Re: My (ongoing) analysis of the proposed modules

[Jeff Waugh <jdub perkypants org>]

<quote who="Noah Levitt">

> > The View menu is quite large, 
> 
> In cvs, I'm working on getting rid of the treeview with the character
> details, and the associated menu items, and providing that information in
> a textview in a separate tab.  Here is a *very preliminary* screenshot:
> 
> http://www.columbia.edu/~nlevitt/tmp/details_tab.png
> 
> I would really appreciate it if people could give me some feedback on
> whether you like this idea or not. I like it, it seems cleaner to me; but
> one person has already begged me not to do it. He likes having the details
> in the same view as that character table.

This looks great to me, but although I am a certifiable font weenie, I'm not
the best target audience for international font issues. Would it be worth
taking this to the usability/i18n lists? (Perhaps we can leave that until
the UI review process kicks in anyway.)

> > and offers duplicated functionality in some cases, as far as I can see.
> > The Zoom +/- items seem to just change the font size, which is pretty
> > well handled by the main interface. 
> 
> That's a convenience I put in because I'm sort of keyboard oriented, and I
> wanted it. I use it all the time (ctrl++ / ctrl+-), and almost never use
> the spin button. I don't want to take it out, but I'll respect the hig
> folks' decision if they choose to make one.

Yeah, this makes sense. Perhaps it would be better to use terminology that
within the problem domain: "Increase/Decrease font size"?

> > I seem to recall the equivalent of Zoom Mode in other character maps
> > being shown simply by holding down the mouse cursor on the character -
> > perhaps this is preferable to an option to switch to modal operation? 
> 
> Yeah, the right mouse button does the same thing. But keyboard only users
> need access to the functionality too. I personally prefer ctrl+enter over
> right mouse button.

Ah, I see. I guess I would prefer hold-left-and-pop-up and a keyboard
shortcut, rather than a mode. But that's just me More UI review stuff here.
:-)

> > Can "Snap Columns to the Power of Two" be implemented in a "Just Works"
> > fashion? 
> 
> Would you have it always snap to a power of two? I happen to like that it
> doesn't; to me, it's one of the things that makes gucharmap stand out when
> compared with other character map programs. It makes the window size and
> font size more flexible.

I guess I will ask the innocent user question: When would I need to do this,
and what does "to the power of two" mean?

- Jeff

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