[Qgis-developer] Better options dialogs

Sun Jan 13 23:31:17 PST 2013

Hi

On Sun, Jan 13, 2013 at 11:47 PM, Larry Shaffer <larrys at dakotacarto.com> wrote:
> 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:

I like the changes - it would be nice to be a little less generous
with the horizontal space given to the left panel (on my ubuntu system
there is quite a lot of 'dead' white space between the item labels and
the splitter bar).

I was toying wiht app font size - if we set it to 9pt by default, the
settings panels all work a lot better for me under gnome shell 3.6.

>
>
> * Project options
> * Vector and Raster layer properties
>

+1 from me!

Regards

Tim

> 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
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> _______________________________________________
>> >>> Qgis-developer mailing list
>> >>> Qgis-developer at lists.osgeo.org
>> >>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-developer
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> Qgis-developer mailing list
>> >> Qgis-developer at lists.osgeo.org
>> >> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-developer
>> >>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Qgis-developer mailing list
> Qgis-developer at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-developer
>

--
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
==============================================