[kepler-dev] [Ptolemy] "Look Inside" changed to "Open Actor"
Christopher Brooks
cxh at eecs.berkeley.edu
Mon Dec 19 13:09:38 PST 2005
Hi Laura,
One use case is if I want to put a colored rectangle behind a group of
actors so as to differentiate them visually, I would use a Rectangle
decorative actor. The problem is that if I lay out the group of
actors and then try to place a Rectangle with a solid color on top of
the group of actors, then the actors are obscured. Using "move to
front" or "move to back" helps with this.
Here's how to replicate this:
1) Start up Kepler, go to any model
2) In the Component Search window, type in Rectangle, hit the search
button
3) Drag the Rectangle actor over a group of actors
4) Right click to configure and change the fill color to anything, hit
commit.
Now the Rectangle actor is obscuring the group of actors.
If you right click and select move to last, then the Rectangle goes
to the back.
The order of actors matters more for wireless demos where the
actors are not connected via wires, but instead rely on their physical
orientation to each other. Using the notion of front and back means
we can place actors on top of a map and then simulate their movement.
I can see how this is somewhat esoteric and maybe Kepler does not need
it. However, to draw sophisticated models that are pleasing, it is
fairly necessary.
One thing I've seen is having a different mode that allows the user to
do detailed layout manipulations. I'm not so sure this is right
though, I'm not a big fan of modal interactions.
_Christopher
--------
Hi Chris,
Yes there seems to be some confusion here. I can't exactly remember the
specific conversation from so long ago but I did walk through every menu
item with some of the developers and asked, do we need this in Kepler etc.
And I don't remember specifically who said we didn't need the front, back
stuff etc.
Also, I didn't expect that things were supposed to be able to be overlapped
,
in fact quite the opposite, that you would not want to overlap things at al
l
because things might become hidden. And looking at the design, there is th
e
navigation section at the bottom left like in a mapping system so that you
can position things so I don't get why you would ever want to purposefully
overlap something? It isn't like you are building graphical representation
s
from individual parts like creating a logo that has a circle for a
background and then some symbol placed on top of it then something else yet
on top of that etc. Why would people want to stack actors on top of each
other and thus cause confusion? Or are you just saying that the rendering
system sometimes stacks things because of space?
Anyway, I'm glad these issues are being raised and we will of course adjust
the design if needed.
Laura L. Downey
Senior Usability Engineer
LTER Network Office
Department of Biology, MSC03 2020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
505.277.3157 phone
505.277-2541 fax
ldowney at lternet.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: cxh at EECS.Berkeley.EDU [mailto:cxh at EECS.Berkeley.EDU]
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 1:42 PM
To: Laura L. Downey
Cc: ptresearch at chess.eecs.berkeley.edu; kepler-dev at ecoinformatics.org
Subject: Re: [kepler-dev] [Ptolemy] "Look Inside" changed to "Open Actor"
Hi Laura,
Maybe the Kepler menu redesign should take in to account the "Bring to
Front" etc. capabilities that are currently in Ptolemy and the current
Kepler alpha8. The reason these capabilities exist is to help users
lay out overlapping actors, groups of actors, decoration etc. If we
don't have this capability then the only way to order overlapping
graphics to use cut and paste. These capabilities are necessary for
making models look better from a graphical design pov.
There is some confusion about duplicate menu choices in this area, see
my recent email. I think Edward and I can resolve that separately.
_Christopher
--------
There will always be various commands used and not used in different
programs. I've tried to keep as many of the standard shortcuts as
possible
where common commands were used.
In the current Kepler proposal, we don't have Find or Bring to Front, s
o
I
used ctrl-F for Full Screen because 1) F is the first letter in the
command
and easy to make the association, 2) I assumed that Full Screen would b
e
something people would utilize, especially in workflows that have lots
of
actors in them, rather than having to scroll left or right because
generall
y
users do not like horizontal scrolling and will avoid it if possible.
