[Freeciv-Dev] Re: (PR#8482) heights in gtk2 production dialog

["Daniel L Speyer" <dspeyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

<URL: http://rt.freeciv.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=8482 >

Vasco Alexandre da Silva Costa wrote:

><URL: http://rt.freeciv.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=8482 >
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>On Sat, 10 Apr 2004, Daniel L Speyer wrote:
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>><URL: http://rt.freeciv.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=8482 >
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>>The current setup of the worklist windows (NORMAL_TILE_HEIGHT whether it
>>needs it or not) in gtk2 uses an awful lot of empty space.  It makes it
>>more necessary to scroll and is (IMHO) ugly.  This patch auto-detects
>>units' actual heights and uses them.
>>    
>>
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>I looked at your patch again and noticed it does not have a fixed row
>height.
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>The row height is fixed for a reason: if the size is fixed you can
>predictably point and click at something without looking well at it.
>

How are users supposed to do that?  The list is far to unstable (changes 
with every tech advance) for users to learn the physical location of 
common items.  Even if they could, those items are likely to require 
scrolling.  Scrolling isn't in multiples of line-height anyway.

What makes it hard to click is massive areas of white space which are 
active with no clear clue as to which item they correspond to.  Any 
increase in height means more of these areas.  My patch minimizes height.

> It is
>user disturbing and counter productive to have a chaotic misaligned user
>interface. At best I may compromise and provide for a gamut of different
>fixed sub-category heights. i.e. a fixed height for buildings, another
>for units. But doing it more or less randomly on each unit is
>sub-optimal.
>  
>

What users are doing is clicking on icons with text labels.  The list is 
basically a sideways toolbar.  Most applications have items of various 
sizes on their toolbars, each taking up however much space they take.  
Per-unit spacing is within the rule of least surprise.

--Daniel Speyer

>---
>Vasco Alexandre da Silva Costa @ Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisboa
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