Working in the Method Editor

[rochard]

can be very confusing especially since you can have multiple methods open at the same time.

It would be extremely helpful to be able to assign an alias to each form as a permanent reference and then have that alias appear on the tab in front of the method name. For example I have a form called 'Room_Reservations' which I could assign the alias 'Res' to and then when I open a method called 'Add Reservation', if the tab read "Res:Add Reservation', I would know immediately which 'Add Reservation' method I was working on. Yes, I could certainly name my methods accordingly and will be doing so but I think this would be a very useful feature, especially if the alias was appended to the beginning of the name of a method that I call in another method.

[mattman]

There are some visual issues with the Method editor that need to be worked out - from a GUI standpoint.

Things could be much more clear, but one of the devs (Johan you know who you are) Doesn't think it's important to know which method you're working on in relation to the form with which it's associated. They show the form in the Title bar but this is hidden from your peripheral vision when reading a method. Hey Johan, is a driver better with or without peripheral vision? Probably better.

That's why it's better to have the name of the form associated to the method closer to the code of the method. Associative relevance!

Follow this link and send Johan your thoughts about how much better my proposed design for the Method editor would be.

http://forum.servoy.com/viewtopic.php?t=1540

[jcompagner]

what do you think of this.

[rochard]

what do you think of this.

Terrific, fantastic, great!!; it will make things much easier. However, since some people likely use long form names, I still think that it would be very helpful to be able to assign a permanent alias to each form. This could be done at time of form creation and, if used, could appear on the tab; otherwise the form name itself would show.

Thanks, Johann

[Westy]

what do you think of this?

Yes, I like it very much!

[mattman]

what do you think of this?

Yes, I like it very much!

I like the adjustment too Johan, you typically have more vertical space within a visual area than horizontal. Meaning you can fit more tabs vertically than horizonally.

Using the icon in the tab for the fact that it's a method is excessive. When you are in the method editor you know you are editing methods so it just takes up space for you to display the names of longer methods.

The name of the form may be a bit too close to the name of the method if you do this all on the tab itself. You now have to make the visual distinction between where the break should happen. The font variation is a good start but I would still put the name of the form just above the code you are looking at. The area of white where the code displays is your scan zone. The items within the same visual area are relative objects. These include the buttons that take action and the name of the form to which the code belongs.

Just some additional input.

[jcompagner]

Using the icon in the tab for the fact that it's a method is excessive.

i agree.. if there where different icons then it also had a function now it is just taken up space.. I can remove them.. anyone against it?

The name of the form may be a bit too close to the name of the method if you do this all on the tab itself.

the name NEEDS to be on the tab.. any other place and the effect it just zero. Because i am not curious of the form name of the current method but i need the form name when i want to choose an other method that is already open. Then you need the formname.. I even could remove the form name from the selected tab (if it was me.) not interessing at all. The current form name is highligted in the tree. printed in the title bar and now on the selected tab..

[IT2Be]

In this case I somewhat agree with Johan. I am working with Servoy for a little over 6 months now (fulltime+) and I don't have an issue at all. Even though a lot of my forms are opened with a method that I allways give the same name and that goes for a lot of other methods too.

On the other hand, offcourse it wouldn't bother me to have formnames in the tabs too but it looks like that is going to cost space. Space that I either want to use to have more tabs showing (I do use long form names so it would cost me valuable tabspace) or reserve for my source.

The icon in the tab looks nice but doesn't serve any purpose imho.

[Rene]

Hello guys,

I think it`s helpful to see immediatly on wich form a method is referring to without having to activate it and then trying to find the previous method again.

Perhaps is this a compromise which doesn`t take a lot of space and on wich you don`t have to read each method name to see on what form it is referring.

Sort the open methods by formname and then show first in smaller fontsize (and perhaps alternate backgroundcolor) the formname as a tab. Directly under the formname you'll find the open methods used in that form. After last open method on this form the next form with it`s methods is shown. The active method and form are highlighted.

PS. I don`t think people have more than 4 different forms open in the method editor at the same time. This way it`s also easy to close methods(and forms) which you don`t need anymore to clear up space.

Please comment.

Rene

[jcompagner]

all kinds of sorting and grouping will be looked at in the further >2
But for now this picture will be it for the final of 2.0 ..

I think it won't take much space and people have enough info to select the tab.

[mattman]

all kinds of sorting and grouping will be looked at in the further >2
But for now this picture will be it for the final of 2.0 ..

I think it won't take much space and people have enough info to select the tab.

I hate to belabor this issue and I agree that you have plenty on your plate for this current rev. For future reference I would like to point out that clarity and efficiency are hallmarks of a good interface.

When you consider the amount of time a developer will spend in the Method Editor, it pays dividends to consider each design decision.

Case in point... The attached picture should give you some type of indicatation that putting the tabs on the far right will significantly increase the amount of mousing required when switching between forms, methods and their code. I do prefer the tabs at top and still stand by my proposed graphic in the other thread above.

Putting the name of the associated form within the tab is an "OK" solution but not the best, because it lends to reduced efficiency in terms of being able to identify a method name quickly.

If you throw more hay into the haystack the needle is harder to find.

Greater differentiation between method name and associated form would dictate that you made the method name bold - at the very least. If newspapers didn't use bolded headlines and all the text was the same size, how easy do you think it would be to find the information that was important to you?

And YES, I do know that I can switch the tabs to above, below or left or right of the code. I just attached the picture to indicate that anyone putting them on the right is adding a lot of mouse travel to their work.

[jcompagner]

As you are saying youreself.. You can put the tabs at any location that you want.. So if people don't care about mouse travel then they can do that, if you don't want mouse travel then place them at any position you want. (the left??) So you have a choice what more do you want?

Second if you don't like the names on the tab. Set the preference to false in the edit->preference menu... again you have a choice what more do you want?

third as i said before an option to have them on the tab is the thing most people want. Because the tab is the only thing visible for the method that isn't the current method. And that is the whole point.. You have to see the method and its formname for quick reference for the method that isn't the current editing one. So if you have an idee about that one i am always open for suggestion

fourth i had the methodname in a more bolder version first. But i got complians that it looked ugly. So now the methodname is in default font and the fontname is in a small font.

[DFehrenbach]

I do like the form name in the tabs of the method editor; but what I really miss is the asterisk that tells me that the method needs to be verified. I have made a few changes to a complex method and spent a long time debugging why my changes didn't work - only to find that they were not saved because I didn't verify them!

[jcompagner]

oeps...
fixed it.