I'm updating some legacy code, because of my unfamiliarity to it, Its very difficult to find structures, especially if I step away for a week for other projects.
To alleviate this problem I've gone back to my old-school roots and started adding ascii text-art as comments above sections of code, using this tool:
http://patorjk.com/software/taag/#p=display&h=3&v=1&f=Big%20Money-ne&t=Reveal%0ACheck
This allows me to see via my MiniMap the titles of functions or sections of code I might need to come back to
The Thought then occured.. well surely someone else has this problem, and since VSCode seems to be written by the community, maybe someone has already written a plugin that would search the code for function titles (like Javadocs?) and display the title in a readable size?
If not, would it be easily coded? i.e. is the minimap just a very shrunk down copy(not easy) or is it structured and can be parsed and tweaked?
As long as your language plugin supports it, you can use cmd + shift + o to go to function definition.
All functions should also be listed in the Side Bar under "Outline"
I'm working on a document-editing application using CKEditor, where the user can open multiple documents side-by-side in a pair of editor instances.
Most of the time, the user will be editing two different documents, but it's also possible that the two editor instances might contain different views of the same document. That makes things tricky, since I'd like to changes in one editor instance to be immediately reflected in the other instance.
Without hacking the CKEditor core, is something like that possible?
If not, would it be possible to write a plugin that would provide that kind of functionality?
What about if I was willing to get into the core code and hack around a bit? How difficult would it be?
This is a very similar case to a collaborative editing like Google Docs allows. The only differences are that you won't need to synchronize this via network and that it's very unlikely (if not impossible) that the same documents will be modified by two users at the same time. This makes things simpler... a little bit.
A year ago me and my colleague (we are both CKEditor core devs) took part in Node.JS Knockout and our plan was to create a collaborative editor based on CKEditor. It was only 48h, so the result is not impressive, but it worked. The source code is here.
The main problem you'll have is applying changes from editor A to editor B without breaking a caret position in editor B. Basically, you cannot just take data from editor A and set them in editor B, because everything in editor B will be reset including scroll position and caret. Unless this is not a problem, but I assume it is.
So you would need to:
either find a nice algorithm for extracting changes (like diff, but working on a DOM tree, not an HTML string) made in editor A and an algorithm to apply them to editor B (and this is what we implemented on Node.JS Knockout),
or find a way to guess caret position after resetting data in editor B; for example you can remember the caret context in editor B before setting data and try to find it in data that will be loaded.
Both ways are doable, but the first way will give better results if you'll implement it well. However, if your you don't know enough about DOM and contenteditable, then this task may overwhelm you. In this case I would advise to block possibility of opening one document twice.
I am trying to have a LocatorPane with more than one Locator using LocatorAutoCreate option.
But I'd also like to set AutoAction->True, so that when the mouse is over a locator, it moves automatically with the mouse. i.e. works like dragging.
I am basically trying to just have the dragging feature of LocatorPane, and do not want the clicking feature of LocatorPane, as it complicate something else I am doing.
i.e. I just want to be able to just drag points across a locator pane. Clicking on the locatorPane should do nothing. One way to do that I found is by setting AutoAction->True. Is there a better way to disable Clicking effect on LocatorPane?
The problem is that, when I have more than one locator, Mathematica kernel crashes right away.
So, I am asking if there is a way to use AutoAction->True with LocatorPane with more LocatorAutoCreator at the same time. Or if there is a way to just allow dragging, and clicking should do nothing.
Here is an example
LocatorPane[{{0,0},{.4,.5}},
Graphics[{Gray,Disk[]}],
AutoAction->True,
LocatorAutoCreate->{1,5}]
Make sure you save your work before running the above, as it will crash Mathematica once the mouse is over the Pane.
Version 8.0.1, Windows 7.
Update:
FYI; I got a reply from WRI tech support on this today. The problem has been reproduced and send to Mathematica development team to investigate.
You may try:
LocatorPane[{{0, 0}, {.4, .5}, {.1, .1}},
Graphics[{Gray, Disk[]}],
AutoAction -> True, LocatorAutoCreate -> {All}]
Babylon dictionary and a couple of other dictionaries allow to click on any word in any windows program
and automatically recognize the word under the cursor, and at once open the dictionary window while searching for that word in installed dictionaries.
