Re: [Usability] Mute in GNOME mixer applet does not have correct behavior

[Rodney Dawes <dobey novell com>]

On Sun, 2006-03-19 at 15:19 +0100, Jaap Haitsma wrote:
> Though IMHO it is better the current proposal. I see two possible minor
> bug reports that might be filed:

> 1. Volume is at 32% (low icon is displayed). User wants to set volume to
> zero (no audio is currently playing) by holding down volume down key on
> his keyboard. Result nothing seems to happen because the icon does not
> change

This is no different than if the volume were going from 32% to say 10%.
The icon would still be the same. We should not rely on an icon to show
the audio level. It is an approximation, not an actual representation.
When changing the volume with the keyboard as you suggest, the pop-up
should be getting displayed, and it should show a progress bar and label
with an exact representation of the volume, along with the icon.

> 2. A non gstreamer app mutes an audio card by setting the volume to
> zero. The applet will then still show the "low" icon which is a bit
> weird because the app just muted the audio.

Are we talking about the GNOME desktop release, or are we talking about
any random piece of software available?

> * My proposal (use "0" icon for volume = 0 and mute = off)
> 
> volume(x)       Icon
> ----------------------
> mute            mute
> 0               0
> 0 < x < 1/3     low
> 1/3 <= x < 2/3  med
> 2/3 <= x < 1    max

Please stop special-casing 0. It is not special. It is either MUTE or
LOW. Let's make it LOW if you don't want it to be MUTE.

> Bug 1 is this case will not be filed and the possibility that bug 2 is
> filed is also lower, because there is a visual clue that the volume
> equals zero.

As my example above states, your bug may still be filed for values above
0%. What happens for a volume level of 1%? The icons are not an exact
representation of the value of the volume level. They never have been.

> So at the cost of one extra icon the icons spec we probably prevent the
> filing of two bugs. So the "0" icon has a clear use. Can you explain me
> what the problem is of adding it to the spec?

The icon makes absolutely no sense. There's no reason to have a single
icon for 1/101 values, and 3 others for 33.33../100 values each. And by
your argument that a single ) is not representative of the 0% level, the
same can be said for no ), as on some cards, audio may still be emitted
at a 0% volume setting. Just stop special-casing 0 and use the low icon.

Also, what about the case where the mixer applet isn't on the panel? Do
you really think we should be relying solely on a tiny mixer applet on
the panel to show the user the volume state?

> Thanks
> 
> Jaap
> 
> BTW I am currently working on a patch such that the dialog that is shown
> when you press the keyboard shortcuts for volume up/down mute uses icons
> from the current theme. Probably it's best to wait until the new icon
> spec lands before commiting this. What is the current timeline for
> landing the icon spec in GNOME 2.15?

Very few people have branched. The icon theme already mostly follows the
spec, however, and has for a few months now.

-- dobey