|
|
Seeking an honest Object World Screen Mode Indicator
About Truespace Archives
These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
Seeking an honest Object World Screen Mode Indicator // Feature suggestions
Post by spacekdet // Aug 14, 2008, 1:50pm
|
spacekdet
Total Posts: 1360
|
Mode Indicator for O W S.
The icon that indicates what mode is active should always be visible...NOT hidden inside a flyout. (And tell it to stop lying to me!)
If a hotkey is pressed instead of using the icon, the icon display only/always shows whether Screen is toggled on or off.
Fine if that's what you want, but there are 4 more possibilities that you'll just have to guess at.
So what's the solution?
Create a couple new toolbars with all the icons visible, right?
First I made one in Model, using Model icons.
They come with default assigned hotkeys: QWE
Then I spread out the Workspace Obj/Wrl/Scr flyout into a new toolbar so that they too, were all visible.
The default hotkeys remain the same.
Now, here's were it all goes pear-shaped!
Start out in Model.
Hit the hotkey, the appropriate WS mode icon lights up (yet not the Model one!?), but you have to physically click the Model side icon to activate the mode.
The display is thus 'lying to you'...all the hotkey does is change the display in the WS icon but the function/mode isn't actually changed unless you press the Model side icons.
Thus, you need to have two sets of these icons:
One set of Model side ones that function, but don't display correctly.
One set of Workspace ones that reflect what hotkey you pressed but don't actually change the mode....unless you are in WS.
How and why they got their wires crossed I'll leave up to the experts.
I realize this baffling flaw will disappear when Model is cut away, and frankly, a little embarrassed that it made it through testing this far...but my original point remains that the mode indicator should always be visible as a default condition. Hiding them in a flyout is counterproductive to smooth workflow, and should be the option rather than the rule. |
Post by Jack Edwards // Aug 14, 2008, 2:37pm
|
Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
|
Why would workspace icons do anything in model side, or model side icons do anything in workspace side? Maybe I'm not understanding the problem... :confused: |
Post by Burnart // Aug 14, 2008, 2:45pm
|
Burnart
Total Posts: 839
|
Is this the problem of clicking on buttons versus using keyboard shortcuts in workspace? If you hit a keyboard shortcut it doesn't make the selected item visible. With things like world, object or screen coords this is a real problem for me - I need to be told what mode I'm in. There are a number of available shortcuts I simply don't use because they confuse things rather than make modelling in workspace easier. |
Post by spacekdet // Aug 14, 2008, 3:14pm
|
spacekdet
Total Posts: 1360
|
That's an excellent question, Jack!
Try it yourself.
Switch to Model
Select World Mode via Model side icon.
Create a cube.
Hit Move, then right click drag.
The cube moves up and down vertically.
Select Screen Mode via hotkey. (E)
The WS icon in the 'Global' toolbar changes to indicate that you have Screen Mode selected.
(Note that the Model side icon does not change.)
Now Move the cube again, with right click drag.
Uh, oh! ...it still moves up and down vertically, rather than towards or away from the view, like it should.
The (WS) icon indicates that you are in Screen Mode, but it's still behaving like it's in World Mode. It's lying!
Now press the Model side Screen Mode icon.
Again, Right Click drag to Move the cube.
Now, it works as it should.
See the problem now?
The Display of the WS 'Global' icons respond to hotkeys, but the Function in Model is still tied to Model side icons.
Neither the display nor the function of the Model side icons is responding to the hotkey. I have to actually press Wld/Scr/Obj in Model side to activate them.
Why is the display state of the 'Global' icon tied into both sides but the function is not? If it were truly Global why even have the Model side ones? |
Post by Jack Edwards // Aug 14, 2008, 3:28pm
|
Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
|
Interesting, I see your point. :o
I don't have TS open right now, but have you tested to see if this is dependent on which window is active?
@Burnart, I agree. The icons that are "state based" icons should indicate the current state whether activated by hotkey or clicking. |
Post by spacekdet // Aug 14, 2008, 4:01pm
|
spacekdet
Total Posts: 1360
|
Proper window selected, hotkeys double-checked.
Agreed. Succinctly put: "I need to be told what mode I'm in."
You'll only run into the glitch I described earlier in Model side, but the issue of 'hidden indicators' remains in WS.
A flyout would be fine, if the base icon changed to indicate which mode was selected. This would serve the purpose of a flyout - to save space- while also serving as an indicator of what state you were in.
Case in point...how many of us have dragged the Move/Rotate/Scale icons out of the default flyout configuration into a toolbar that is always visible when the hotkey is pressed? More than a few, I'd guess. You lose a little screen space but the workflow is so much better than hitting a flippin' flyout for such an extremely common task.
'Hidden indicators' are by nature self defeating.
We're 'old hands' at this...imagine how confusing this seems to a noob!
I've always felt the default, fresh out of the box state of tS could be a little more user friendly and idiot-proof. Take it from an idiot...I know! |
Post by Jack Edwards // Aug 14, 2008, 5:19pm
|
Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
|
Of interesting note this is true for all WS icon flyouts. If you change the tool via hot key it doesn't update to the showing icon on the flyout. It would be helpful to change that behaviour.
There's a lot of good ideas here Spacekdet that I think the devs should revisit. |
Post by Igor K Handel // Aug 16, 2008, 1:57am
|
Igor K Handel
Total Posts: 411
|
In the meantime heres the workaround for visual indicators workspace side
Have kept the origonals and just use these as quick visual indicators of various modes (plus return to default view and align view to selected)
Works ok.
IK |
Post by W!ZARD // Sep 1, 2008, 7:04pm
|
W!ZARD
Total Posts: 2603
|
Mode Indicator for O W S.
The icon that indicates what mode is active should always be visible...NOT hidden inside a flyout.
I've always used the object nav widget to tell me this. In screen mode it only shows two axes - in world mode the axis echo the world axis and in model mode they often don't.
I'm also usually aware of the mode I'm in from the behaviour of object translations. If there was a mode indicator I probably wouldn't use it though I can see how it would be a helpful addition. |
|
