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Ruskialt
Junior Member
Denmark
22 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 30 2004 : 5:52:26 PM
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I emailed this first suggestion directly to support and quickly got imo positive response. Now I'd like to see what others might have to say about this.
1) I find the "List non-inherited entries first" very interesting, but why no let this concept go further and have base all classes listed above descendants, in a logical sort instead of alphabetical. Afterall alphabetic sort doesn't bring information.
When working in CMyCWnd scope, listbox would sort this way:
CObject members go here
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CCmdTarget members go here
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CWnd members go here
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CMyCWnd members go here
2) Make the listbox bigger. Is there some kind of 10 entries hardcoded limited, or why is it that the list doesn't make use of the entire screen height?
Thanks for a great product! |
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feline
Whole Tomato Software
United Kingdom
18939 Posts |
Posted - Nov 01 2004 : 5:03:10 PM
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at a guess i would probably want the class members sorted the other way round, with the most derived members first, since i am most likely to want these.
this is definitely an interesting idea. you would presumably need to insert some form of separator into the listbox, to show the difference between CObject and CCmdTarget functions. i would really need to try it to see how i felt about it 
as for the size of the list box, if the list became the full height of the screen that sounds quite unhelpful, since i tend to be focusing my attention on the part of the screen where i am typing my code.
with the advent of shorthand and acronyms in VAX 10.1 (currently on public beta) i very rarely look at a long listbox, so this probably wouldn't help me much. |
zen is the art of being at one with the two'ness |
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Ruskialt
Junior Member
Denmark
22 Posts |
Posted - Nov 01 2004 : 6:04:29 PM
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Yes, a seperator is probably needed to separate chunks og functions, and maybe some kind of headline item in the list for each chunk to identify parent class name aswell.
Most often I see class hierarchys drawn with base classes above sub-classes, infact I never saw otherway around - well, except for VA View :-)
The larger listbox is usefull if you use it for "what else is possible here" purposes. I you know what you're after, size doesn't really matter (can't believe I heard myself say that).. |
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feline
Whole Tomato Software
United Kingdom
18939 Posts |
Posted - Nov 02 2004 : 4:18:10 PM
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*giggles*
i don't use VA View much, but i do find it very useful when simply looking over a list of all the functions on a class.
my concern over any sort of separator item, especially a class name, in a listbox is how will it look and function. we become used to being able to select any item in a listbox. inserting "display only" items could lead to confusion, especially when used at the same time as shorthand and acronyms.
does anyone else have a view on this idea? i am happy to put in feature request cases for these, but i would like to see how the ideas stand up to general discussion first |
zen is the art of being at one with the two'ness |
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Ruskialt
Junior Member
Denmark
22 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2004 : 01:56:50 AM
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I agree with you that display only items may feel ackward at first. It should be displayed in another color and maybe in bold, and indeed the larger listbox is needed here.
I think sorting this way would help keep a good overview of how classes are build and interact, specially if you are new to some library. Another problem though is multiple inheritance - how to sort those?!
Yes we need opinions of others, infact this is why I started this thread. 45 views untill now without much response leads to the conclusion that this suggestion is maybe not amongst favourites.. |
Edited by - Ruskialt on Nov 03 2004 02:00:04 AM |
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peterchen
Tomato Guru
126 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2004 : 04:36:26 AM
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I'd certainly love to see the separators, though "list non-inherited first" is an 80% solution (with 10..20% implementation complexity)
A few suggestions on the usability:
center text, and use a line left & right of the text (this isn't too hard to do using Custom Draw), i.e. that it looks like this:
---- CObject ----
When using cursor up/down, skip these items. My test implem currently does not show the selection bar when mousing over, and click does nothing.
>> multiple inheritance - how to sort those?!
left to right, like C++ does?
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Ruskialt
Junior Member
Denmark
22 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2004 : 05:15:46 AM
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---- CObject ---- is a fair solution to me, and yes ofcause skip them on up/down arrows.
Left to right, yes probably best solution :-)
Still we need a larger list box, don't you think? |
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Stephen
Tomato Guru
United Kingdom
781 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2004 : 05:44:37 AM
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| You know, I'm a bit sceptical of this whole idea. With the built-in MFC classes I really don't know or care how far back in the hierarchy a particular method is defined. I suspect this idea would actually make it harder to find the name you're looking for. |
Stephen Turner
ClickTracks http://www.clicktracks.com/
Winner: ClickZ's Best Web Analytics Tool 2003 & 2004
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Ruskialt
Junior Member
Denmark
22 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2004 : 05:56:15 AM
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The list would still remove items as you type, so typing "pSomeObject->s" would remove entries without an "s" as first character. Finding what you are looking for won't be harder.
Maybe in some cases you wouldn't worry about how far up the hierarchy some method is found. But what is less interesting, is how a particular function is sorted alphabetically amongst other methods. |
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Stephen
Tomato Guru
United Kingdom
781 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2004 : 06:58:34 AM
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| I think the separators would add too much visual clutter. And in a longer list, it's easier to find things alphabetically. |
Stephen Turner
ClickTracks http://www.clicktracks.com/
Winner: ClickZ's Best Web Analytics Tool 2003 & 2004
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Ruskialt
Junior Member
Denmark
22 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2004 : 07:10:39 AM
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If you know what you are looking for, you will probably type characters untill the list offers only one possible item, then hit tab or enter to complete the word. This bahaviour is the same with hierarical sorted system.
This could be an alternative to alpa sort, not a replacement. |
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schoenherr
Tomato Guru
Germany
160 Posts |
Posted - Nov 04 2004 : 12:20:51 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Stephen
I think the separators would add too much visual clutter. And in a longer list, it's easier to find things alphabetically.
i totaly agree and i hope WT will not implement this suggestion.
but if this one IS implemented it shoul be an option (grrr.., but i don't wan't to loose the current behaviour) |
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