Hello all,
I'm posting this to -discuss, but if someone things that it would gain from being in -ui don't hesitate to add a Cc. Since most -ui users are also in -discuss this shouldn't be a problem though.
As some of you know I'm developing an installer application, with the original name of Installer.app. As I said previously this is for me the first stab at a "real" application using GNUstep, so the code itself is not at all pretty. This is not why I am writing this mail though, since this will sort itself out the more I learn.
Since Adrian Robert contact me in the hope he could make a GNUstep package I have been speeding up development (having people wanting to use the app is an incentive to progress). In recent days I have changed a number of things, and this is were it stands, and do note that most, if not all, of this decisions are more or less already made:
o I changed the main development from the .deb bundle to the .pkg bundle o I adopted the Apple format for the .pkg bundle (and not the NeXT one) o I just finalized the code that actually installs things, so, even without some things like post/pre scripts, volume checking, etc, the code I have here takes a .pkg, presents the info, and installs it.
Comments on everything are appreciated, but I have good reasons to
follow Apple's format. The fact that OSX packages can easily be
converted is a side-effect, the fact is that the new OSX format is much
more "stepish" than the older one, since the plistsare in serialized format
and the layout structure lends itself to very simple handling with the
NSBundle methods for getting resources.
This mail is to ask advise on the UI design and even the UI structure. So, although I welcome any feedback, this is really what I need feedback right now. General questions on why we need package management, if it would be better to simply use rpm/deb, etc, are of course debatable, but I would really like to put those on hold for a moment.
Sorry for the long preamble, here is the "meat":
Currently I use the NeXT Installer.app UI structure more or less. Instead of a pop-up button (see http://www.linuks.mine.nu/openstep/installer.png and related) I use tabs (see http://home.gna.org/installerapp/images/installer_full.jpg for an old screenshot). This structure allows the user to view in the same window all the information related to the package without having to navigate. However they are somethings that can't be put there and others were a NSPanel must be used (more below). OSX's Installer is more wizard like. It goes trought several steps (Welcome, Readme, License, Options, Install, Congrats, or something like that). This makes the user navigate trough several logical steps in order to install the package, while having the option to view some specific info not presented (OSX users help me here, are the files contained in the package in one of the steps or is there some menu action to display them?). This are two totally different structures, and I must decide for one of them. From the opinions I have gathered, and as predicted, NeXT users or users that like a closer emulation with NeXT tools prefer my current approach ("makes it easy to see all the info without having to navigate" seems to be one of the pratical reasons). Users that use OSX or never used NeXTStep prefer the "wizard" mode ("it's more logical and easier for users to select options" is the main reason given).
So, please share your opinion on this point.
Another difficulty I am having with the current format is the way I will implement stuff like setting the install options (Location if relocatable, etc) and the install progress. I'm terrible at UI design (at it shows), so I have them in two panels that pop up when the user selects Install, one after the other. This is not very good. Using the tabs to display this stuff (like the NeXT one did with the views) seems not very logical to me.
This is it. I want the feedback of interest parties on what general structure to follow, and also some advices on how to actually display stuff in them.
BTW, the code in CVS is *not* updated, I will correct that as soon as I remove some harcoded stuff I have in the new .pkg format handling.
Best Regards,
fsmunoz
_______________________________________________ Discuss-gnustep mailing list Discuss-gnustep@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss-gnustep
