[Avogadro-devel] Avogadro2 Tool Priorities

Discussion:

Geoffrey Hutchison

2016-11-16 18:56:51 UTC

I'm currently doing some user interface clean-up in Avogadro2.

One thing I want to revisit is tool order/priority. In Avogadro1, the default tool was the draw/edit tool, then navigate, etc.

Do we want "draw" to be the default or "navigate / view?"

I'm actually leaning towards switching:
- Navigate (tool 1)
- Draw (tool 2) - becomes active in new document
- Manipulate (tool 3)
- Bond Manipulate (tool 4)
- Select (tool 5)
- Measure (tool 6)
- Align (tool 7)

The auto-opt tool is actually going to become a command / mode, not a tool.

Thoughts?

-Geoff

Patrick Avery

2016-11-16 19:47:40 UTC

Permalink

Sounds reasonable to me! I think I like having navigate as the first tool.

On Wed, Nov 16, 2016 at 1:56 PM, Geoffrey Hutchison <

Post by Geoffrey Hutchison
I'm currently doing some user interface clean-up in Avogadro2.
One thing I want to revisit is tool order/priority. In Avogadro1, the
default tool was the draw/edit tool, then navigate, etc.
Do we want "draw" to be the default or "navigate / view?"
- Navigate (tool 1)
- Draw (tool 2) - becomes active in new document
- Manipulate (tool 3)
- Bond Manipulate (tool 4)
- Select (tool 5)
- Measure (tool 6)
- Align (tool 7)
The auto-opt tool is actually going to become a command / mode, not a tool.
Thoughts?
-Geoff
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------
_______________________________________________
Avogadro-devel mailing list
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/avogadro-devel

Jens

2016-11-16 21:25:37 UTC

Permalink

I agree. I've always found that somewhat counterintuitive and would
definitely prefer navigate to be the default.

Best wishes,

Jens

Post by Patrick Avery
Sounds reasonable to me! I think I like having navigate as the first tool.
On Wed, Nov 16, 2016 at 1:56 PM, Geoffrey Hutchison <

------------------------------------------------------------
------------------
_______________________________________________
Avogadro-devel mailing list
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/avogadro-devel

Marcus D. Hanwell

2016-11-17 00:48:21 UTC

Permalink

The current default is navigate when loading a molecule, and edit when
the molecule is empty. I think that should be preserved, and merging
the toolbars back together with priority ordering is the right way to
go.

I agree. I've always found that somewhat counterintuitive and would definitely prefer navigate to be the default.
Best wishes,
Jens

Post by Patrick Avery
Sounds reasonable to me! I think I like having navigate as the first tool.

Post by Geoffrey Hutchison
I'm currently doing some user interface clean-up in Avogadro2.
One thing I want to revisit is tool order/priority. In Avogadro1, the default tool was the draw/edit tool, then navigate, etc.
Do we want "draw" to be the default or "navigate / view?"
- Navigate (tool 1)
- Draw (tool 2) - becomes active in new document
- Manipulate (tool 3)
- Bond Manipulate (tool 4)
- Select (tool 5)
- Measure (tool 6)
- Align (tool 7)
The auto-opt tool is actually going to become a command / mode, not a tool.
Thoughts?
-Geoff
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Avogadro-devel mailing list
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/avogadro-devel

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Avogadro-devel mailing list
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/avogadro-devel

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jure Varlec

2016-11-17 07:31:04 UTC

Permalink

Hi,

I have to agree with Jens here, I would definitely prefer always
defaulting to navigate. Being in edit mode when the molecule is empty
annoys me a lot because I often start empty, but then paste coordinates
directly into the cartesian editor. When I try to rotate the view, I
instead draw a pair of carbons. This _always_ happens, and I can't for
the life of me get used to it. I guess pasting into the cartesian
editor is conceptually too similar to just opening a file, where the
mode is switched to navigate.

Regards
Jure

On Wed, 16 Nov 2016 19:48:21 -0500

Post by Marcus D. Hanwell
The current default is navigate when loading a molecule, and edit when
the molecule is empty. I think that should be preserved, and merging
the toolbars back together with priority ordering is the right way to
go.

Post by Jens
I agree. I've always found that somewhat counterintuitive and would
definitely prefer navigate to be the default.
Best wishes,
Jens

Post by Patrick Avery
Sounds reasonable to me! I think I like having navigate as the first tool.
On Wed, Nov 16, 2016 at 1:56 PM, Geoffrey Hutchison

Post by Geoffrey Hutchison
I'm currently doing some user interface clean-up in Avogadro2.
One thing I want to revisit is tool order/priority. In Avogadro1,
the default tool was the draw/edit tool, then navigate, etc.
Do we want "draw" to be the default or "navigate / view?"
- Navigate (tool 1)
- Draw (tool 2) - becomes active in new document
- Manipulate (tool 3)
- Bond Manipulate (tool 4)
- Select (tool 5)
- Measure (tool 6)
- Align (tool 7)
The auto-opt tool is actually going to become a command / mode, not a tool.
Thoughts?
-Geoff
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Avogadro-devel mailing list
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/avogadro-devel

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Avogadro-devel mailing list
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/avogadro-devel

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geoffrey Hutchison

2016-11-17 15:00:28 UTC

Permalink

The patch (https://github.com/OpenChemistry/avogadrolibs/pull/118 <https://github.com/OpenChemistry/avogadrolibs/pull/118>) simply adds priorities and changes the order the tools appear in the toolbar.

It doesn't change which tool is default.

Avo2 desperately needs a settings dialog, and that's a reasonable thing to add (i.e., start with a default of "view" for some people). I think the Avo1 default is pretty good for most - if you open a file, switch to view, if you're creating something new, let the user edit off the bat.

Being in edit mode when the molecule is empty annoys me a lot because I often start empty, but then paste coordinates directly into the cartesian editor.

To me, this implies that the cartesian editor should be a bit smarter - e.g., if it just changed the atoms a lot, it should switch to the view tool.

I'm happy to listen to other points of view on what could be done smarter, or what's not intuitive! (And yes, I'm happy to have a settings dialog to set this if people feel interested.)

-Geoff