Author Topic: BUG: Element Usage (Read 13960 times)

ukmtk · « **on:** December 11, 2007, 12:08:50 am »

The Element Usage dialog is not resizeable. What is the point of having resizeable columns if one can't adjust the size of the window? This also applies to the vertical scroll bar too.

Please ensure that this particular dialog (along with all such similar dialogs) may be resized by the user. Of course it would be useful if the user selected size is remembered for subsequent uses of the dialog.

EA 7.0.818

thomaskilian · « **Reply #1 on:** December 11, 2007, 02:26:10 am »

And quite a number of other dialogs

Could someone at Sparx take care and have (all?) dialogs resizable.

«Midnight» · « **Reply #2 on:** December 11, 2007, 07:23:09 am »

Or at least choose random sizes that are just large enough that they don't truncate text before the juicy parts?

ukmtk · « **Reply #3 on:** December 11, 2007, 07:32:32 am »

I suspect that the EA code base is now .NET based from it's look and feel.
This means that it should simply involve ticking the "allow resize" box for the dialog in question.

«Midnight» · « **Reply #4 on:** December 11, 2007, 07:52:07 am »

I don't think it is, at least not yet.

Even if they've ported some or all to .Net, they are still wired to (mired in?) COM. I keep thinking it's one of those obscure [read "not Microsoft"] languages that are only used by everyone [read "not Microsoft"].

Regardless of the language, they should be able to make dialogs resizable. Some of them are already.

But that would violate the principle of EAUI (EA Unique Interface) by decreasing UEE (User Experience Entropy). Now, some people might see this as a step in the right direction. But think about the few of us who've been asking for this for so long.

This could totally frustrate the cynicism we've built up so carefully over all this time. And we'd have nothing to complain about. The risks are considerable! So, make your requests, get your suggestions adopted. But don't come to me when you whining about roving packs of frustrated cynics with too much time wandering about with too much time on their hands. You've been warned!

David

ukmtk · « **Reply #5 on:** December 12, 2007, 01:02:28 am »

It seems that resizeable dialogs in EA do NOT remember their user sized preference. I.e. if one opens, resizes, closes and then reopens the dialog then the initial default size is used.

Although this is in the spirit of the EAUI experience it is not in agreement with the applications I'm used to (Outlook/UltraEdit for instance).

thomaskilian · « **Reply #6 on:** December 12, 2007, 05:53:49 am »

Yep. Behaves inconsisten as usual. Some windows remember the size for some time - until out of the blue they forget it.

«Midnight» · « **Reply #7 on:** December 12, 2007, 06:38:56 am »

Quote

Yep. Behaves inconsisten as usual. Some windows remember the size for some time - until out of the blue they forget it.

No so Thomas,

It's not inconsistent, nor is it out of the blue.

It's random.

There, problem solved.

David

Paolo F Cantoni · « **Reply #8 on:** October 05, 2009, 02:55:42 pm »

[size=20]BUMP![/size]

This was a good idea in 2007 and it still is two years later... Though I note that there have been some recent moves on making dialogs more user friendly in this regard. Sparx are to be applauded and encouraged to continue.

In addition to resizing, sorting by column heading should be standardised across dialogs - wherever appropriate.

However, the reason I came across this entry was I was looking for an explanation of the values in the Usage column of this dialog. This dialog comes up when I use the <context menu>|In Diagrams... [Ctrl+U] menu item.

For the repository I'm currently working in, the two values appear to be: Classifier and Link.

Classifier seems to mean that the element is being used as a classifier of another element on the diagram (not the element itself)

Link appears to mean that the element itself is on the diagram regardless of whether there is a link to the element from any other element on the diagram or not (and I include hidden ones).

The Help system (sorry Roy) appears silent on the matter.

Can anyone explain what these terms mean in this context?

Are there any other values I'm not seeing (and if so, what is their meaning)?

