general Dia usability [was RE: line width window (patch)]

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Wed, 2 Jul 2003, Krzysztof Foltman wrote:

> > This is against CVS right?
>
> Yes.
>
> >  When you say entirely broken does that mean
> > you have not compiled and tested it, or do you just mean that you are
> > unsure about the ideas and style?
>
> Of course, I did compile and test it (and it worked). However, all

often I am not so dilligent, i keep managing to foobar my machine with
unstable software.

> usability ideas are more or less a controversial subject, and I'm just
> learning Gtk+ so something could be done in a way that's not exactly
> correct.

> I'm not a HIG zealot - I just like usable programs :-) (usable as in at
> least "not making me click or press keys a lot").

me too.

> > the various types of arrow heads.  More of that kind of direct
> 'realistic'
> > manipulation of objects would be really nice to have in Dia from a
> > usability point of view.  Not that is particularly relevant, i just
> wanted
> > to share that with the list ;)
>
> I like it - however, how to avoid a hot spot mess in that situation ?

you would not restrict your self to a single spot, the active target area
would include the full arrowhead and at least a few pixels of the line
beside it.  I can see problems with lots of really tiny lines with arrows
on both ends but we can worry about this when it is not just pie in the
sky (or vapour).

> (but still pretty usable). Another dot (or other mark) in the middle,
> for line width+style selection popup, maybe ?

maybe

> Maybe a "proper" right-click context menu (win95-style) would be a bit
> of help too - it could include submenus like "line width" "line style"
> "arrow head 1" "arrow head 2" "predefined style" (predefined by user,
> not compiled in of course) etc. I'm not sure if it's not confusing for
> novice users, but it could make quick and dirty changes easier.

Context menus are okay but they should not be the only way of doing
something.  Dia is not as good as it should be with only a two button
mouse, and ideally it should be usable with just a single click mouse (or
a pen and a tablet interface).

> By the way, in all diagrams I made so far (not many of them) I used just
> a few elements. If it's a more common scenario, maybe it would make
> sense to make a fast way to do it (for example, single key shortcuts for
> the objects commonly used *by specific user* or even *in some specific
> task*).

The default keybindings will only use single key shortcuts for the
Toolbox.  Other keybindings will be Ctrl+ Letter possibly also
Ctlr+Shift+letter (and if we get really desperate we might eventually have
a few ctlr+alt+letter but hopefully it wont come to that).

My trial version of Adobe Illustrator timed out before I really got used
to it but having similar toolbox keybindings would be nice (or failing
that we should look to the GIMP and Sodipodi and try and work out
something consistant).

User specific shortcuts will be left to the users, by hovering over a menu
item and pressing a key you are able to set a new binding.  Unfortuntately
if we want to use Mneumonics we will probably have to have this off by
default and make users turn it on only while they are making changed to
the bindings.  The keypresses that happen while using mneumonics try
and replace existing keybindings which is why the Gimp 1.3 has them off by
default.

There are plenty of ways that Dia could be streamlined, and it is great to
have someone like you who can spare some time to work on Dia.  I wish I
did more, but the least I can do is encourage you and hopefully no one
will stand in the way of reasonable changes and improvements if you are
willing to make the effort of providing them.

Sincerely

Alan Horkan
http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/