[GNC] Register column sizing

[Adrien Monteleone]

That's a good question and one I've had myself.

It is even more perplexing when I discovered the registers are based on 
code from the Gnumeric spreadsheet app.

My wild and very limited understanding guess is:

That part of the UI didn't get borrowed from Gnumeric, maybe for a good 
reason. A large portion of the GnuCash controlling code is not separate 
from the viewing code. Perhaps Gnumeric has the same issue. This is 
likely a manifestation of that problem for at least one if not both of 
those apps.

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That aside, I'm glad GnuCash doesn't make me enter a column size in 
measuring units! (as *if* a spreadsheet will always be printed)

I could be reading wrong, but I don't think John was suggesting dropping 
the ability to double-click to auto-fit columns to data, but rather 
dropping the rubber-band auto-size effect for the Description column.

That would leave us with drag to size (like spreadsheets) or auto-fit. 
(which spreadsheets can now do but taking more clicks)

Regards,
Adrien

On 1/6/23 7:37 AM, Thomas Forrester wrote:
> I realize I'm answering a slightly different question, but I've never
> understood why the GnuCash developers have never made column sizing (and
> apparently hiding, too) work just like spreadsheets.  We already invented
> that wheel, and people are *really* accustomed to how it works, hence the
> grumbling when it's discovered by new GnuCash users that it doesn't work
> that way here.  I think the vast majority would agree that the way
> spreadsheet columns work is a very mature, and well understood "technology"
> (for lack of a better word) that has become ubiquitous and intuitive.  Note
> also that I said "spreadsheets" rather than, say, "Excel" because the way
> spreadsheet columns work isn't specific to any one spreadsheet program, and
> once again speaks to how universal handling spreadsheet columns has become.
> 
> My guess is that what you're asking is likely just fine, but isn't it just
> another band-aid that really would be better ripped off in favor of
> spreadsheet-like resizing logic?