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World: r3wp

[!RebGUI] A lightweight alternative to VID

Graham
26-Dec-2007
[7197x2]
great stuff.
are we replacing the tab, or the panel?   Just a naming question 
...
Pekr
26-Dec-2007
[7199x3]
man, RebDOC looks so cool! It reminds me of word browser but has 
already wider capabilities ...
one things regarding various widgets. Are we sure widgets should 
"remember" their state? I mean especially tabs/areas. When I click 
item in left part of rebdoc, it displays its content/description 
in the right part (area), but scroller remembers previous state. 
Is there possibility to reset the scroller?
could support scroller too ...
Reichart
26-Dec-2007
[7202]
Should be both, no?  Has the ability to remember, but defaults to 
what most people expect, with the ability to override.
Graham
26-Dec-2007
[7203x2]
Should have a way to reset the scroller.
Altme has the same problem ..  you set the scroller to a point in 
one channel, move to another, and then switch back to the first. 
 The scroller has altered to the bottom.
Reichart
26-Dec-2007
[7205]
Exactly.  There is also the concept of having widgets remember from 
session to session.  We are working on this for tabs in Qtask (we 
already do some of it).  

Each person wants something different, so we focus on it first doing 
what you expect it to do.


I have an idea for something that could be really cool, or really 
suck.  The good news is it is completely passive, so it won't annoy 
anyone.  The concept is this:


A magic mode you can jump into on any application or service (ASP).


In this mode, everything does NOT behave as expected, but rather 
become more abstract and detached.  So if you click on a button, 
for example the [Send] button here in AltME, a menu pops up:

---------------
Send
What is this?
Options
Rename
Translate
Shortcut key(s)
---------------

For each of these


Send - simply does what ever the button is actually meant to do (in 
this case "Send"

What is this? - Jumps to help, and has a bi-directional unique ID.

Options - Things you can set about the behavior of this button, for 
example, with "Send", you might want to know about the multi-line 
feature.
Rename - Rename this button in the current language.

Translate - Change or give this a name in another language (superset 
of Rename)

Shortcut key(s) - Se the shortcut for this, and also see all the 
others so there are no conflicts.  Allows for mode hierarchy of keys.



Would be really cool to make this a framework of its own, so that 
it is automatic.
Graham
26-Dec-2007
[7206x3]
less choice is better
well, that is supposed to be mantra of guis
Maybe toggle into some type of expert mode and noobie mode
Reichart
26-Dec-2007
[7209]
There is no "expert" mode though... I'm thinking of this as already 
some "mode" that almost all people will never see or know about.
So I guess you could think of it that way.


It is simply this "super cool" feature that magically is available.
Graham
26-Dec-2007
[7210x3]
hold down the F1 key and click on a button
Ashley, how does one iterate thru all the widgets of a scroll-panel?

this doesn't work ...

foreach widget sp/pane [ print widget/type ] 

just gives me 'face
ahh... seems to be sp/panel/pane
Ashley
26-Dec-2007
[7213]
are we replacing the tab, or the panel?

 We're replacing the panel, which in this context is refereed to as 
 a tab. Same logic applies to the 'select-tab accessor.

Are we sure widgets should 

remember" their state?" ... with regards to the RHS of the display; 
it can be argued either way. If I want to look at the usage text 
of each widget then it's nice to be able to scroll to the bottom 
and then remember this state as I click on each new widget ... but 
then again, if I want to "start afresh" with each entry it'd be nice 
if the scroller reset. As discussed, I'll add this as an option.


re: Magic modes. In one of my apps I had "programmable" buttons that 
you could right-click to bring up a menu of what the button should 
say (it's text) and what it should do (it's functionality). Only 
a small number of these buttons existed and they were colored differently. 
This one simple feature saved a lot of screen real-estate, was easy 
to explain to end-users; and most importantly, was the "killer" feature 
for those using the app.
Reichart
26-Dec-2007
[7214]
Ashley...again...exactly.


I hate always agreeing with you...for one thing it is out of character 
for me, and second it sends the wrong message to others : )
Luis
26-Dec-2007
[7215x2]
Ashley, I would like to know how can I change the selected-unselect 
colors of tabs.
I wish tabs as:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vertical_tabs_sample.png 
or at least:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/tabs.html
The current tab is connected to the content area, just as it would 
be if we were shuffling several physical index cards that had tabs 
stuck to them. This emphasizes which panel is being shown, and also 
helps tell users which tab is selected when there are only 2 tabs. 
Having the same color for the selected tab and the panel area reinforces 
the connection between the two and is a reason to support the use 
of reverse highlighting. 
Robert
27-Dec-2007
[7217]
Reichart, you know, we all know your real soul already. So don't 
be afraid ;-)
Pekr
27-Dec-2007
[7218]
Reichart - there is nothing special to agree with here. It is just 
right. In fact when I requested ability to reset the position, I 
also had in mind that current behavior should stay too. On a related 
note :-) http://advice.cio.com/uisins
amacleod
27-Dec-2007
[7219]
Luis, I agree. It just dos not look "right". I uses cyphre's tab 
panel for a few projects and it just has a slicker look to it.
Pekr
27-Dec-2007
[7220x2]
Try to set rounding to 0 in ui-config part. It looks much better 
...
http://www.xidys.com/rebol-screenshots/rebgui-config.jpg
amacleod
27-Dec-2007
[7222]
Thanks Pekr, but it still looks un-refined to me.
Reichart
27-Dec-2007
[7223]
I was agreeding with more than just the "state" issue, but all the 
philosphy about branching RebUI as well.
Ashley
27-Dec-2007
[7224]
OK, a couple of items of business first.


