[Qgis-developer] Better options dialogs

Larry Shaffer larrys at dakotacarto.com
Mon Jan 14 02:32:39 PST 2013


Hi Tim,

On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 12:31 AM, Tim Sutton <lists at linfiniti.com> wrote:

> Hi
>
> On Sun, Jan 13, 2013 at 11:47 PM, Larry Shaffer <larrys at dakotacarto.com>
> wrote:
> > Hi,
> --- 8<--- snip
> >
> > 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 have fixed that with a workaround. It's actually a funky problem that
starts with QtDesigner. If you open up qgsoptionsbase.ui (current one), you
will see the same excessive width on the left pane. However, there is no
way to resize or define splitter widths in QtDesigner in the layout
workspace. What defines the splitter widths is the 'default' width of
items, though there is no way to set those without setting some static
width (like 150 max for the left pane's list widget), then close/reopen the
.ui file.

I have left the list widget at 150 so there is room to design in
QtDesigner; and, that becomes the default width for the Options dialog when
the splitter state has not yet been saved. Once splitter state is saved, it
is ignored.

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.
>

Hmmm. Not so legible on Mac. :^)  Be good to establish reason baseline
sizes for most platforms and default the app's stylesheet to those.
http://drive.dakotacarto.com/qgis/new-options_font-9px.png

On a related note, today I reorganized the Options dialog:
https://github.com/dakcarto/Quantum-GIS/tree/options_re-org_1

Slideshow of screen snaps (little taller dialog height, to show layouts in
scroll areas):
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l08y5xyxm20q5ev/aOLAIuoSVV

Appreciate feedback on the choices, and any suggestions. This is the only
options dialog that I think really needs some reorganizing kindness before
2.0. Once there is an advanced settings editor, it could reside on a last
page of the dialog, or maybe be a separate menu item under the Settings
menu.

I'm not sure that the property editor format is good for general/new users.
I think general users need clean, graphically clear and grouped options
(which is what I have tried to do in that feature branch). Definitely handy
for power users and devs, though.

Regards,

Larry



> >
> >
> > * 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
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> _______________________________________________
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> >> >> Qgis-developer at lists.osgeo.org
> >> >> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-developer
> >> >>
> >
> >
> >
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> Tim Sutton - QGIS Project Steering Committee Member (Release  Manager)
> ==============================================
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