Sparx Systems Forum
Enterprise Architect => Bugs and Issues => Topic started by: Skippy on March 15, 2013, 04:22:10 am
-
When I add a button to a screen it flies off to the bottom of the display.
I posted this a few days ago but nobody answered. Since it makes it virtually impossible to produce proper screen prototypes it would be good if somebody could address the problem.
Thanks!
-
If you want somebody to address the problem, then you should probably be contacting Sparx support rather than posting on a user forum. There is a link to the bug report form at the bottom of the page. (Sorry I can't help you myself but I can't reproduce the problem on my system).
-
OK, I'll do that, thanks.
So: what's the 'bug report' section of the forum for? Is it just for users to discuss bugs amongst themselves?
-
So: what's the 'bug report' section of the forum for? Is it just for users to discuss bugs amongst themselves?
Yup, exactly. It's titled 'Bugs and Issues' BTW, not 'Bug Reports' ...
Best regards,
Günther
-
I was being facetious. The people who need to know about - and deal with - bugs are the developers at Sparx Systems. They should be monitoring this forum themselves, not expecting users to re-post somewhere else. Why would I want to discuss a bug with other users?
Since I am not paid by Sparx Systems to run quality control checks I will go back to using the version that works and hope that at some stage the company gets its act together. Sparx Systems should run its own quality control *before* selling buggy new versions of its product (I have used EA for a while and didn't get the problem with earlier versions.) This bug makes it very difficult to use the product and needs to be dealt with a bit more professionally.
-
I'm on you. However, we do not know how people at Sparx are paid for what. Some of their developers monitor this forum and (hopefully) influence the development accordingly. But the primary way is the bug report. That will give you a reference number. Still we don't know what happens with the report once you got the number. QA doesn't seem to be something outstanding within Sparx :(
q.
-
I was being facetious. The people who need to know about - and deal with - bugs are the developers at Sparx Systems. They should be monitoring this forum themselves, not expecting users to re-post somewhere else. Why would I want to discuss a bug with other users?
The purpose of this forum is to discuss issues with other users to find out if it's a bug at all (and not PEBCAK, or OS problem), or others also noticed a particular issue and may know a workaround etc.
The primary address to notify sparx about bugs is their bug report form.
-
>>The purpose of this forum is to discuss issues with other users to find out if it's a bug at all
Fair enough. However, nobody has bothered to reply apart from you: somebody from Sparx Systems should be monitoring the forum, testing the bugs reported and acting on them. Nobody has bothered to ask me for the details needed to reproduce it.
-
Actually, from time to time Sparians do check out issues reported on this forum and give feedback, as do many members, exactly as mentioned above to see if it is environment or version related.
But to do this the posting has to be quite specific
(see for example http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/PmWiki/HowToGetAssistance).
with info about environment, version, images are good, steps to reproduce etc...
-
I'm sorry, but KP DID respond to you, within 4.5 hours:
>> If you want somebody to address the problem, then you should probably be contacting Sparx support rather than posting on a user forum. There is a link to the bug report form at the bottom of the page. (Sorry I can't help you myself but I can't reproduce the problem on my system). <<
He tried to test your problem, based on the very limited information you provided, and was unable to reproduce the 'bug'. So he directed you to the official channel, which will solicit specific information from you and which will direct your problem to the developer in whose area of expertise the issue lies (and who is probably one of the developers who doesn''t read the forum, since it was set up for USERS to discuss things amongst themselves, not as a vehicle for users to contact Sparx employees).
A small number of Sparx employees do participate on the forum and provide assistance, but only in the same capacity as the users - voluntarily, when they have time, without obligation and without guarantee. If you want an official response, use the official channels.
-
Refering to it as a 'bug' in inverted commas (as if I am too stupid to know whether it's a bug or normal behaviour) is insulting. I have been using computers for almost forty years and have written books on software development. If I try to place a button on a screen and it flies off to the bottom of the page this is a bug. If the diagrams which I created in version 9.3 are messed up in version 10 (because the buttons have disappeared to the bottom of the page) then this is a bug.
I have no idea why this person couldn't reproduce it: in any case, it doesn't happen in version 9.3.935. Since version 10 does nothing extra that I need and is very unstable I will stick with the old version.
I am sorry that I posted on the wrong forum. Given that the forum is entirely full of people reporting bugs it seemed to be the best place.
>>from time to time Sparians do check out issues reported on this forum
They should do so every day, not 'from time to time'. A company which has such a low regard for its users will soon find itself overtaken by companies which are more customer-focused.
-
I have no argument with the classification of your problem as a 'bug'. I put it in inverted commas simply because it is a term used out of its correct context, which is - strictly - an insect of the order Hemiptera. I'm a biologist, it's a habit of mine. That's all.
-
Skippy, in 5 posts in this thread, it seems that the sum total of your bug report is this:
When I add a button to a screen it flies off to the bottom of the display.
