Initial experience coming from Squeak

I love the clean look with all the great developer features pre-installed (shout, OCompletion, etc.).  It's been a pleasure to work with.

And, a few things stood out that didn't seem to work as well.  I'm sharing them here because I wonder what your opinions are.  Also, what is the policy about contributing "good ideas" i.e. new/altered features  that are not bug fixes?  Is it best to discuss them on the list like this, or submit a changeset right off the bat per http://code.google.com/p/pharo/wiki/HowToContribute?  

Suggestions:
* Why shift for meta?  On a Macbook (with one button), it's awkward to press shift+alt+click, and also  disorienting to go back and forth from Squeak which is just alt+click.  Is there a reason to not keep the convention?
* what is with the workflow of the default browser?  When you click on a protocol, the method template appears in the bottom pane, all highlighted and ready to be replaced.  But because hovering over the pane doesn't give it the keyboard focus (like Squeak), you have to click in it, which unselects the template, which you then have to reselect manually…  Certainly not a big deal, but weird.  I though of a few possible fixes:
  - automatically give the bottom pane the keyboard focus when working in the protocol column (which doesn't seem to need it (I like this one - fewest steps for the user)
  - don't have the template pre-selected, so that clicking in the pane below the template selects it (easiest fix, requires one more user click)
 
* bizarre window changing - the (on Mac) Cmd+(hold arrow) to rotate through the open windows is pretty cool, but when you tap the arrow key (instead of holding it), it just goes back and forth between two windows, which I can't see a use for.  It seems it would be more useful to have the behavior to be: if you hold down the Cmd key and repeatedly tap the arrow hit, the windows rotate one after the other until you get through them all and recycle and v.v. for the opposite direction arrow.

* new windows e.g. workspaces appear wherever they feel like (is it a standard location?).  It seems to flow better if they appeared where the user is already looking i.e. where the active hand is.

* Single/multi-line popups - when you're extracting a method via "refactor source," you get a huge multi-line popup window, which eats crs, so after you enter the name and hit return, you are still in the popup and must take your hands off the keyboard to click "ok."  Now, fair enough, this might actually be a good thing in other circumstances, but - when you reference an unknown class, you get an "unknown variable" popup, choose "define new class," click through the category selection, you get a one-line popup to edit a paragraph-long class definition, lol!  So:
  - "refactor source->extract method" should be a single-line popup
  - and, "define new class->edit class definition" should be a multi-liner.

Thanks for an awesome environment, and I will continue to contribute any way I can :)

Sean P. DeNigris

> * Single/multi-line popups - when you're extracting a method via "refactor
> source," you get a huge multi-line popup window, which eats crs, so after
> you enter the name and hit return, you are still in the popup and must take
> your hands off the keyboard to click "ok."

It also annoys me sometimes too, but a few months back somebody was
requesting exactly the opposite. The one-line input field does not
work well if the method has more than one argument. I guess I need to
build a dedicated editor for method names?

> Now, fair enough, this might
> actually be a good thing in other circumstances, but - when you reference an
> unknown class, you get an "unknown variable" popup, choose "define new
> class," click through the category selection, you get a one-line popup to
> edit a paragraph-long class definition, lol!  So:
>  - "refactor source->extract method" should be a single-line popup
>  - and, "define new class->edit class definition" should be a multi-liner.

I 100% agree on this, class definition from within the editor totally
sucks. Unfortunately this is part of the compiler, not the browser so
it requires a change to the parser. I propose the fix below, that also
avoids the extra question of asking for the category name. This is
unnecessary as it can be edited afterwards in the class definition
anyway.

http://code.google.com/p/pharo/issues/detail?id=2286

Name: Compiler-LukasRenggli.208
Author: lr
Time: 9 April 2010, 8:23:45 am
UUID: e0f99e58-08ce-46da-839d-88947b66d668
Ancestors: Compiler-StephaneDucasse.207

- simplify and improve the user experience for class definition while
compiling a method

Lukas

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Thanks lukas
Yes the code on the fly is terrible :)
Fernando has been working on new version of textEditor and I will integrate them in 1.1 (with some bugs left)

stef


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Hi Sean,

Thanks a lot for the valuable feedback!

On Apr 9, 2010, at 05:57 , Sean P. DeNigris wrote:

Normally I would do both. If you have code, commit it and create a ticket (not only for bugs but also for features). Then announce it in the mailing list. Since many people are busy, sometimes you don't get a response immediately, especially if it requires somebody loading the code and trying it out. In this case just send a reminder and explicitly ask people for feedback.

For the list of suggestions you gave, you may want to wait for other feedback and then create single issues in the tracker for those that other people feel should be changed.

Cheers,
Adrian

[...]


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On Apr 9, 2010, at 5:57 AM, Sean P. DeNigris wrote:

Yes!
We are open to a lot of suggestions.
For example in 1.1 the way you define method category is waaaaaayyyyyyy better. Check it you will see (even if there is a small bug).

>
> Suggestions:
> * Why shift for meta?  On a Macbook (with one button), it's awkward to press
> shift+alt+click, and also  disorienting to go back and forth from Squeak
> which is just alt+click.  Is there a reason to not keep the convention?

I do not remember.
What we did was to stop the halos popping up plague. You can get halos but only when you want.

