Lots GUI

[Chris Lyttle]

On Sun, 2003-04-06 at 13:19, Derek Atkins wrote:
> linas at linas.org (Linas Vepstas) writes:
> 
> > Derek,
> > feedback please.
> 
> Well, hopefully others have opinions, too ;)

Indeed I do :)
> 
> > 
> > Basic GUI: 
> >    The goal of the basic GUI is to handle most usages of
> >    most lots in most places.  There also need to be special-purpose
> >    dialogs for specific applications, e.g. stocks, inventory, etc.
> > 
> >    Shows three areas:  
> >    -- list of lots, one of which can be highlighted.
> >       Lot names can be edited in-place.
> 
> Do lots need to have names, necessarily?

I think names for lots would make it easier for users to associate the
lot with a particular transaction, there could be other ways of showing
this though, like using a date/time format for example. Or if it was a
read-only name a drop down list of lots to choose from to display.
> 
> >    -- contents of a single lot (displayed in a narrow,
> >       mini-register view, showing only date, memo, quant, 
> >       balance)
> 
> You might want to also show the value and value-balance...
> 
> Also, does this necessarily need to be a register?  Are you planning
> to allow users to edit values in place?  Or is this just data for
> display?  If it's just for display, we can probably do something like
> the 'reconcile window' where you have two lists side-by-side with
> various split-parameters displayed.
> 
> One of the things on my todo list is break out the "reconcile-list"
> widget into a more general 'query-display-list' widget, where you can
> supply the list of what data to show, etc.  However, this is a
> "read-only" pseudo-register, which might not be what you want...
> 
> >    -- list of splits not in any lot.
> >       (not clear if screen real-estate allows side-by-side
> >       placement, or if this must be above/below. above/below
> >       would suck)
> 
> I think it depends what you want to show.  If you want to make
> it a full register then I don't think we can do it side-by-side.
> OTOH, using the query-display-list could allow you to have two
> of them side-by-side.

If the gui was just a mechanism to move unassociated splits into a lot
then I think a side-by-side UI like the reconcile window would work
well. I'm not to sure what you're wanting to do with the UI either. I
agree above/below would suck tho.
> 
> >    Shows various buttons:
> >    -- two arrows, which move split into/out of lot.
> >       This is a traditional way of moving something from one
> >       list to another, but some UI designers argue against this.
> >       Is there a better way to move splits into/out-of a lot?
> 
> Probably not..  Maybe drag-and-drop, or a combo-box of "open lots"?

Drag 'n' drop would be nice in a lot of places in GnuCash, I remain
hopeful someone will come along and make copying transactions with it
one day :)

Chris
-- 
RedHat Certified Engineer #807302549405490.
Checkpoint Certified Security Expert 2000 & NG
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