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Subject: Re: [geda-user] Pin Type Dialog
From: Edward Hennessy <ehennes AT sbcglobal DOT net>
In-Reply-To: <lrud3r$1ct$1@ger.gmane.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2014 09:08:42 -0700
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On Aug 6, 2014, at 4:18 PM, Kai-Martin Knaak <knaak AT iqo DOT uni-hannover DOT de> wrote:

> Edward Hennessy wrote:
>> What should the behavior be? (e.g. Shift return inserts a newline
>> into the text; Return applies the content to the schematic.)
> 
> If instant apply is no option, then this would be my preferred mode. You 
> may add a tool tip somewhere at the bottom of the dialog. Or even better: 
> a button that brings up a concise help page. There may be more hidden 
> features and tricks.

Ok, I'll add these to the list.

>> I'm all for docking these windows into the main window, but we would
>> need to pull in another external dependency. If we limit it to two
>> panes, we might be able to get by with a GtkPaned.
> 
> In my humble opinion, the number or size of dependencies is not 
> necessarily the relevant metric. It is their quality in terms of 
> portability, availability and dependability. A lib that is used by many 
> major cross OS projects will most likely pose no additional load to geda 
> users and maintainers. By contrast, lib that lacks such a large user base 
> may be problematic. Unfortunately, this is the case with guile2. It does 
> not readily crosscompile. So it currently represents a road block to the 
> release of an up-to-date windows version of geda/gaf.  

I agree. 

>> If we can reach an agreement on adding the external dependency that
>> contains this functionality, I can make the dialogs work with it.
> 
> Looking at the dependencies of glabels, I guess, that in this case  
> libgtk3 does the trick. However, gtk3 is not in the list of packages that 
> the cross compile environment mxe supports out of the box. 
> 	http://mxe.cc/#packages 
> Since one of my projects is to host a windows installer of the geda suite, 
> I'd be grateful, if additional dependencies were picked from this list. 

I'll look into this more, later.

>>> * the "Edit_Text_Properties", the "Edit_Line_Width&Type", the
>>> "Colour_Edit" and the "Edit_Fill_Type" dialog should be merged into a
>>> generalized properties dialog.
>> 
>> The last three have been merged and checked into source control.
> 
> So a git pull of the current git head would already give me this  
> improvement?

Yes. I've got the following items done, so far:

- Line, fill and color dialogs are merged, non-modal and instant-apply.
- Text properties is non-modal and instant-apply.
- Snap size is non-modal and instant apply.
- Grid mode and snap mode have been added to the snap size dialog and instant-apply.

>> The text properties is still a separate dialog with a text view to
>> edit the content of the text. With in place text editing, it seems
>> logical to move it to the general properties dialog. My opinion is
>> to leave it separate until the in-place editing is available.
> 
> Fair enough.
> There still may be a way to improve the user experience. Currently, free 
> text and attributes behave differently on "EE". When issued on free text, 
> the "Edit_Text_Properties" dialog pops up and allows me to manipulate 
> color, size and alignment. The same command on an attribute pops the 
> "Single_attribute_editor", which just deals with the text string and 
> visibility. If I want to edit color, size and alignment, I have to type 
> "EX". 
> I see students get mildly frustrated by this difference.

I'll add fixing this issue to my list.

Color, size, rotation and alignment widgets to either the edit attributes
dialog or the general properties dialog. Which one? (Or both?)

Cheers,
Ed