Already needed : A “Commands Manager”…

[Clo]

The French Topic - L'article en Français —>

Hello All

• Trying to lighten the Pierre's tasks for the future languages text-files,
and to improve already the features of the programme,
I propose a Manager dialogue-box which could ease the customization of the settings :

——————


- Indeed, only for the extra-buttons of the tool bar now.
- However, it might be much handier than the current drop-down list¦s…

- On the model above, one can see that some descriptions are truncated, even almost missing.
- This is like they are displayed on that list, and I didn't patch them voluntarily to show the issue…
- Personally, I guess that the square brackets are useless with such a display…
- I drew also a few grid-lines, to get your opinions about this.
I'ld be rather in favour, because it's easier to spot all items for the row of a command.

• This box could be opened as a non-modal window -like we have now in Total Commander-
and is designed to satisfy the specific needs of XnView, naturally.

• As a first step, that box could be opened from a small button set beside the Command caption
(there is room enough) in the tool-bar Options page.

- From this, the radio-button “Tool-bar” should be automatically already enabled, of course.
- Also, the appropriate “Mode” button gets the focus.
- Then, when the command is chosen, the “OK” button should add the command in the Options and close the box.

• For later, the box being invoked via a special command (in a menu or so…), the user could choose which mode s¦he wishes
as allowed commands to be displayed.
- Also, tick the “Menus” radio-button and get a menu-bar-like (greyed out on the image). Of course, each menu shown should be the one of the mode chosen with a Mode button.
- The list of the normal plus possible commands for each pop-up of the clicked “Menu” should be displayed in the first column.

• Currently, there is a huge ? in the second column for the commands numbers.
- I could find them for the example, but unfortunately, some are changed along the versions,
and this is not desirable when using menus as text-files. The commands numbering must be absolutely stable !
- Since the menus in XnView are written using only a command-number, thus this number could be copied into the Clipboard
from a button, in order to use it elsewhere, i.e. while changing a menu in an editor.

• For the menus, this tool could be enhanced (edit¦change a menu directly), but it's soon too much to discuss this…

- What do you think ?

Kind regards,
Claude
Clo

[ouistiti]

Clo

I guess that a tool is already useful and shall be indispensable later, so I support that proposal !

- This is like they are displayed on that list, and I didn't patch them voluntarily to show the issue…

-This list is not handy, that's true, all is shown messy…

…The commands numbering must be absolutely stable ! …

- This is a basic criterion! Moreover, all commands must be known and listed in a text file i.e. «xnv_commands.inc», this allows to get translations for the comments directly, like in TC now !

Friendly

Paul

[Brother Gabriel-Marie]

Let me add a new post to let everyone know that this idea of the Commands manager simply is a MUST. Anybody who needs/likes/wants to customize their program can do it like nobody's business. I suggest you to take the trial of Total Commander and see how you can apply literally ANY command to ANY button! POWERFUL!

Of course, XnView will have to be made to work out the problem of the three view settings - like Mr. Claude's three Command lists.

So, there you have it, a fresh vote from an XnView lover and devotee.

-Brother Gabriel-Marie

[Clo]

Brother Gabriel-Marie

Dear Brother,

• Thank you to support that project (it's more than a suggestion, IMHO), it could be more largely discussed and improved.

• The mock-up is indeed quite incomplete for some reasons you know…
- It might include a section to customize the keyboard short cuts too, a leitmotiv which comes back often in that forum.
- Actually, that's the same problem :
¤ Buttons, menus and short cuts are the three spokes of the same “Internal Commands” wheel
and might be treated together¦jointly (see the Paul and I's avatars… )…

KR
Claude
Clo

[oops66]

...
- It might include a section to customize the keyboard short cuts too...
Clo

Hello,
It's a good idea to include a column for custom keyboard short cuts (and to reset :a button "XnView default hotkeys" setting) , I support this improvement too.

[Clo]

oops66

Hello !

• Thank you to support this important project !

• In fact, I plan to update the mock-up as a page with i.e. three tabs - instead of radio-buttons-,
so a page from a tab for the short cuts…

• I'll change the image and draw the complements a.s.a.p.… hoping I'll find time enough !

• An active list (like in the Options) should be nice too, it could bring more resources, especially for the menus…
… but need more pages then.

[oops66]

... I plan to update the mock-up as a page with i.e. three tabs - instead of radio-buttons-, ...

Good idea Clo, I prefer the tabs concept too.

[Clo]

All

Hello !

• I drew a new version of that project, the mock-ups are shown below :

    








• The design is not indeed perfect, it's just to show some ideas and get the users' feed-back…

• Of course, the Menus page is not relevant yet here, since it needs menus as text
(and it's only to find¦copy the commands easily, not as a menu editor which could be another step).

KR
Claude
Clo

[oops66]

Very good Clo,
Or maybe something likes in digikam ???

[Guest]

Hey, this all looks very promising. Clo, I wasn't thinking of anything so grand, however. If you look in the options for the customizing toolbars, you already have the menus for adding commands in the three different views. I think your new menus look a lot better, and would be more user friendly, but how hard would it be to just list the extra commands in the command chooser already built into XnView? Already you have to choose "browser" or "view", etc. to decide which commands are going to be added. I don't see anything more involving for a 1.95.1 (or 2) edition than adding the commands *already in the programming code* to the command listings.

[Clo]

Guest

Hello !

• Like you can see on the first approach in the start message above, the drop-down lists are a pain in the neck,
it's hard to find out and choose a command, some strings are truncated etc.

• In Total Commander - where the commands are organized differently - we got a Command Browser instead of an awful list,
that made all users happy !

• I designed this project as a base for an enhanced use later, since in theory we might get languages
(strings & menus) as text in XnView 2.0…

• Other GUI items could be customized from there, I planned a "Provision" for a few ones…

• The current buttons configuration box is not too bad, despite that some lacunaæ must be filled in…
Pierre has reports about this.
- Hence, I don't wish a merging of the configuration with the command choice, except maybe for the short-cuts,
since it needs all commands and doesn't exist at all till today…

• Currently, such a tool could start for the commands used by buttons, so the base should be done…
”Begun is half-ended“ (French proverb )

• An important - but simple- step is to get the commands as text-files, let's say *.INC,
one per view mode and one with the whole (short cuts).

KR
Claude
Clo

[Brother Gabriel-Marie]

Dear Clo,

This is all quite wonderful just to imagine! It seems like XnView has some competition from FastStone... but a command browser for XnView just might keep back the swelling. When could we expect to see this (God bless you) in the new version of XnView?
P.S. I was the "guest" who forgot to log in above.

[Brother Gabriel-Marie]

Um, is it possible to get an alpha version so I can help with testing and suggestions?

[Clo]

Brother Gabriel-Marie

Dear Brother,

• My apologies for the late answer, and thank you again for the support.

• Unfortunately, as long as we will not see any feed-back from the Author in that thread,
no hope to get any alpha-ß version of anything, all that it contains will remain a wishful thinking…

KR
Claude
Clo