Re: [Usability] Primary window decorated as a dialog in an utility application?

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Fri, 7 Apr 2006, [KOI8-R] áÒÔ£Í ðÏÐÏ× wrote:

> Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2006 11:16:36 +0700
> From: "[KOI8-R] áÒÔ£Í ðÏÐÏ×" <artfwo gmail com>
> To: usability gnome org
> Subject: [Usability] Primary window decorated as a dialog in an utility
>     application?
>
> Hi all,
>
> I just wanted to know if GUP people consider okay to decorate an
> application primary window as a dialog with some small utilities, like
> a calculator, a volume control, etc. as seen in gfloppy: it does not
> have a menu or statusbar, but has some dialog-like buttons in the
> bottom.

I definitely prefer if applications are scalable whenever possible.  If
there is a list or any kind of widget area big enough to require
scrollbars then it is good if you can expand the window and get a clearer
view of what is going on.  Some developers do not realise the importance
of designing an interface that reflows properly (admittedly it requires
more work to get the details right).  If you consider the accessibility
requirement to allow different font sizes in large themes then all
applications really need to scale properly.

There is a tendency to design small applications like dialogs to start
with.  The problem comes later as more features are gradually added and a
utility really needs to be redesigned as a proper application but
sometimes developers are slow to realise this necessity and get something
that is neither fish nor flesh, halfway between a dialog and an
application.

> This also raises another question: should such an app mimic the
> GtkDialog appearance (the separator, spacings, etc.) or not? If yes,
> than is it okay to use GtkDialog class directly (note, that GtkDialogs
> do not have a minimize button)? If not, then what spacings and
> decorations are considerer "standard"? I ask this, because it seems to
> me that most GNOME apps have non-HIG spacings in their dialogs (e. g.
> 6-px window border instead of the HIG-recommented value - 12)

Non HIG spacing sounds like a bug and if you could provide a patch it
would probably be accepted and fixed quickly.

> And finally, how "Help" and "About" info could be made available in
> such an app? I was thinking about a help button in the "action-area"
> and a "--about" command-line option like in Zenity.

Dialog style applications tend to have the help button the bottom left.

A command line argument for --about seems redundant when an application
should already have --version or --help for more detailed information.

> Thanks everyone for your answers. --Artem

If there is a specific application you have in mind perhaps we could give
better less generic advice.

Sincerely

Alan Horkan

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