> * what is with the workflow of the default browser?  When you click on a
> protocol, the method template appears in the bottom pane, all highlighted
> and ready to be replaced.  But because hovering over the pane doesn't give
> it the keyboard focus (like Squeak), you have to click in it, which
> unselects the template, which you then have to reselect manually…  Certainly
> not a big deal, but weird.  I though of a few possible fixes:

People already reported that to me informally
A bug fix would be good. Can you open or check if there is bug entry?

>  - automatically give the bottom pane the keyboard focus when working in
> the protocol column (which doesn't seem to need it (I like this one - fewest
> steps for the user)
>  - don't have the template pre-selected, so that clicking in the pane below
> the template selects it (easiest fix, requires one more user click)
>


> * bizarre window changing - the (on Mac) Cmd+(hold arrow) to rotate through
> the open windows is pretty cool, but when you tap the arrow key (instead of
> holding it), it just goes back and forth between two windows, which I can't
> see a use for.  It seems it would be more useful to have the behavior to be:
> if you hold down the Cmd key and repeatedly tap the arrow hit, the windows
> rotate one after the other until you get through them all and recycle and
> v.v. for the opposite direction arrow.

sound like a good idea.
        suggestion:
                repost a mail with that title.
                open a bug entry.
                make noise so that ui aware people get a look :)


> * new windows e.g. workspaces appear wherever they feel like (is it a
> standard location?).  It seems to flow better if they appeared where the
> user is already looking i.e. where the active hand is.

Good point.
        Same process.
        chekc the realstateAgent class

It sucks!!!!
I will integrate lukas changes.

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On Apr 9, 2010, at 8:26 AM, Lukas Renggli wrote:

You could specialize the EntryFieldMorph Stef integrated in 1.1.
It's a single line entry field, that when accepted with Character cr or escaped, announces it via Announcements.

I've been wanting to implement a specialized SelectorWithArgumentsEntryField also, that heavlily uses the refactoring engine when the user enters input. Its in my todo list, but still couldn't find the right time.

Fernando


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Hi fernando

I will integrate your changes + lukas and a couple of toher later today.

Stef

On Apr 9, 2010, at 9:45 AM, Fernando olivero wrote:


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I filed bugs for these:

Issue 2288: http://code.google.com/p/pharo/issues/detail?id=2288 :

Sean P. DeNigris wrote

* what is with the workflow of the default browser?  When you click on a protocol, the method template appears in the bottom pane, all highlighted and ready to be replaced.  But because hovering over the pane doesn't give it the keyboard focus (like Squeak), you have to click in it, which unselects the template, which you then have to reselect manually…  Certainly not a big deal, but weird.  I though of a few possible fixes:
  - automatically give the bottom pane the keyboard focus when working in the protocol column (which doesn't seem to need it (I like this one - fewest steps for the user)
  - don't have the template pre-selected, so that clicking in the pane below the template selects it (easiest fix, requires one more user click)

Issue 2289: http://code.google.com/p/pharo/issues/detail?id=2289 :

Sean P. DeNigris wrote

* bizarre window changing - the (on Mac) Cmd+(hold arrow) to rotate through the open windows is pretty cool, but when you tap the arrow key (instead of holding it), it just goes back and forth between two windows, which I can't see a use for.  It seems it would be more useful to have the behavior to be: if you hold down the Cmd key and repeatedly tap the arrow hit, the windows rotate one after the other until you get through them all and recycle and v.v. for the opposite direction arrow.

Issue 2290 : http://code.google.com/p/pharo/issues/detail?id=2290 :

Sean P. DeNigris wrote

* new windows e.g. workspaces appear wherever they feel like (is it a standard location?).  It seems to flow better if they appeared where the user is already looking i.e. where the active hand is.

Sean P. DeNigris

Ha, the "click-for-focus" mosquito finally bit someone besides me.

Sean, to live happily ever after, in Preferences, just enable
mouseOverForKeyboardFocus.  It solves all of the problems you
mentioned above, reduces the overall effort needed to use the system
because merely "pointing" at an object endows it with 100+ "mouse
buttons" (left, middle, right, + the whole keyboard).  It is more
becoming of an object-oriented system, and if you can keep it on long
enough to get used to it, I'll bet you'll never want to go back..

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1. Automatically selecting the text pane violates basic UI principles.
In many cases this is not what you want, e.g. when you just browse
existing code.

2. I don't see why not pre-selecting the template helps? I've quickly
changed that, but clicking on it doesn't select it.

However, whatever focus settings you've enabled in your Pharo image,
double clicking onto the text pane selects everything.

Lukas

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Lukas Renggli wrote

I don't see why not pre-selecting the template helps? I've quickly
changed that, but clicking on it doesn't select it.

If the template is not pre-selected, single clicking off the template (in the pane below the bottom of the template) selects it.  Also, I think pre-selecting when there's no possible way to make use of the pre-selection is kind of mean, like dangling a banana outside a monkey cage, lol.

Sean

>> I don't see why not pre-selecting the template helps? I've quickly
>> changed that, but clicking on it doesn't select it.
>
> If the template is not pre-selected, single clicking off the template (in
> the pane below the bottom of the template) selects it.

As I said, I've removed the pre-selection and it does not work (or I
don't understand it).

Lukas

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Lukas Renggli wrote

I've removed the pre-selection and it does not work (or I
don't understand it).

Yes, you're right (it was working for me because I had to click there once to deselect it, duh!).  So maybe leaving it deselected and having the user double-click is the best compromise - no savings in steps, but more natural.

Sean