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Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:00 am
by xnview
Currently in XnViewMP, we have Menu/Tab/toolbar.
I have found a program Zoner studio which use Tab/Menu/Toolbar (what's i've made in xnViewMP 0.1), and i think it's great...
What do you think?

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:38 am
by oops66
Hello Pierre,
For me it doesn't matter, but why not the both alternatives with an option ?

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:41 am
by xnview
oops66 wrote:For me it doesn't matter, but why not the both alternatives with an option ?
Not easy, i patch QT's source

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 11:54 am
by JohnFredC
I like Zoner's approach a lot. It's a good tool, for the most part, but too expensive for what it does (considering that Corel PSP has oodles more functionality and is less expensive). My trial has period expired, though, so I can no longer test/compare Zoner to other softwares.

Nevertheless, this topic is similar to a thread from 2008 (here).

At that time I was opposed to "tabs on top" in XnView, but now (after using Zoner and...Google Chrome) I've changed my mind. Somehow, tabs-on-top seems more like the "future". For instance, look at the mock-ups for the Firefox 4 UI (here).

So... tabs-on-top, one tab per document might be OK for MP. There should be a full screen mode (like Zoner's) that hides the titlebar/window and leaves just the tabs at top.

An interim MP version with just that UI change included (so we could test it to death) would be helpful.

***

OT: And speaking of the future, I think support for multi-touch in MP is absolutely required!

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 5:52 pm
by oops66
The both concepts are interesting
Firefox sample: (My opinion: more ergonomic)
Image

Chrome sample: (My opinion: consumes less of screen area)
Image
So, it depends, I like the both ... :)

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 9:01 am
by xnview
Ok, i'll post a test version next week

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 12:25 pm
by xnview
Could you try this version and tell me if menubar is better on the top or not?
http://www.xnview.com/beta/xnviewmp.zip

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 1:58 pm
by JohnFredC
Hi Pierre

I'm a little embarrassed. Last year you proposed tabs-on-top and I was strongly opposed.

This year... I prefer the tabs-on-top metaphor :shock: . It looks good, too!

But...

Here are some suggestions:
  • 1. Enable a user to "tear off" a tab to a new window. This new window would be a new instance of MP.

    2. Users need to be able to suppress the MP caption at the top... in Delphi that is called a "borderless" form.

    3. Inactive tabs should have a different color/shading. Preferably darker. (What are the QT theme/style elements for an "inactive" tab? Maybe an additional line or two in a theme file would suffice.)

    4. In recent versions a user can drag a view tab to the right and position it, but the tab immediately slides back to the left "on mouse-up". It would be great to be able to "pin" the tab in a user-designated position (in the tab bar).

    ...as here:
    Image

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:05 pm
by xnview
JohnFredC wrote: I'm a little embarrassed. Last year you proposed tabs-on-top and I was strongly opposed.

This year... I prefer the tabs-on-top metaphor :shock: . It looks good, too!
So i keep tabs on top?
  • 1. Enable a user to "tear off" a tab to a new window. This new window would be a new instance of MP.
Yes, it's already in my TODO list :-)
2. Users need to be able to suppress the MP caption at the top... in Delphi that is called a "borderless" form.
Hum could post a screenshot?
3. Inactive tabs should have a different color/shading. Preferably darker. (What are the QT theme/style elements for an "inactive" tab? Maybe an additional line or two in a theme file would suffice.)
Here it's in the theme engine of QT
4. In recent versions a user can drag a view tab to the right and position it, but the tab immediately slides back to the left "on mouse-up". It would be great to be able to "pin" the tab in a user-designated position (in the tab bar).
The tab can only be rearranged...

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:45 pm
by XnTriq
xnview wrote:
JohnFredC wrote:3. Inactive tabs should have a different color/shading. Preferably darker. (What are the QT theme/style elements for an "inactive" tab? Maybe an additional line or two in a theme file would suffice.)
Here it's in the theme engine of QT
Is this the selector you're looking for, John:

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 12:02 pm
by JohnFredC
2Pierre
xnview wrote:So i keep tabs on top?
If you mean menus subordinate (within, below) tabs, then yes!

But please keep the INI toggle to display the tabs at the bottom of the screen, if possible.
xnview wrote:
2. Users need to be able to suppress the MP caption at the top... in Delphi that is called a "borderless" form.
Hum could post a screenshot?
In Zoner it is called "Hide Titlebar" (F11). It just hides the window titlebar and zooms the main window to full screen.

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 12:03 pm
by JohnFredC
Yes, Thank you!

I was working on a list of all style sheet values for XnView but lost the scent.

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 4:03 pm
by xnview
JohnFredC wrote:
xnview wrote:So i keep tabs on top?
If you mean menus subordinate (within, below) tabs, then yes!
But please keep the INI toggle to display the tabs at the bottom of the screen, if possible.
Not easy to have it, it's menu on the top or tabs on the top
xnview wrote:
2. Users need to be able to suppress the MP caption at the top... in Delphi that is called a "borderless" form.
Hum could post a screenshot?
In Zoner it is called "Hide Titlebar" (F11). It just hides the window titlebar and zooms the main window to full screen.
Oh ok

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 4:44 pm
by JohnFredC
Not easy to have it, it's menu on the top or tabs on the top
No problem for me, I use tabs at top.

But...

Do others use MP already with tabs at bottom of window?

Re: Menu/Tab/Toolbar

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 4:57 pm
by marsh
With tabs atop, I think a permanent one would be convenient: [Logo] [Browser] [Viewer]
Logo> open folder, open file, help, or quit.