Laura L. Downey
Senior Usability Engineer
LTER Network Office
Department of Biology, MSC03 2020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
505.277.3157 phone
505.277-2541 fax
ldowney at lternet.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: Shawn Bowers [mailto:sbowers at ucdavis.edu]
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 12:26 PM
To: Laura L. Downey
Cc: cxh at EECS.Berkeley.EDU; ptresearch at chess.eecs.berkeley.edu;
kepler-dev at ecoinformatics.org
Subject: Re: [kepler-dev] [Ptolemy] "Look Inside" changed to "Open
Actor"
Laura L. Downey wrote:
> Hi Chris,
>
> Sorry to be a bit lagging in replying to this.
>
> For Kepler, I've proposed:
>
> Zoom Reset Ctrl+M
> Zoom In Ctrl++
> Zoom Out Ctrl+-
> Zoom Fit (no shortcut proposed)
> Full Screen Ctrl+F
In addition to Edward's comments ... control-f is commonly
used in web browsers and other apps to mean "find". (Note, I'm
assuming you mean a lower-case 'f' here). Note that a find
command for a workflow (e.g., to find all occurrences of an
actor, possibly nested many layers down) would be really useful,
and in my opinion ctrl+f should be reserved for this functionality.
I've only a couple of times used full-screen in Kepler -- mainly
to see what it does. I doubt it will be used often. The one
application where I do use full screen a bunch is in Adobe Acrobat,
where ctrl+l is used (... why this binding is used, I'm not sure)
-shawn
> Automate Layout Ctrl+T
>
> So, the ctrl++ and ctrl+- are good for zoom in and zoom out.
>
> As a side note, I've proposed some variations upon the original
Ptolemy
> menus for Kepler and therefore some variations on the mnemonics and
> shortcuts followed in terms of trying to get everything coordinated.
For
> menus, I was trying to give a more standard set of menu items grouped
lik
e
> users would expect in terms of using other desktop applications.
>
> And I've added some standard menu items and some convenience function
s
like
> Close, Close All, list of most recently opened workflows, and a
Windows
menu
> to more easily navigate between several workflows open at a time, and
als
o
> menu items that pertain to functionality that Kepler is adding e.g.,
to
> support semantic annotation.
>
> For reference:
> http://kepler-project.org/Wiki.jsp?page=MenuAndToolBarReDesign
>
> So because of this I had to re-organize the mnemonics and shortcuts
and i
t
> was quite a task to walk through every single item (which it sounds
like
> Edward did in the original Ptolemy also) and make sure I was using th
e
> standards like ctrl+0 for open, and assigning meaningful shortcuts
(tryin
g
> to use a letter within menu item it is associated with).
>
> Hope this clarifies.
>
> Laura L. Downey
> Senior Usability Engineer
> LTER Network Office
> Department of Biology, MSC03 2020
> 1 University of New Mexico
> Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
> 505.277.3157 phone
> 505.277-2541 fax
> ldowney at lternet.edu
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cxh at EECS.Berkeley.EDU [mailto:cxh at EECS.Berkeley.EDU]
> Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 5:28 PM
> To: Laura L. Downey
> Cc: ptresearch at chess.eecs.berkeley.edu; kepler-dev at ecoinformatics.org
> Subject: Re: [kepler-dev] [Ptolemy] "Look Inside" changed to "Open
Actor"
>
> Hi Laura,
>
> Double click is probably not going to happen any time soon, there is
> a separate bug for it:
> http://bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2109
>
> About Control+ and Control+- for zooming, you wrote:
>
>> I am also proposing ctrl++ and ctrl+- as shortcuts for zoom in
>> and zoom out. These are also pretty standard across many
>> programs. They do not appea r in my design because the program
>> I'm using for prototyping wouldn't allow me t
>
> BTW - Ctrl++ is really Ctrl+Shift+= because the + is Shift+=
>
> ptolemy/vergil/basic/BasicGraphFrame.java has the following bindings:
> Zoom In Ctrl+Shift+=
> Zoom Reset Ctrl+=
> Zoom Fit Ctrl+Shift+-
> Zoom Out Ctrl+-
>
> Thus, I think we have what you propose? Let me know if I'm wrong
> about this.
