[Libreoffice-ux-advise] drawing toolbar interactions

[Christoph Noack]

Hi André, all!

Am Donnerstag, den 21.07.2011, 09:48 +0200 schrieb Andre Schnabel:
> Hi Michael,
> 
> > Von: Michael Meeks <michael.meeks at novell.com>
> > Betreff: [Libreoffice-ux-advise] drawing toolbar interactions
> > 
> > 	https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=39268
> > 
> > 	I was wondering if (since users tend to get stuck in this mode), having
> > 'Escape' escape from the mode back to normal 'selection' would be a
> > helpful addition to make it more acceptable.

If we define this a mode, then users should be made aware that a mode
(=change in behavior) is active. Currently, we do have a changes mouse
pointer (but that's not that self-explaining) and (sometimes) the
highlighted buttons. But since toolbar elements are usually independent
and thus highlighted (e.g. in the upper toolbars), the highlighting
doesn't make any difference here.

So, if (_if_) we decide to go for any mode (even today), then I propose
to visualize that mode via the status bar, something like "Draw
rectangle. Use ESC to switch back to selection mode."

> I agree that this would be helpfull for Draw, as drawing is the most obvious
> activity there.
[...]
> And for the other modules "Drawing" is a secondary function (ok, some of
> my managers would disagree). The current behaviour (single click -> draw just
> one element; double click -> draw multiple elements) is implemented the same
> way in many other applications (including PowerPoint, Excel and Word). 
> So if we change the behaviour in general, we would please Scribus users, but
> likely confuse many other users.

Thanks for the excellent summary - Impress (during OOo times) has been
regarded to be the more important module. Thus LibreOffice is optimized
for arranging objects = working on presentations.

By the way, the newer Microsoft Office version elegantly solved that
issue by avoiding any modes and moving drawing functionality to
"Insert".

So, I see two alternatives here (amongst others less attractive ones):
      * Separate the behavior of Draw/Impress and introduce mode changes
        via single click in Draw --> will make Draw a "real" drawing
        application, but introduced some inconsistency within our tools
      * Solve the issue by introducing a "duplicate object" feature in
        Draw --> adds some clutter to the menu, but will boost
        efficiency for those who know

> What is really confusing is that it is not obvious, if a tool is "sticky"
> or not. E.g. Double click on rectangle will make the rectangle shape
> in standard shapes sticky. But as this is hidden in a floating toolbar,
> user has no info about this status.

Yep.

By the way, thank you Regina - you have an amazing knowledge with regard
to the OOo history!

Cheers,
Christoph