[Qgis-developer] Better options dialogs

Sun Jan 13 13:47:02 PST 2013

Hi,

On Sun, Jan 6, 2013 at 3:44 AM, Larry Shaffer <larrys at dakotacarto.com>wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Sorry for top-posting. I switched the main Options dialog over to
> vertical tabs. Couple of features:
>
> * Long labels should wrap, but may not look great at 3 lines. Seems to
> be a bit of an issue when using a custom font, where the wrapping
> doesn't work quite the same as with the Qt default font.
>
> * The splitter state is saved, so once a user gets the tabs the way
> they like, it should stay like that
>
> * There is an icon-only mode when the splitter is moved all the way to
> the left. The vertical scrollbar is then always shown, hiding the
> beginning of the tab's text. Please let me know if it doesn't end up
> looking like [0] on your platform.
>
> Note: I did not clean up the settings yet, just added the vertical tabs.
>

So it's been about a week, does anyone have issues/comments/suggestions
with how the new vertical tabs are working in the Options dialog? If not,
I'll go forward with changing the following to vertical tabs as well:

* Project options
* Vector and Raster layer properties

Note: icon-only mode should now only show the vertical scrollbar when
needed, auto-resizing the splitter to accommodate it.

Regards,

Larry

> Currently, the dialog is a little slow to open. This is due (I
> believe) to the custom font combobox population, and the new
> QProcess::systemEnvironment() call to populate the current environment
> variables table. I'll work on fixing those.
>
> [0] http://drive.dakotacarto.com/qgis/options-dialog_icon-only.png
>
> Regards,
>
> Larry
>
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 10:47 AM, Larry Shaffer <larrys at dakotacarto.com>
> wrote:
> > Hi Matthias and Nathan,
> >
> > I was just about to bring this topic back up myself. :^) Yes, I can
> > work on this next (probably this weekend). I'll start with the main
> > app options dialog, cause it's the simplest.
> >
> > Option dialog candidates to switch to vertical tabs (for
> > useability/consistency):
> > * App options
> > * Project options
> > * Vector and Raster layer properties
> >
> >
> > Matthias, do you think the new diagram options setup can be moved to
> > horizontal tabs, instead of a toolbox, once there are vertical tabs
> > for the vector dialog?
> >
> >
> > Nathan,
> >> ...  If you need some help I can lend a hand.
> >
> > Remember that little custom toolbutton widget we chatted about for
> > data defined option overrides? (to the right of labeling options in
> > redesign [0]) I think you mentioned some kind of abstracted data
> > binding class that widgets like that could use or inherit. Such a
> > class, that worked with the new vector API, would be very handy and
> > greatly help with the labeling dialog redesign (and elsewhere). Do you
> > have some time to work on that?
> >
> > See http://irclogs.geoapt.com/qgis/%23qgis.2012-11-26.log starting at
> (14:44:28)
> >
> > [0] http://drive.dakotacarto.com/qgis/labeling-redesign.png
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Larry
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 7:12 AM, Nathan Woodrow <madmanwoo at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> Larry,
> >>
> >> If you do have time for this I too would really like to see this added.
> The
> >> tabs situation is becoming a mess and is only going to get worse as we
> move
> >> forward.  If you need some help I can lend a hand.
> >>
> >> - Nathan
> >>
> >>
> >> On Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 5:51 PM, Matthias Kuhn <matthias.kuhn at gmx.ch>
> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Hi Larry,
> >>>
> >>> What is the status of the vertical tabs? Do you still have a branch
> with
> >>> them ready?
> >>>
> >>> I noticed, that the new labelling dialog in the vector layer settings
> has
> >>> two columns of tabs, which look a bit uncommon, and I'd see vertical
> tabs as
> >>> a good replacement for either the first or the second level of tabs in
> this
> >>> dialog.
> >>>
> >>> Cheers,
> >>>
> >>> Matthias
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On 09/05/2012 09:10 PM, Larry Shaffer wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> 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
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> Qgis-developer mailing list
> >>>> Qgis-developer at lists.osgeo.org
> >>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-developer
> >>>
> >>>
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> >>
> >>
> >>
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