Author Topic: IDEA: Desktop progress meter (Read 88624 times)

Scott_Y · « **Reply #50 on:** January 10, 2013, 05:03 PM »

I think it would be good to add a confirmation for deleting a meter. I intended to click on the Save icon, but accidentally hit the Delete icon without realizing it -- then wondered why that meter wasn't there anymore!

It would also be good to use the same terms for both the icons and the context menu. Compare
ICONS: New meter, Delete row(s)
MENU: Add new meter, Remove selection.

skwire · « **Reply #51 on:** January 10, 2013, 05:23 PM »

Yep, agreed. Barbecue didn't get a whole lot of polish when I first wrote it so I'm glad it will get some love here as soon as I can get to it.

Scott_Y · « **Reply #52 on:** January 10, 2013, 06:25 PM »

It already has my love

Scott_Y · « **Reply #53 on:** January 14, 2013, 09:24 AM »

I'm not sure I believe what I just experienced: Yesterday when I started Barbecue, it had zeroed both the Number and Total values for every meter. I neither edited it nor replaced the meters.xml file from a backup. Today when I restarted it, all the correct values were back in place.

EDIT (with red face): IGNORE this; see my comment below.

skwire · « **Reply #54 on:** January 14, 2013, 09:28 AM »

Voodoo code. Or, gremlins...

Humour me...what speed is your computer?

Scott_Y · « **Reply #55 on:** January 14, 2013, 11:48 AM »

Humour me...what speed is your computer?
-skwire (January 14, 2013, 09:28 AM)

The relevant speed to question is my personal memory. I copied a good backup copy over the corrupted (zeroed) one, went to bed, forgot about it, and got up this morning to find a "miraculously" intact version. Heh. Apologies.

Scott_Y · « **Reply #56 on:** January 14, 2013, 01:54 PM »

Wish: The color picker will highlight the current color choice, and will remember custom colors. (The "highlight" is the dotted line around a color box after it has been clicked.)

Currently it always opens with the black color box highlighted, regardless of what color is already configured; it also doesn't remember custom colors. This makes it difficult to adjust colors from a known starting point, or to reuse custom colors. Thanks.

skwire · « **Reply #57 on:** January 15, 2013, 02:26 AM »

Give this version a try, please:

Website | Download v1.0.4 - 2013-01-15 + Added "Start minimized" option. (Thanks, Scott_Y) + Added percentage rounding option. (Thanks, Scott_Y) + Added toolbar buttons to move a meter up or down in the list. (Thanks, Scott_Y) + Added Edit glyphs to the meters. (Thanks, Scott_Y) + Added confirmation message box when removing a meter. (Thanks, Scott_Y) + Meters window should remember its position now. * Reworked main form into tabs. * Made menu and toolbar button descriptions consistent. (Thanks, Scott_Y) * Unicode compatible now. * Meters without a due date won't display a blank due date text.

Scott_Y · « **Reply #58 on:** January 15, 2013, 10:06 AM »

Thanks, skwire! Beautiful and more intuitive rework of the interface, and very nice additional functionality. Thank you for adding many of my wishes.

However, there is a problem with Save List: It returns "Error saving list contents" so I suspect it is trying to write the data to C:\Program Files (x86)\Barbecue\ where I had placed the executable.

Once it gets redirected to a writeable folder, it would be nice if it would use an existing copy of meters.xml.

skwire · « **Reply #59 on:** January 15, 2013, 10:13 AM »

Thanks, skwire! Beautiful and more intuitive rework of the interface, and very nice additional functionality. Thank you for adding many of my wishes.
-Scott_Y (January 15, 2013, 10:06 AM)

You're welcome. Sorry it took so long to get it done.

However, there is a problem with Save List: It returns "Error saving list contents" so I suspect it is trying to write the data to C:\Program Files (x86)\Barbecue\ where I had placed the executable.
-Scott_Y (January 15, 2013, 10:06 AM)

Yep, you can thank UAC for that. These restrictions make it difficult to write true portable software (where an app can't write to its own folder). Can you run it out of a non-protected folder? If not, let me know, and I'll come up with something.

Once it gets redirected to a writeable folder, it would be nice if it would use an existing copy of meters.xml.
-Scott_Y (January 15, 2013, 10:06 AM)

The application should use the meters.xml file it finds in its starting folder. Are you not seeing this behaviour?