You can on the other hand open your dictionary, type in your word and press Enter, the result will be the same.
There's a Delphi form, containing a text label, for example with the word "Automaton".
My question is:
How to send a word from my Delphi application right into the dictionary window, as if you typed it manually and pressed Enter?
The best solution is to send some message through the Windows mechanism, but if it is too complicated, there's another solution, and so the second answer: as I described, we need to model a [Ctrl+left mouse] click on a form where this word is displayed on a form [ a visual label on the screen of my Delphi application], to be exact, on some central pixel of this label.
Could you kindly give an advice how to do one thing or another in Delphi ?
** edit:
The problem with AppActivate is this: Babylon dict has a daemon part that seats in the tray.
In the task manager a real window where the text should be input also is named 'Babylon'.
So AppActivate('Babylon') tries to bring to front the non-visual part of the application.
Do you have any suggestion how to determine the windows handle or something of a real visual part of the application? In the task manager, I repeat both visual and non-visual parts are named 'Babylon'.
I cannot offer an answer so much as some insight and advice...
There are certain applications which "intercept" keyboard and mouse instructions, and essentially "nullify" them if they are being immitated by software. Generally-speaking, you'd only see this in proper AntiVirus software such as Kaspersky by design... however:
The way some (not many, but some) programs hook keyboard and mouse inputs, as a side-effect, behave the same way. If you have attempted all of the advice given as comments above, and cannot get Babylon to trigger an action as a result, it is likely Babylon behaves as I have described.
If what I suspect is true, then the method you are attempting is simply not possible (at least, not using any simple Pascal code on its own... ASM might be able to do it but that's beyond my knowledge).
A better solution may be to do a little research to see if any of the following options are available to you:
1) Does Babylon have a Pipeline or API you can use to interface your application(s) with it?
2) Is the particular functionality you require of Babylon accessible through one (or more) DLL files distributed as part of Babylon?
3) Is there an alternative to using Babylon for your needs?
I know it's not an answer as such (certainly not one you'd want to hear), but it may point you in a better direction.
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I'm writing an internal-tools webapp; one of the central pages in this tool has a whole bunch of related commands the user can execute by clicking one of a number of buttons on the page, like this:
toolbar http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/1928/commands.png
Ideally, all of the buttons would fit on one line. Ordinarily I'd do this by changing each widget from a button with a (sometimes long) text label to a simple, compact icon - e.g.
button labelled "Save" http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/773/saver.png
could be replaced by a familiar disk icon:
Unfortunately, I don't think I can do this for every button on this particular page. Some of the command buttons just don't have good visual analogs - "VDS List". Or, if I needed to add another button in the future for some other kind of list, I'd need two icons that both communicate "list-ness" and which list. So, I'm still considering this option, but I don't love it.
So it's come time for me to add yet another button to this section (don't you love internal tools?). There's not enough room on that single line to fit the new button. Aside from the icon solution I already mentioned, what would be a good* way to simplify/declutter/reduce or otherwise improve this UI?
*As per Jakob Nielsen's article, I'd like to think that a dropdown menu is not the solution.
Edit: I'm not looking for input about the icon idea. I'm looking for other solutions. Sorry my example disk icon was a small one; it was just an example. I'm showing a bigger one now to hopefully be more clear.
I would add a More Link Like Google does.
See the Top Bar of Google with WeB Images Map More >>
To this more >> drop down you can add logic to add button less frequently used by user or something like that.
If you read Jef (and Aza) Raskin, you'll probably realize that icons are also not a good solution – both were pretty vocal in their dislike for them (with very few notable exceptions). For a start they're even harder to hit than tiny buttons, then their symbols can be confusing, culture-dependent and misleading. We're already good at reading text, parsing and interpreting icons is often slower.
In any case, that button bar looks like it accommodates pretty much anyone and their dog who might be using that product. You might have had some specific scenarios in mind when creating it that should be easy to do and are important. Most likely not all buttons are needed at once for such a task to complete.
Another thing is that maybe not all buttons are even useful at any single state of the application. Can you maybe branch into different sets of buttons, depending on the state. That's only possible however, if each state has clearly defined what actions can be taken. If all buttons are equally pressable regardless of state this won't do anything.
