> On Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 1:26 AM, MacArthur, Ian (SELEX GALILEO, UK) > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > >> I am still hunting for a good solution. > >> Lets sum it up again: I must be able to reference every > >> single widget by an ID. I must position and design an UI > >> with, say 1000 widgets > > > > Oh, too many. > > Human beings can't manage UI's with that many control parameters. > > I'd really be trying to find some way to define a higher level of > > abstraction of the individual parameters, to reduce the number of > > control inputs that need to be managed. > > It's getting off subject, but I agree that there are probably better > ways to do things than the wall of number entry boxes. I did a sysex > editor for a synth that had a lot of parameters (over 300, over 400 if > you count breakpoints individually). I made a simple language that > parses/unparses the sysex and gave names to the parameters from a spec > file, and then another that would tie the parameter to a midi > controller (including note number, for breakpoints), so you can map it > to the limited number of physical knobs available. Since there were > so many named controllers, I used one of those "incremental search" > things to narrow down the list. You could swap in and out different > sets of parameters by just writing the commands to a file and catting > them to the app. > > Anyway, I didn't wind up needing any gui for it, though something to > visualize breakpoints would have been nice. I got distracted before > completing it, but even in its semi-usable state, adjusting parameters > with physical knobs was nicer than typing in numbers. >
UI design...you can make it compact, with submenus, subwindows, search etc for "average" users that wouldn't understand all these options at once. Or you can make it professional, for the passionate user, that knows what he/she does without needing a manual for all those knobs. Of course the widgets need to be placed in a way that makes sense, but if they do, and you have a 27" or something monitor, those advanced users would probably be happy for being able to access everything in one big panel, without any extra action like searching, opening different windows, reading menu-entries and so on. Also, submenus and other measures to make the UI more compact may please at the beginning, but once you become experienced you may find it annyoing having to go here, then there, and from there elsewhere just to turn that knob. Also, popping windows (windows in general) can be annoying too, IMO. :) But, Ive also heard stuff like, humans can only "differenciate"(?) 5 items quickly, everything above needs more brain action (thinking, looking twice...). But of course, thats for new situations. A big panel may confuse at first, but after some learning...big advantage! :) I have not read about UI design yet, (just talked about it today with a professor of mine). But I am very interested in this topic. If you know some interesting articles, books, links about this please let me know. :) Jan _______________________________________________ fltk mailing list [email protected] http://lists.easysw.com/mailman/listinfo/fltk