New logo - I like the new logo Reichart proposed (including the X-Internet 
text) and given I've heard nothing to the contrary I'd ask Reichart 
to prepare a few different color samples and we can vote for the 
one we like best ... and then I'll choose the one I like best anyway. 
;)


UI Look - The RebGUI look is too Windozy and is starting to show 
its age. I've decided to try for a simpler, whiter web look with 
fewer colors (I experimented with a B&W look but that's too harsh). 
My first thoughts are, with Reichart's permission, to revisit Quilt 
and mimic its look; but if someone has a link to an extensive set 
of online widgets (with a unified look) that they feel is appropriate 
then post away.


Radio-group - And now a minor implementation question (mostly for 
Graham I suspect). After looking at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040927.html
I note their comments in point 9:


Always offer a default selection for radio button lists. By definition, 
radio buttons always have exactly one option selected, and you therefore 
shouldn't display them without a default selection. (Checkboxes, 
in contrast, often default to having none of the options selected.)

If 
users might need to refrain from making a selection, you should provide 
a radio button for this choice, such as one labeled 

None." Offering users an explicit, neutral option to click is better 
than requiring the implicit act of not selecting from the list, especially 
because doing the latter violates the rule of always having exactly 
one option chosen."


Is it time to disallow null radio-group selections? (at present radio-group 
allows a 0 or none! selection)
Graham
27-Dec-2007
[7225x5]
I don't like defaults because you don't know if the user made that 
selection, or forgot to make one.
So, I have a male female radio button - I flag an error if a choice 
isn't made ... but it's so easy for users to make the choice and 
accept the default which may be inappropriate.
users to forget to make the choice and accept the default
So, forinstance, take the windows xp installation, there is no default 
for accepting or declining the MS license.
You have to make an active choice
Ashley
27-Dec-2007
[7230]
This sounds similar to the way I implemented check-box; a tri-state 
widget (unselected, tick and cross mapping to none!, true and false) 
... which also raises the question whether it's time for check-box 
to go bi-state (unselected and selected mapping to false and true).
Graham
27-Dec-2007
[7231x4]
I don't see a need for tristate
although I do use it :)
But I'm happy for it to go.
perhaps an option to use a X or a tick though ... for true
Reichart
27-Dec-2007
[7235]
I will prep up some logos, and a few alternative treatments.


You can actually simply take anything you like from Quilt.  The art 
is not complete, let alone finished.  Meaning, I have to go clean 
everything up in the next 30 days.  The art is being designed to 
allow several concepts:

-	Faster rendering through HTML.

-	Ability to change the colour theme with nothing more than a few 
simple CSS changes (o art changes).


For example, the Search icon is really a white magnifying glass, 
with a Knock out (alpha channel).  This way, the Search input and 
button are nothing more than a table with a cell with a green outline, 
and a box that is solid green.  Add the small image and presto, custom 
widget.  One can simply change the colour for a new look.
Robert
28-Dec-2007
[7236x3]
radio-group: Ashley, take a look at my version. It has a default 
option.
Icons: At least for icons you can take a look at www.istockphoto.com. 
I use this services to get high-quality pictures for presentations 
etc. There are a lot of artists doing icon-sets etc.
Costs are $1 or $2 for a download.
Ashley
28-Dec-2007
[7239]
For good, free icons I go here: http://tango.freedesktop.org/Tango_Desktop_Project
Reichart
28-Dec-2007
[7240x2]
I use famfamfam.com for all the small icons.  Hard to beat them. 
 I tried sending him money, but he never responded.  The icons are 
free, but I wanted to give him a gift.
www.famfamfam.com
Geomol
28-Dec-2007
[7242]
Reichart, I see a "Make A Donation" button near the bottom of http://www.famfamfam.com/lab/icons/silk/
Did you try that?
Reichart
28-Dec-2007
[7243]
That is recent...(and good to hear from you)
Geomol
28-Dec-2007
[7244]
Good to see you're back here too. I had about the most busiest months 
in my life with studies and work. It's not healthy to be so busy. 
"More REBOL programming" should be my new year wish (or promise) 
no. 1. :)
Brock
28-Dec-2007
[7245]
I'll second Reichart's words.  Nice to see some of the newer big 
names in Rebol appear here again.  Maybe we'll see some of the original 
big names come back when R3 is made public.
Graham
30-Dec-2007
[7246]
Can get-values be made to work on the contents of a scroll-panel?