On Tue, May 09, 2000 at 10:59:24AM -0400, Phillip Ezolt wrote:
> Would it be possible to change the dia user interface so that you can
> drag and drop shapes onto the diagram?
>
> This simplfies things for the user.
>
> Almost all of the tools in the tool box could disappear.
>
> No need for a selector (arrow), just click on an object to select it.
>
> The box, circle, line, and text could be the "Default" toolkit.
>
> I find myself doing the following alot:
> 1) Select a new object from the tool box.
> 2) Drop it on the canvas.
> 3) Click on the object to edit it, instead drop another object.
IMO there should be a preference which will cause the tool to revert
to the pointer after every operation. Indeed it's the most likely
tool to get used after you have placed one object.
I think that it's good that the most basic, common shapes have a drag-to-size
feature (thus the need for a "tool") but drag-and-drop makes more sense
for some less-used ones. The best criterion would be, are you likely to
need to resize the object by hand after placing it; if so then having a
drag-to-size tool saves time. DnD is fine for UML symbols for example,
especially if the symbols automatically grow bigger to accommodate more
attributes etc. You'd hardly ever need to resize the symbol by hand;
and most of the time you want to start with a fresh, empty one rather than
duplicating an existing one.
Also a really really important feature is control-drag to duplicate an
object. In Visio, I often end up customizing the shapes (I want some
default text, or I want to duplicate some connectors along with the shape)
and therefore often only use the palette for placing the first object.
This is the feature I miss most in Dia. It also goes well with the
revert-to-pointer-tool behavior because you will be doing even less
with the other tools other than the pointer if you get in this habit.
--
_______ Shawn T. Rutledge / KB7PWD [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(_ | |_) http://www.bigfoot.com/~ecloud [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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