Re: 1.2 theme properties / 2.0 default theme

[Christopher Blizzard <blizzard redhat com>]

Owen Taylor wrote:

> I spent some time over the last few days working on an
> look improvements for GTK+-1.2 for a couple of reasons:
>
>  - To have a nicer looking look for GTK+-1.2
>  - To start working on ideas for GTK+-2.0's default theme
>    in practice.
>
> Creating a theme for this new look involved adding some simple
> properties-in-the-style capabilities to GtkStyle so that I could
> adjust geometry parameters such as width-of-scrollbar.
>
> This was done by adding to functions to gtkstyle.h:
>
>  void gtk_style_set_prop_experimental (GtkStyle    *style,
> 	 			       const gchar *name,
> 				       gint         value);
>  gint gtk_style_get_prop_experimental (GtkStyle    *style,
> 				       const gchar *name,
> 				       gint         default_value);
>
> These are essential a extremely dumbed down version of a facility
> we'll have in GTK+-2.0 to have properties associated with
> a particular GtkStyle that you can set from an RC file.
>
>
> Attached is a patch (also found at:
>
>  http://www.gtk.org/~otaylor/gtk/2.0/ui/gtk+-1.2.8-theme.patch)
>
> that implements the above functions and makes a number of
> geometry parameters adjustable.
>
> Please note that the new API that this patch introduces is
> experimental - note the names; it will not be in GTK+-2.0. 
>
>
> A new theme that uses the patch is at:
>
>  http://www.gtk.org/~otaylor/gtk/2.0/ui/raleigh.tar.gz
>
> The differences from the standard GTK+ look can be summarized
> as briefly:
>
>  - Complete elimation of Motif-style raised arrows
>  - MS Windows style check and radio buttons
>  - Wider scrollbars with shallower relief
>
> I think it is in general a big improvement, though there are
> still definitely things I want to tweak further.
>
>
> I don't know if this is the direction we want to go for the GTK+-2.0
> default theme or if we want to go with something more radical.
> Some mockups that came out of a discussion on this subject are at:
>
>  http://www.gtk.org/~otaylor/gtk/2.0/ui/
>
> I'm fairly partial to the look of Garrett's mockup (which basically
> became his Premier theme). But it has at least one major useability
> issue - you can't tell whether widgets are focused or not.

I like the scrollbars in Garret's Markup.  I don't like the beveling to 
show focus around the button, though.  I think that it takes up a lot of 
unnecessary vertical and horizontal space.

I also really like the radio buttons and checkboxes from the mockup 
labeled "Proposed" and the arrows in the spin buttons from the mockup 
labeled "Proposed #2."  In each case I think that the UI elements are 
clear and easy to hit with the mouse.

I don't really like the shaded radio buttons or checkboxes in arlo's 
mockup.  The shading makes it harder for the eye to see what is selected 
and what isn't.

When you say that it has a usability issue are you saying that there's 
no way to tell if the scrollbars have focus?

In any case, I'm really happy that you're thinking about changing this 
for something in the 1.2 release cycle.  It will make a big difference 
in people's first impressions of gtk.

--Chris