Hi Martyn,
how about option c:
in each gui window at the lower left corner have a button called
"Display script", or call it "Expert Mode" if people feel better as
"Experts" :-) , before running of course. Then people who would like to
edit their stuff could do so before running the script. I think it would
be scary to many if the "Expert Mode" actually would display all other
options available for that particular program - for this you have the RTFM*
I tend to use the GUI only for standard stuff and keep migrating my
scripts from directories to directories, which if you run a search on
say e.g. "refmac." spits out a ton of handcrafted scripts for each
project - maybe also not the best thing to do, but that's how it is.
Juergen
* Fine of course, what else !
Martyn Winn wrote:
This is timely. We're in the process of a) trying to organise a major
effort to tidy up the existing ccp4i classic (rather than fire-fighting
problems), and b) thinking about designing the next generation. Not sure
which this is. Option b) would be a project over several years.
Can you elucidate further. As an expert user, would you want a less
scary free text box (which is essentially what Run&View Com File is), or
actual widgets for every option. The latter could be done as a hidden
folder, made visible according to an Expert switch in Preferences.
As developers, we also have to think about long-term maintainability.
Options, in particular little-used options, can soon become out-of-date.
m
On Thu, 2007-05-10 at 12:41 +0200, Miguel Ortiz Lombardia wrote:
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Hash: SHA1
Dear all,
I'm a well-known luddite as Eleanor says. However, I shamelessly confess
that the CCP4 GUI is great. Not that I think this is necessary here, I'm
sure most people agree with that.
If I write now is because Martynn's e-mail have reminded me of something
I thought once, but forgot to ask for to the ccp4i developpers: perhaps
the GUI could have "two faces/modes", a basic one and an expert/advanced
one. I understand that they already exist, but the "expert" one is
hidden under the "Run&View Com File", while I'm thinking on a real
expert GUI-mode. Users should be able to choose one or the other in
their defaults, or switch from one to the other on-the-fly.
I don't have a particular problem in editing the scripts as it is done
now, but I have found that students tend to get a bit nervous about
doing it themselves ;-)
Cheers,
Miguel
Martyn Winn escribió:
The level of detail in the GUI is a matter of constant debate. The
underlying programs are far far richer, so the question is how much to
expose in the GUI. We try to get a balance between ease-of-use and
coverage, but it won't always work. BTW I don't think we ever claimed
that ccp4i (or anything else in ccp4) is "finished" ;-)
Having said that, we're always happy to hear about specific defects in
the GUI. When reporting these to [EMAIL PROTECTED] please give as much
information as possible, in particular knowing the context is always
helpful.
Cheers
Martyn
--
Jürgen Bosch
University of Washington
Dept. of Biochemistry, K-426
1705 NE Pacific Street
Seattle, WA 98195
Box 357742
Phone: +1-206-616-4510
FAX: +1-206-685-7002
