Re: meld scrollbars

[Mark Doliner <mark kingant net>]

This is my attempt to reply this thread from Stephen Kennedy on February 15th:
http://mail.gnome.org/archives/meld-list/2009-February/msg00035.html
(I wasn't on the list at the time, so I'm faking the re: subject line)

I don't think I like having the margin drawing in the scrollbar
trough.  Yes it's kinda snazzy and neat.  But I think functionally
it's a bit harder to use, and to a new user it's probably more
difficult to figure out what's going on.

You asked:
> Does anybody use the other (non right hand side) scrollbars anyway?  I only use them when a large block has been deleted and want to look at the contents.

No.  Like you I only use the other scrollbars when a large block has
been deleted and want to look at the contents.  And in fact, I think
the other scrollbars are difficult to discover.  I've seen new meld
users not notice the other scrollbars and struggle to figure out how
to get the large deleted block to show up in the left pane.  (It
sounds like I've been doing creepy usability studies for meld, but I
haven't--we often use meld at work for doing code reviews, so we
introduce new employees to it).

I absolutely love the idea of a single scrollbar on the far right side
of the window which scrolls the the minimum amount at a constant
velocity.  If it's possible to implement this, I think it is the ideal
UI.

-Mark