First of all, thanks for your comments on the interaction side of things, your the first one to provide reasonable feed back in that regard.
I played around with it a bit...
First of all :
One thing that annoys the snot out of me ( or : i can't find how to do it .. ) is command retention.
schematic symbol editor : invoke command. lets say Draw Line. I click left mouse , click left mouse somwhere else ,click right mouse somewhere else to end operation.
To draw another line i need to reinvoke DL.
That should be changed to :
click RMB : terminate current drawing operation but retain current command. Only when you click it again (rmb) or hit <esc> do you fall out of the DL command.
to draw two lines :
DL
lmb -> rmb terminates current line
lmb -> rmb terminates current line
rmb : terminates dl since no line drawing is in effect
I got your point, looks reasonably easy to implement. There are two ways this feature may come into existence:
a) RMB resets the tool, so it's just like you started it, key presses will go to the tool.
b) RMB puts the tool into a "floating state", LMB will make the tool active again, but pressing a key will make the tool exit and start the requested tool.
In any case, ESC will exit the tool. Is that about what you're after?
Cosmetics : i want to adjust all colors of the UI. i am colorblind and some of the colors in use are VERY confusing. i also want a full size cursor ...
May take some time, but is certainly doable. Can you elaborate what you're envisioning by a full size cursor? A crosshair that extends to the edges?
Editing. when clicking a line the line highlights but i cannot move it unless i invoke a command... that's not good. you need to strive to have a UI that needs as few possible clicks/ keyboard hits ... if i grab a line i should be able ot move it. if i grab a line by an endpoint : i move that endpoint and attached lines rubberband. if i grab a line in the center : the line splits and a new joint is inserted. if i grab the line anywhere else : the line moves rubberbanding the endpoints.
Seems doable.
editing seems to be not possible on 'groups'. i selected a bunch of lines and changed width : only one line changed width ... until i clicked the checkbox. there is no need for the checkbox. simple apply immediately to the selection.
there is no 'cancle for edits...' i would expect if i hit <esc> it does not apply the changes.
I never liked property editors that display placeholder values when selecting multiple objects, that's why the property editor always displays a specific object with the possibility to propagate the value to the other objects. Maybe this can be turned into a setting.
Undo / redo ddbuttons ? we really need a small ribbon of buttons at the top ... just having keystrokes is .. meh ...
Help : it is not immediately obvious that the key sequence list is actually scrollable.. not until you hover over the edge of that window... that is bloody annoying. don't make too fancy UI's. this is not a webpage.
The hidden by default scrollbars are a Gtk thing. IMO it's a sane decision since it reduces visual clutter. You can get back the always-visible scroll bars by creating the environment Variable GTK_OVERLAY_SCROLLING and set it to 0.
Selection : there is no need for selection modifiers : select from top left to bottom right : only elements fully included. select from bottom right to top up : select 'touching' elements.
i would also like to see a select line command : instead of drawing a box : you draw a line. anyting that is touched by that line is selected.
I've always found the selection behaviour based on the direction of the box to be a bit counter-intuitive, but an "auto" selection qualifier should be possible. The "paint" selection tool (available from the selection menu at the bottom left corner) does select by line.
i would like to see a 'subtract' from selection just like holding down CTRL lets you 'add' to an existing selection i would want ALT to subtract from a selection ( or have a toggle operation. : when holding CTRL : if the item clicked is selected : deselect it from the group. )
I had that on my mind for some time, but couldn't motivate myself to actually implement it. Thanks for the nudge.
command reentry : i really want to see command re-entry. the ability to invoke an operation while doing another. i am in the middle of drawing a line and see something is in the way : i can invoke the move operation : select an object or group : move them end when ending the move i am back in the drawing operation at the last coordinate and can continue what i was doing.
I kinda expected to hear that from you
I'm afraid, but this feature is unlikely to come to life in the near future, since tools will then have to deal with the document being modified behind their back.
there is a rotate and mirror. i would like to see a flip around X and flip around Y operation.
Suggestions for shortcuts?
selection behavior is not consistent. if i try to grab a line using a 'box drawing' operation : i need to trap at least half of the line to include it. on a pin : the moment i touch it it grabs ...
By default, an object is selected as soon as its center (the diamond) is inside the selection box.
move operation : i would like ot be able to pick the 'origin' now it picks wherever the mouse is as origin. think like this : Move ( m) from here (LMB) to there (lmb)
What's the difference between these two? Currently, you specify the origin first, then start the tool. Both interactions allow for the same operations.
i do not like the way you build parts. you need to define the pins first in one editor, then enter another editor to place them. why can't this happen on-the-fly ?
Symbols aren't the source of truth for pin definitions, the units are. Somehow tacking the unit editor onto the symbol editor to enable simultaneous editing should be within the realm of possibility.