>
> _Christopher
>
> --------
>
> In the short term, I've moved back to Control-L as a shortcut.
>
> I think we can't have multiple key stroke shortcuts, so C-x f
> is out.
>
> I'll look in to getting double click to work, but probably not
today.
>
> I can see about setting up short cuts for zoom in and zoom out.
>
> I've not yet updated the docs.
>
> So, the bug remains open.
>
> _Christopher
>
>
> --------
>
> If you look here:
> http://kepler-project.org/Wiki.jsp?page=MenuAndToolBarReDesig
n
>
> You'll see what I've proposed for Kepler for a revamping of
the
menu
> sy
> stem
> .
> In it, Ctrl-O is used for Open File, and as Edward has noted
this
is
> fa
> irly
> standard in Windows and some other systems/programs. When I
> reviewed t
> he
> shortcuts, I looked at several programs to see what the commo
n
> shortcut
> usages were.
>
> I am proposing "O" as a mnemonic for the "Open Actor" item bu
t
I
did
> no
> t
> provide a shortcut simply because it is not needed since we
had
> decided
> to
> go with double clicking an actor as opening it.
>
> I am also proposing ctrl++ and ctrl+- as shortcuts for zoom i
n
an
d
> zoom
> out
> .
> These are also pretty standard across many programs. They do
not
> appea
> r in
> my design because the program I'm using for prototyping
wouldn't
> allow
> me t
> o
> specify those special characters (+ and -) as shortcuts.
>
> BTW, ctrl+A is most often used for Select All in Microsoft I
believe
> ev
> en
> though I proposed using it for Save As which I've seen in som
e
> programs
> and
> because right now we don't have a "Select All" in Kepler. "A
"
is
> usual
> ly
> the mnemonic for Save As so that was an attempt to match the
same
> lette
> r.
>
> Laura L. Downey
> Senior Usability Engineer
> LTER Network Office
> Department of Biology, MSC03 2020
> 1 University of New Mexico
> Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
> 505.277.3157 phone
> 505.277-2541 fax
> ldowney at lternet.edu
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kepler-dev-bounces at ecoinformatics.org
> [mailto:kepler-dev-bounces at ecoinformatics.org] On Behalf Of
Edwar
d
> A. L
> ee
> Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 7:34 AM
> To: Christopher Brooks
> Cc: ptresearch at chess.eecs.berkeley.edu;
> kepler-dev at ecoinformatics.org
> Subject: Re: [kepler-dev] [Ptolemy] "Look Inside" changed to
"Ope
n
> Acto
> r"
>
>
> I think we should stick with Windows conventions as much as
> possible...
> I actually put a great deal of thought into the shortcuts to
try
to
> get
> them to match Microsoft standards as much as possible and to
have
> match
> ing
> mnemonics... This was probably one reason for calling this
"Look
> Inside
> ".
> But I too like "Open Actor" better...
>
> So I suggest rolling back to Control-L...
>
> Edward
>
> At 08:21 PM 12/12/2005 -0800, Christopher Brooks wrote:
> >Yah, I figure it that it would be a problem.
> >
> >Firefox, IE and MS Word all have Control-O as File Open.
> >
> >I see several options with minus and pluses:
> >
> >1) Stick with Control-O as the shortcut for "Open Actor"
> > - Annoy all users used to lots of Windows Apps
> > + Convenient and Mnemonic
> >2) Go back to Control-L
> > - Not Mnemonic, but makes a good trivia question
> > + Does not break users used to lots of Windows Apps
> > + Edward and I don't have to learn a new shortcut
> >3) Choose another key, such as Control-A
> > -/+ Sort of Mnemonic
> > - Conflicts with Select All
> >
> >For now, I'll roll back to Control-L.
