all problems for translators
>>>>> better.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for the input. Might you be referring to
>>>> http://hub.qgis.org/issues/2202 ?
>>>>
>>>> My proposed layout does not have that issue. The one for 1.6 used
>>>> large icons with text that was center-justified and wrapped
>>>> underneath, but had no means of increasing the overall width of the
>>>> widget by the user. It appears the larger icons were to aid in that
>>>> problem, but weren't enough for longer translations.
>>>>
>>>> In my layout, the use of a splitter, whose state can easily be saved
>>>> to QSettings, allows for the width of the list widget to customized
>>>> (and stay that way) for users of different locales. I have 3 more
>>>> mockups to illustrate this [0]:
>>>>
>>>> app-options_nowrap.png - Shows how the splitter can be moved to view
>>>> the whole option set label (note French substitution for Map Tools).
>>>> Expanding the left column like this, while possible, uses more
>>>> horizontal space than necessary. Horizontal scroll bar is still
>>>> available.
>>>>
>>>> app-options_wrap.png - Shows the QListWidget's word wrap helping save
>>>> some horizontal space. This is with 32x32 icons, which I would
>>>> consider the largest for desktop (as with QGIS tool bars). Even larger
>>>> icons could be user-/config-set for touch screens.
>>>>
>>>> Given the improved layout over v. 1.6's, I foresee no issues for
>>>> translators.
>>>>
>>>>> ... List widget
>>>>> only with icons IMHO not user friendly, especially for newcomers.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> app-options_tooltip.png - Shows the collapsed splitter, with only
>>>> icons and tool tips. This is an optional user-adjusted (or possibly
>>>> button-enacted) view where the list widget's minimum width is set to
>>>> the width of the chosen icon size + some padding (with scroll bar
>>>> taken into account, if shown). This is not a default, which would not
>>>> be so nice for new users, as you noted. However, also note that with
>>>> this icon-only, space-saving view a user is not being presented with
>>>> anything less user-friendly than the many tool bar icons in the main
>>>> interface, which do not have any labels at all, only tool tips.
>>>>
>>>> [0]
>>>> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058089/qgis/options-dlgs/app-options_nowrap.png
>>>>
>>>> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058089/qgis/options-dlgs/app-options_wrap.png
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4058089/qgis/options-dlgs/app-options_tooltip.png
>>>>
>>>> Larry
>>>>
>>>>> 2012/9/5 Larry Shaffer <larrys at dakotacarto.com>:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 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:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Alexander Bruy
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Tim Sutton - QGIS Project Steering Committee Member (Release  Manager)
>> ==============================================
>> Please do not email me off-list with technical
>> support questions. Using the lists will gain
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>
>
> --
> --
> Andreas Neumann
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-- 
Tim Sutton - QGIS Project Steering Committee Member (Release  Manager)
==============================================
Please do not email me off-list with technical
support questions. Using the lists will gain
more exposure for your issues and the knowledge
surrounding your issue will be shared with all.

Visit http://linfiniti.com to find out about:
 * QGIS programming and support services
 * Mapserver and PostGIS based hosting plans
 * FOSS Consulting Services
Skype: timlinux
Irc: timlinux on #qgis at freenode.net
==============================================