When I try to reproduce this, by creating a "User Interface - Win32" diagram, dropping a "Dialog" element on the diagram and dropping a "Button" element on that, the button stays exactly where I put it. It stays in the same place when I reload the diagram, when I reload the model, and when I restart EA.
One of two things is causing this difference of behaviour: either I'm not doing the same thing as you, or my set-up is different to yours. If you fill in the bug report form, it will ask you for details of your setup, and it will ask you to give the step-by-step details of how to reproduce the behaviour. Hopefully, with a more detailed bug report, somebody here will be able to reproduce your problem and then we can do something about it.
PS I come onto the forum to delete spam and break up fights. If I can be helpful while here, I will be, but only while waiting for the codebase to finish compiling. Really, if it's "helpful" you need, our support team are much better at it than our developers. Bug report - fill it in and send it! :)
-
The problem is not when I put a button onto a dialogue box, but rather when I put it onto a screen (typically at the bottom). Please let me know if you get the bug with that: if not, I will reinstall EA 10 and send you a screen shot.
Thanks for your help!
-
Just tried that with V10. No problem at all. The button stays where I drop it.
q.
-
You are right.
In order to replicate it you need one of the buttons to be linked to another element by a connector - for example, by an association line. Either the button will fly off when you add the connector, or when you subsequently move the button. Failing that, it will fly off when you add a second button and/or add a connector to that.
In each case the button flies off to the bottom right of the screen, well below the rest of the diagram.
Please let me know if you still can't replicate it.
Thanks for your help.
-
I added a connector but still the button drops where it's supposed to be.
q.
-
Did you add a second button, also with a connector attached to something?
-
Yes. Each button had a connector to something. I also connected the buttons with each other later. No difference. Behavior was okay all time.
q.
-
Maybe the bug occurs after the diagram reaches a certain level of complexity. I will experiment with smaller diagrams and see if I can post the one I am using. In any case, it's extremely consistent for me.
-
I have tested it again on a much simpler diagram: it happens constantly. The buttons move down to the bottom of the screen or else the 'picture content' elements move down or else everything moves together. I have no idea why you can't replicate it.
In any case, I will go back to the last stable version of the program, which was 9.3. I'm not going to spend hours trying to persuade the developers at EA to take the issue seriously.
Thanks very much for your help.
-
Well, the guys at Sparx tested it with the same result as mine - it works. Just your installations does have the problem. So it's quite likely that it has to do with your installation. (I've been in similar positions where just my installation had an issue and I was not able to prove what was the cause.)
Have you tried with a plain environment? That is an empty EA with no add-ins or MDG (except the basic) turned on.
q.
-
You may be onto something.
I have a new project with all the MDGs disabled apart from the Win32 interface (which I need to get the button to reproduce the bug). In this situation the buttons work fine. As soon as I reselect the MDGs the buttons start moving about when I add new buttons to the screen. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to select each one individually in order to work out which one(s) is or are causing the problem. I will try running it with a minimum of MDGs to see if that works.
Thanks for your help.
-
I spoke too soon. With everything else but the Win32 and the basic MDGs uninstalled I still get the bug. Since I need the Win32 interface I will go back to the stable version of EA (9.3).
-
Now you're talking about Win32 MDG screen - you did not mention that so far! However, I tried it with elements from that toolbox too and still no problem.
q.
-
>>Now you're talking about Win32 MDG screen - you did not mention that so far!
I'm sorry.
>>However, I tried it with elements from that toolbox too and still no problem.
I am wondering if the bug is caused by the installer program not clearing up the older version of EA 9.3 properly and then EA 10 using old versions of the MDG. In any case, I doubt that the problem is caused by anything exterior to EA.
Anyway. Thanks for your help.
-
You're welcome. As said, I know how it's feeling if you have a bug you can't explain. My best guess would be that some MDG behaves strange. Good luck in further hunting. Also I think you could turn to Sparx support via mail. They should be able to help you trace down the cause.
q.
-
On of my clients seems to have a similar problem.
They created a lot of Win32 GUI diagrams in a previous version and after an upgrade to version 10.0.1009 the layout of their diagrams is completely messed up.
Buttons and other GUI elements are scattered around on the diagram.
Do any of you know if Sparx provided a fix for this problem?
I also contacted support, but I guess it will take at least a day before they reply (given the fact that it is currently evening down under)
Geert
-
Geert, it sounds like a different problem. Specifically, prior to version 10 Win32 diagrams modified the scaling to use dialog units instead of pixel based logical units. There was never any support for any other elements on a win32 diagram or win32 elements on normal diagrams.
Version 10 changed the way this works so that win32 elements would play nicely on all diagrams. This did break existing cases where people had mixed them. I recommend moving them onto a win32 diagram in v9.3 and then you can move them back in v10.
-
Hi Simon,
Thanks for your answer. I'll try that.
Geert