Scott_Y · « **Reply #60 on:** January 15, 2013, 10:39 AM »

I placed barbecue.exe 1.0.3 in C:\Program Files (x86)\Barbecue\ and it automatically wrote meters.xml in C:\Users\Scott\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Barbecue\

I did the same thing with 1.0.4 but it doesn't know anything about my existing meters.xml file, and generates the error message above when trying to save data. So obviously it doesn't refer to the user folder, but tries to write to the Program Folder location instead and gets blocked.

I then copied barbecue.exe and meters.xml to a folder on my data partition. It ran correctly, including opening the data file. So that works fine, but contrary to how Win7 expects it to be done.

Scott_Y · « **Reply #61 on:** January 15, 2013, 10:48 AM »

Wishes for 1.0.4:

1. Provide a way to remove use of a due date. Currently, once a due date has been entered, there is no way to revert to showing no date, short of editing meters.xml.

2. Clicking on the pencil icon for a meter will always go to the Meters tab. Currently, it goes to the last open tab -- including the Options tab.

skwire · « **Reply #62 on:** January 15, 2013, 10:50 AM »

I placed barbecue.exe 1.0.3 in C:\Program Files (x86)\Barbecue\ and it automatically wrote meters.xml in C:\Users\Scott\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Barbecue\
-Scott_Y (January 15, 2013, 10:39 AM)

Very strange as there is no code in Barbecue to write to that folder. I will assume Windows 7 is doing something behind the scenes that causes this to happen.

I then copied barbecue.exe and meters.xml to a folder on my data partition. It ran correctly, including opening the data file. So that works fine, but contrary to how Win7 expects it to be done.
-Scott_Y (January 15, 2013, 10:39 AM)

Is that solution acceptable to you? From what I know, Windows 7 expects an application to write its files to a C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\<AppName> folder. However, all my programs are coded to write its files to the same folder where you have the EXE file (for easier portability).

Wishes for 1.0.4:
1. Provide a way to remove use of a due date. Currently, once a due date has been entered, there is no way to revert to showing no date, short of editing meters.xml.
2. Clicking on the pencil icon for a meter will go to the Meters tab. Currently, it goes to the last open tab -- including the Options tab.
-Scott_Y (January 15, 2013, 10:48 AM)

Can do.

Scott_Y · « **Reply #63 on:** January 15, 2013, 11:06 AM »

Is that solution acceptable to you?
-skwire (January 15, 2013, 10:50 AM)

Yes, that's great now that I know what to do. Thanks!

Scott_Y · « **Reply #64 on:** January 15, 2013, 11:43 AM »

+ Meters window should remember its position now.
-skwire (January 15, 2013, 02:26 AM)

The configuration window remembers its position, but the meters window always reopens in the upper left corner of the screen.

EDIT: The configuration window remembers its position only during the current session. It forgets once the program has been closed.

skwire · « **Reply #65 on:** January 15, 2013, 12:53 PM »

Website | Download v1.0.5 - 2013-01-15 + Added a clear date button. (Thanks, Scott_Y) + Main window should remember its position now. * Clicking a meter's edit button now switches to the proper tab on the main interface. (Thanks, Scott_Y) ! Meters window didn't remember its position under certain circumstances.

Scott_Y · « **Reply #66 on:** January 15, 2013, 01:24 PM »

Everything works great in 1.0.5 -- beautiful! Easy to use, intuitive, useful

The only significant wish remaining is for the color-picker module to highlight the currently-selected color, and to remember custom colors.

Scott_Y · « **Reply #67 on:** January 15, 2013, 04:22 PM »

... and a single-click toggle of the tray icon would be easier.

skwire · « **Reply #68 on:** January 16, 2013, 02:49 PM »

Everything works great in 1.0.5 -- beautiful! Easy to use, intuitive, useful
-Scott_Y (January 15, 2013, 01:24 PM)

Great to hear. Thanks for the report.

The only significant wish remaining is for the color-picker module to highlight the currently-selected color, and to remember custom colors.
-Scott_Y (January 15, 2013, 01:24 PM)

Highlighting the currently selected colour is fixed in the latest build. Unfortunately, the library I use does not support the custom colours option.

