On Sep 1, 2011, at 2:20 PM, Andreas Stefik wrote: > <snip> > > Errors and Syntax: > > 1. By far my biggest annoyance with errors in antlrworks are that the > default editor delay is too fast. There are two problems: 1) studies > show this is not necessary (called liveness), as there are little user > benefits for key-stroke-by-keystroke checking while the user is > typing, 2) the constant checking is unnecessary usually and really > slows down typing performance. On some slow machines, the default > settings, which students often don't know they can change, are pretty > unbearable. I hear this complaint constantly from students. > > This one has an easy fix. NetBeans, for example, only sends off a > check event IF the user has stopped typing for 0.5 seconds (they call > this the parsing and indexing loop). In other words, their update > delay is a measure that gets checked only after the last keystroke. It > never executes while you are typing. This works extremely well and is > a good compromise for fast typers and still gives you the benefit of > "near" liveness, which does have benefits. > > In other words: > A. Wait till the user has stopped typing. > B. If <Update Delay> has passed, THEN do the check. > > Similarly, 500 mseconds is the default from NetBeans and I think that > also diminishes slowdowns.
I agree that the editor delay is too fast and it is a major usability problem. It may be a particular problem with me as I have a hand tremor that causes more typos and pauses than is typical of others. FWIW I would probably prefer special treatment for a change in line due to either movement of the curser to a new line or entering a return key for while I am on the same line it is likely that I am considering more mods of that line. In other words: A. Wait till the user has stopped typing. B. If the last keyboard or mouse entry has resulted in a change in line position and any key other than cursor movement has been entered since the last check do the check, otherwise C. If <Update Delay> has passed, THEN do the check. With <Update Delay> user definable, but a default of 0.5 seconds. (I would probably set it to 1 or 2 seconds.) > > 2. It would be nice if the Errors/warnings/etc in the console could be > set to automatically clear itself out when you click generate, > especially if the grammar generates successfully. Maybe you can, but I > don't see the setting. This would be very useful. > <snip> > > Andreas Stefik, Ph.D. > Assistant Professor > Department of Computer Science > Southern Illinois University Edwardsville > > List: http://www.antlr.org/mailman/listinfo/antlr-interest > Unsubscribe: > http://www.antlr.org/mailman/options/antlr-interest/your-email-address List: http://www.antlr.org/mailman/listinfo/antlr-interest Unsubscribe: http://www.antlr.org/mailman/options/antlr-interest/your-email-address -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "il-antlr-interest" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/il-antlr-interest?hl=en.