> >I think this might be why we stuck with Look Inside.
> >
> >Comments?
> >
> >_Christopher
> >
> >--------
> >
> >
> >
> > Control-O is already bound to "Open File", so I think
this
> change
> > will break that... Using Control-O for open file is
pretty
> common
> > in Windows programs...
> >
> > Edward
> >
> > At 07:00 PM 12/12/2005 -0800, Christopher Brooks wrote:
> > >The Kepler group asked that "Look Inside" be changed t
o
"Open
> Ac
> tor"
> .
> > >[Personally, I was opting for "Open Sesame" ]
> > >
> > >http://bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org/show_bug.cgi?id=211
0
> > >
> > >I went ahead and made this change to
> > > ptolemy/vergil/actor/ActorController.java
> > >I also modified the short cut so that Control-O now
opens
the
> > >actor instead of Control-L. If there is great hue and
cry
,
I
> su
> ppos
> e
> > >we could have both Control-O and Control-L but I don't
see
> how t
> o do
> > >this.
> > >
> > >ActorController has a protected variable named
> _lookInsideAction
> which
> > >I did not rename so as to preserve backward
compatibility
> with
> > >subclasses of this class.
> > >
> > >I updated a few demos as well.
> > >
> > >These classes:
> > > ptolemy/chic/ChicController.java
> > > ptolemy/vergil/fsm/TransitionController.java
> > > ptolemy/vergil/fsm/StateController.java
> > >all still have "Look Inside" because the "Look Inside"
action
> lo
> oks
> > >inside a Chic node or a transition or a state, which
are
all
> not
> > >actors. Thus "Open Actor" does not make much sense in
for
> those
> > >classes. If someone has a strong opinion, I could
change
> them a
> s
> > >well.
> > >
> > >Once the dust settles, I'll make a pass through the
docs
and
> fix
> up
> > >references to "Look Inside".
> > >
> > >_Christopher
> > >
> > >
> > >_______________________________________________
> > >Ptolemy maillist - Ptolemy at chess.eecs.berkeley.edu
> > >http://chess.eecs.berkeley.edu/ptolemy/listinfo/ptolem
y
> >
> > ------------
> > Edward A. Lee
> > Professor, Chair of the EE Division, Associate Chair of
EEC
S
> > 231 Cory Hall, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720
> > phone: 510-642-0253 or 510-642-0455, fax: 510-642-2845
> > eal at eecs.Berkeley.EDU,
http://ptolemy.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ea
l
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ptolemy maillist - Ptolemy at chess.eecs.berkeley.edu
> > http://chess.eecs.berkeley.edu/ptolemy/listinfo/ptolemy
> >--------
>
> ------------
> Edward A. Lee
> Professor, Chair of the EE Division, Associate Chair of EECS
> 231 Cory Hall, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720
> phone: 510-642-0253 or 510-642-0455, fax: 510-642-2845
> eal at eecs.Berkeley.EDU, http://ptolemy.eecs.berkeley.edu/~eal
>
> _______________________________________________
> Kepler-dev mailing list
> Kepler-dev at ecoinformatics.org
>
>
http://mercury.nceas.ucsb.edu/ecoinformatics/mailman/listinfo/kepler-de
> v
> --------
> _______________________________________________
> Ptolemy maillist - Ptolemy at chess.eecs.berkeley.edu
> http://chess.eecs.berkeley.edu/ptolemy/listinfo/ptolemy
> --------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Kepler-dev mailing list
> Kepler-dev at ecoinformatics.org
>
http://mercury.nceas.ucsb.edu/ecoinformatics/mailman/listinfo/kepler-dev
_______________________________________________
Ptolemy maillist - Ptolemy at chess.eecs.berkeley.edu
http://chess.eecs.berkeley.edu/ptolemy/listinfo/ptolemy
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