... and a single-click toggle of the tray icon would be easier.
-Scott_Y (January 15, 2013, 04:22 PM)

Added in this build:

Website | Download v1.0.6 - 2013-01-16 + Added option to use single-clicking on tray icon. (Thanks, Scott_Y) ! Currently selected colour should now be highlighted when using the colour picker module. However, custom colours will not be remembered. * Changed program icon.

Scott_Y · « **Reply #69 on:** January 18, 2013, 03:12 PM »

Thanks, skwire -- this is wonderful! I haven't experienced any data loss in the several days I've been using 1.0.6. The new icon is more distinctive and representative, and the single-click opening makes it noticeably easier. Also it is really nice to have a link from any meter bar directly back to its configuration -- much more efficient. The color picker module is still a bit odd, so I have sent you details by email.

What do you think of a dynamic update of the meter display (if already shown) when the configuration is changed, rather than needing to click on the refresh button? Lack of that feels a bit awkward to me.

skwire · « **Reply #70 on:** January 23, 2013, 04:33 PM »

What do you think of a dynamic update of the meter display (if already shown) when the configuration is changed
-Scott_Y (January 18, 2013, 03:12 PM)

The only obstacle is my own apathy.

It would take some fairly significant code refactoring (as compared to the current code) but it's nothing hard or anything like that. I'll try to find the time to do it.

Scott_Y · « **Reply #71 on:** January 24, 2013, 10:46 PM »

I understand, skwire. Things like that present a barrier. In the meantime, v1.0.6 is a significant improvement over earlier versions -- much easier to use -- and I'm quite pleased with that. It is helping me keep focused on several projects.

Scott_Y · « **Reply #72 on:** February 07, 2013, 06:36 PM »

What do you think of a dynamic update of the meter display (if already shown) when the configuration is changed
-Scott_Y (January 18, 2013, 03:12 PM)
The only obstacle is my own apathy. It would take some fairly significant code refactoring (as compared to the current code) but it's nothing hard or anything like that. I'll try to find the time to do it.
-skwire (January 23, 2013, 04:33 PM)

I've just discovered that Alt+B updates the meter display, so as a user who favors keyboard control over the mouse, I now feel less need for the meters to be updated dynamically because I don't need to click the refresh button to get results. You can demote my request accordingly. (Note by the way the awkward ergonomics of mouse control for Save and Refresh: Upper-left corner for Save, then lower-right corner for Refresh. That was the motivation for my requesting dynamic refresh.)

Two wishes for improved use:
1. Add keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+S for Save (easier than the current Alt+F, S) and F5 for Show/Refresh Meters (easier than the current Alt+B because it is a single key) -- both are common shortcuts for those functions, therefore natural here.

2. In the Configure Meter Bars, add a % column to the right of the Number and Total columns. The reason is that this is the primary interface of Barbecue, so if % were displayed, the user might never need to go to the Meter Bar interface anyway. Currently, however, % is shown only in the Meter Bars.

skwire · « **Reply #73 on:** February 07, 2013, 11:11 PM »

Before running this version, make a backup of your meters.xml file in case the new Percentage column blows things up.

Website | Download v1.0.7 - 2013-02-07 + Added Ctrl+S hotkey to save file. (Thanks, Scott_Y) + Added "Duplicate meter" functionality to the toolbar, Edit menu, and the Ctrl+D hotkey. + Added Percentage column. (Thanks, Scott_Y) * Moved the "Show/refresh meter bars" button to the toolbar, Edit menu, and F5 hotkey. (Thanks, Scott_Y)

Scott_Y · « **Reply #74 on:** February 08, 2013, 12:31 PM »

v1.0.7 is wonderful! Very easy and smooth for keyboard control.

Thanks, skwire!

Everything seems to be working properly, and my data from v1.0.6 came through intact. The Duplicate Meter function is very useful. For example, I use a customized off-white background for all meters; with Duplicate I don't need to configure that color for every new meter.

F5 works well for Show/Refresh. I'll embarass myself

by revising my own suggestion to something like Ctrl+R instead, to fit with the other shortcuts Ctrl+N, Ctrl+S, and Ctrl+D (for example, one could save and refresh with the sequence Ctrl+S, Ctrl+R). Either way is fine, it's up to you skwire.

Again, thanks for such a nice, functional utility.