Grouping commands according to related functionality might also be an option. This doesn't have to be done with menu-like idioms, you can also put them into containers with different background color or even color the buttons themselves (just keep in mind color blindness, though). Depending on how related those individual functions are this can be a good way of speeding up interaction. It might requier some training for users to know what the colors refer to but for an in-house tool that's only used by people you know (instead of by arbitrary random ones [which is a problem Microsoft faces quite prominently]) this should pose not much of a problem.
What if you use icons and text?
For the commonly understood commands - use just an icon (like the save)
For the uncommon commands use an Icon + the text.
If you put a border around the button as a whole it should tie the icons / text together nicely and show it's still a button. You could also do some hover effects.
Since you can't do a dropdown menu (or similar techniques like clicking a button to generate a secondary menu). The best I can think of is what Prescott did or showing an area of buttons that are grouped in such a way to make it easy for the user to know which section their button should be in.
I would start by changing some of the longer labels. At a minimum, "Application Loading" could be abbreviated "App Loading." What's another (shorter) way to say "Quick File Transfer"?
You could also group the buttons into tabs (i.e. make it a ribbon). That might work particularly well if different classes of users tend to use different, non-overlapping sets of buttons.
Numerous options:
Group and labeling. Any time you have more than eight commands, you should divide the menu items into semantic groups of about four to help the user scan for the command they want. Labeling the groups also helps the scan and can make the menu more compact. For example, Instead of VDS Ping and VDS List, Have a group labeled “VDS” with “Ping” and “List” menu items. You’ve one less word to fit in (two if you put the label above it’s associated menu items when using a horizontal orientation).
Pulldown menus. Nielsen is correct about avoiding the use of a dropdown menu for making commands. However, he’s clearly in favor of pulldown menus which look and behave like a menubar in a thick client app (Nielsen calls them “command” and “navigation” menus). I think you’ll find that there are several Javascript pulldown menus out there now, unlike back in 2000 when Nielsen wrote his post. You can fit 100s of commands in a menubar.
Sidebar menu. Arraying the menu items vertically and you should be able to fit 20 or more commands and you won’t have to shorten any command names to something user might not understand. If that’s not enough, consider a “menu bank” than combines the benefits of sidebar menu with the capacity of a pulldown menu.
Ribbon. If your commands fit into discrete tasks, where the user tends to stick to one task for a while, you can arrange the buttons on a tab control, with one sheet per task.
Command Overloading. Represent your data objects as selectable entities in your window and change your commands into more general operations, like Drill-down, Create, Copy, Move, Delete, and Link, that can be applied to various different classes of objects, thereby reducing your total number of commands. The user can select one or more data objects then select the desired command to act on them.
Work Area Attributes. Some of your commands may not be commands by settings or attributes. Remove them from the menu and represent them as data objects in the work area of the page (or another page, if they are rarely used) using controls like radio buttons, dropdown lists, and check boxes. This has the added benefit clearly showing the user the current setting as well as providing a means to change it.
Variants. For an internal app, you probably have formal roles and responsibilities that vary by work position. Include the user’s position in your model, and dynamically hide commands (and other controls and pages) that aren't relevant to that position.
What about a combobox and a Confirm button?
Or a simple dropdown menu?
Add a "Tools" or "Actions" menu bar, and stick rightmost 4 commands (or more) into the menu.
Would it be possible to implement a "most used" or "preferred" set of buttons (preferably for the user, but globally if necessary) and button to take you to the rest of the items if you need one of those?
You could group them (like the two 'vds' buttons) behind a single button that, when clicked pops a context menu with the individual icons.
It truly seems like what you're developing is a administration console which happens to present its UI through a web page, rather than something which I'd quantify as a web app. As such, especially given your statement that this is an internal use application, Jakob Nielson's advice regarding <select> tags being poor design need not apply.
For this particular set of assumptions, I think the better option is to imitate a system menu setup using one of the many CSS-based menuing designs possible.
Icons are terrible from a user experience stand point. A picture of a Floppy Disk doesn't un-equivocally mean SAVE. It means something to do with a Floppy Disk. A Floppy really, its 2010, SAVE on a web app means save to the server, how does a Floppy Disk even compute?
Here is an application that has had the same extremely usable interface for 10 years! And hardly any images for buttons, and it is one of the most productive applications in its category.
You know what ICONS stand for I ncomprehesible C ryptic O bfucsated N onsense S ymbol!
Also how do you internationalize an icon?