TIA,
Paolo

RoyC · « **Reply #9 on:** October 07, 2009, 10:22:01 am »

Paolo

Yes the Help was silent, but I have now updated the topic for the Usage dialog to explain the Usage column. Silent no more! Or at least silent only until the next release.

You have deduced the correct values - Link and Classifier are the only ones - and their meanings are as you have described.

Paolo F Cantoni · « **Reply #10 on:** October 07, 2009, 12:10:07 pm »

Quote

Paolo
[size=18]...[/size]
You have deduced the correct values - Link and Classifier are the only ones - and their meanings are as you have described.

Hi Roy,

I hope you saw I was being ironic in my explanation of "Link".

It really doesn't make sense to use the term here.

Could I suggest "As Classifier" and "As Element" as the two values for usage here.

I'd suspect that showing "As Element" before "As Classifer" would be more useful - since I think the primary Use Case is looking for the element itself (but I'll take Thoughts? Votes? on that).

I'm happy to report a bug and feature request if needed.

Paolo

RoyC · « **Reply #11 on:** October 07, 2009, 12:50:23 pm »

Well, the Element Usage dialog is a reflection of the choices made when someone has dragged the selected element onto a diagram from the Project Browser (see the Paste from Project Browser topic).

One of those choices is to paste the element 'as Simple Link', meaning that this element is being depicted in this new diagram as well as its original host diagram. It is not a derivative of the original element, it IS the element. There is no connector, relationship or link involved at all.

Therefore, I think you could submit a feature request for the Paste Element dialog option to change, and suggest the Element Usage dialog follows suit.

(Without changing the terms used, I have tweaked the explanations a bit to reflect the point that it is THE element, the whole element, nothing but the element, and no facsimile of the element we are talking about here.)

Paolo F Cantoni · « **Reply #12 on:** October 07, 2009, 01:30:30 pm »

Quote

Well, the Element Usage dialog is a reflection of the choices made when someone has dragged the selected element onto a diagram from the Project Browser (see the Paste from Project Browser topic).

Accepted

Quote

One of those choices is to paste the element 'as Simple Link', meaning that this element is being depicted in this new diagram as well as its original host diagram. It is not a derivative of the original element, it IS the element. There is no connector, relationship or link involved at all.

Just to be clear - below, where you're suggesting submitting the feature request - you're saying that the paste 'as Simple Link' should be changed to 'as Element'; since, once you've pasted the element into this diagram, it's indistinguishable from any other occurrence of the element in any other diagram. So, implying one is a not a link and the others are is spurious!

Quote

Therefore, I think you could submit a feature request for the Paste Element dialog option to change, and suggest the Element Usage dialog follows suit.

(Without changing the terms used, I have tweaked the explanations a bit to reflect the point that it is THE element, the whole element, nothing but the element, and no facsimile of the element we are talking about here.)

And my suggestion reinforces that - yes?

Cheerz,
Paolo

RoyC · « **Reply #13 on:** October 07, 2009, 03:20:21 pm »

Yes, we are ultimately making the same point - the option name does not represent the action, and you could submit a feature request to change it.

However, there's a small glimmer of doubt when you use the word 'occurrence' - if you drag an element onto a diagram as (under the current parlance) " a Link", you are not seeing another occurrence of the element - you are seeing the original element from another viewpoint. If I am in a room and (for reasons we had best not explore) you look in through a window and then through another window, you do not see two occurrences of me. You see ME!

To extend that example, if you looked through one window and saw me, then looked through the next window and saw a reflection of me in a mirror, the reflection would be an instance. You could have many separate mirrors and reflections, and therefore many instances, but there is still only one me (and thank goodness for that!)

Now we have really stolen this thread for other purposes, so perhaps you might also clarify - by feature request - whether or not there are specific dialogs that do not resize as required, or re-present data as required?

Luis J. Lobo · « **Reply #14 on:** October 07, 2009, 07:15:07 pm »

But... What is the real side of the mirror? Maybe the reflection is looking at Paolo, and then, the original RoyC is the instance?

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