Re: [Audacity-quality] Linking icon WAS Re: select behavior weird?
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From: Gale A. <ga...@au...> - 2010-08-25 05:58:04
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| From Martyn Shaw <mar...@gm...> | Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:28:47 +0100 | Subject: [Audacity-quality] Linking icon WAS Re: select behavior weird? > On 19:59, Vaughan Johnson wrote: > > On 8/16/2010 3:05 AM, Gale Andrews wrote: > >> > >> | From Vaughan Johnson<va...@au...> > >> | Sun, 15 Aug 2010 14:39:50 -0700 > >>> On 8/13/2010 2:57 PM, Gale Andrews wrote: > >>>> I have to say (my eyes aren't young any more) I can barely perceive > >>>> the padlock (at 12 x 12), and probably wouldn't realise it was a lock > >>>> if I didn't know. > >>> > >>> Yes, it's really tiny. Might be able to make it a few pixels bigger. Al > >>> had put the 12x12 on the menu, but it really should be separate. That's > >>> why I suggested making the track-minimize button a little less wide and > >>> putting the icon next to it. And that should allow it to be as high as > >>> the track-minimize button. > >> > >> I quite like that idea of putting the icon to right of a less wide roll-up > >> button, with the possible drawback that it might look odd if user > >> always has linking off. > > > > I made it change the width of the minimize button depending on whether > > sync-lock is on. > > I quite like this. > > > As it is not a button, can't put a tooltip on it, per your suggestion. I > > suppose it could be made a button, each of which also turns on/off > > sync-lock... Low priority at this time, imo. > > Low priority indeed, but... > If it was a button, clicking it would presumably turn linking off, > thus removing the button. So no way to turn it back on? ;-) > > And clicking on it still has the roll-up/down functionality of the > minimize button - intentional or a (very minor) bug? I think it's a problem as it is now. I like the icon reducing the width of the collapse button. It gives an extra visual clue that enabling sync-lock has "done something", and that it's "on". But because it's inlaid, I think it already "looks" like too much like a button, so will get clicked on when the user doesn't want to collapse the track. So if it isn't a button, can it just be an overlay with no separator between it and the button, so making it obvious that clicking the entire width will collapse? I don't mind it doing so then, in fact it may have an advantage of making the collapse button easier to "hit". Can VI users "hear" the sync-lock is on without a tooltip, or is it redundant for them to hear that or not for each track? If it was a button, I would assume it would highlight when depressed? I think . the problem with a button is that given every other track panel control is per track, it might look as if the button was meant to take that track in/out of a group (no buttons depressed means there is no linking). Could we have a default shortcut for toggling Sync-Lock (suggest CTRL + SHIFT +L)? I think power users who have it on might also quite often want to turn it off temporarily to perform a custom timeline changing action on one track, or as an easier to way remove an unwanted label without affecting the audio. > Also I can see the linking background on tracks that aren't selected > but on ones that are I see a grey bg without links. I haven't > followed this thread too closely so I don't know if this is normal or > a problem. I think that's correct. The selected tracks will have all commands applied to them. The unselected tracks with the tiles will only be affected if the command would otherwise desync those tracks. I have though been hearing some confusion reported about what the track icon actually "means": 1 Because each track on its own is a group (so, generate a first track and it has an icon), the icon can give the impression it's a "repeater" for the linking button on the toolbar. So it can be unsettling that deselecting a sole track removes the icon even though linking is still on. 2 When you select (in) all tracks there are as Martyn says no tiles in the waveform, but you still see the link icon in the tracks, which makes people think it is a toolbar icon repeater after all So I think the track icon's meaning is a bit hard to document right now. Perhaps it should a) either repeat the waveform tiles (which as per 2 it doesn't) or b) just indicate if a track is *potentially* in a group when linking is on? If b), I don't much like the icon disappearing when track is unselected. I appreciate we may be saying that merely selecting a track puts it in a group, but this idea loses clarity for me given the icon must disappear when linking is off, yet the selected tracks respond identically whether linking is off or not. BTW do Time Tracks and Note Tracks have any meaning with linking on? Both sorts of tracks display the track linking icon when selected as per above, but don't display linking behaviour. In fact you can't select track in a Time Track at all. Gale |