[Qgis-developer] Better options dialogs
Tim Sutton
lists at linfiniti.com
Mon Jan 14 04:44:18 PST 2013
Hi
On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 12:32 PM, Larry Shaffer <larrys at dakotacarto.com> wrote:
> 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
>
Yeah maybe having per platform defaults would be good.
> 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
>
Looks great!
> 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.
>
Or maybe have them folded away at the bottom of each options tab so
they maintain the context of the tab.
> 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.
>
Agreed, you are right property lists are probably not as user friendly.
Regards
Tim
> 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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>> >> >> 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
>> ==============================================
>
>
--
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
==============================================
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