UI niggles - Keeping some panels, closing others

[Krayol]

Hi folks - just thought I'd ask for your advice on a couple of niggles...

The EA UI is really quite usable but there are a couple of areas that consistently annoy me.  I was going to "just live with it" until I overheard a colleague complaining about the very same things too!

The thing that I'd like to get rid of is the "start page".  It serves no useful purpose (except as an intro page for newbies) and prevents me flicking between 2 open tabs.  I always close it in other products, e.g. Visual Studio; anyone know how I can do that here? - I've searched and searched!

The thing that I'd like to keep open is the project browser - it's vital but as I work through hundreds of diagrams, open, close, open, close, I inevitably hit Control-F4 while the focus is still on the tree -- I then curse it and press Alt-0 to re-open it again!   There will be at least 100 less curses in the world each day if someone can tell me how to fix that panel in position?!

Any advice most welcome!  Even just being told that I have to live with it

[Geert Bellekens]

Euh, stop hitting Ctrl-F4 maybe

I don't think there currently is a way to get rid of the start page. It has never bothered me, and sometimes its  usefull because it remembers the last openened projects.

You can always send in a feature request of course.

Geert

[Krayol]

LOL.  Well, I suppose that I could, but having used Ctrl-F4 to close windows for the last 10 years I doubt that I'll switch to clicking a small cross instead that quickly  

As for the start page, it's just an annoyance.  If you only ever use a mouse then it's perhaps not too bad, but if you switch windows using the keyboard it's just one more window to "tab" or "backspace" through!  In any case, all the functions on it are available through the file menu (or elsewhere).    Ho hum.  If no-one has any ideas then I'll submit a request or hack it out with an API!

[beginner]

Some years ago I asked for a layout lock. I always get an accidential grip on the border and drag docked windows around so I have to fiddle them back into position. Or (just as tedious) reload them from the saved layouts with a couple of clicks.

b.

[Krayol]

I presume that you didn't get it?  It does sound useful.  As you imply, this is a similar issue.

(Sorry for the slow reply - I got a bug myself!

[Graham_Moir]

Regarding the start page,  as a workaround you can bypass it by setting a diagram to be opened when the project is opened  (See diagram menu, make model default option)

[Krayol]

Hi Graham,

Sadly, while that does show the diagram as the first page, it doesn't get rid of the start page - it opens both.

The reason the start page gets in the way is that very often I need to work "between two diagrams".  If I had two word processed documents I would alt-tab between them; in this case I'd like to backspace between them.  The start page just gets in the way.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway!

Karl.

[beginner]

There's a nice addin by Takeshi Kouno on the Community Site. It opens a rendered window in a separate window. This helps a bit, though I'd like to see non-modal diagram windows natively in EA.

b.

[Sunshine]

I've used EA for about 5 years and I like the start page.

[Krayol]

LOL!  

Well - in 5 years I might change my mind.  By then it'll probably feel natural, like a pair of old jeans or comfy slippers!

Unfortunately, after 3 months it's still like new shoes.

[Krayol]

B,

Thanks for the suggestion about Takeshi Kouno's add-in.  It definitely helps with the common situation of reading from one diagram and creating another.

It's a shame that it doesn't just unpin a window so that it could be used interactively (edited, drag and drop from one diagram to another, etc).

Still helpful though, even as a static image - cheers.  K.