[Gramps-users] progress report and a question

[Alex R. <sh...@al...>]

Hello,

I was working recently on sorting out Open/Import and Save/Export
functions in the development branch.

Presently, File->Open menu will open any data type GRAMPS is aware
of (GRAMPS BSDDB database aka grdb, GRAMPS XML, GRAMPS package,
and GEDCOM). If the requested file is not native (grdb) format then
the new database is set up and the data is imported into it. So for the
user everything looks like a simple Open operation, just like in any
other software.

File->Import will incorporate the data into the currently opened
database. Again, any supported data type can be selected. Hopefully,
this eliminates interface clutter and user confusion between Open
and Import functions.

Now the question is what do we do with Save/Export functions. The=20
File->Save item is gone, because saving the edited database is no
longer necessary: all the changes are committed immediately and the
database is always in the "saved" state. There might be a need, however,
to (1) save present grdb database under another name and (2) save present
data in another format (GEDCOM, GRAMPS XML, GRAMPS package, Web Family
Tree, CD Burner, and maybe more in the future.

One way of supporting the above functions is to have "File->Save as"
item and File->Export item. The former will save the database under
another name and open it, so the database under the new name is
edited. The latter would save data in non-native format: export it.

Another possibility would be to use "Save as" for both cases, and
allow file chooser filter to select an output format. This would
be similar to File->Open way of doing things.=20

Yet another possibility would be to have "Save a copy" and Export.
"Save a copy" would save grdb under another name, but not load it.
The copy would be "laid away" and not edited in the current session.

I would like to solicit user feedback as to what the preferred arrangement
of menu items should be. Some programs (like GIMP) have both Save as
and Save a Copy (no export though :-), while other have other combinations
of the above.

Please post your opinion and let's discuss it so that the meaningful
consensus can be reached. Maybe there're some other options that
I haven't listed above. The goal would be to have a simple, intuitive,
and powerful interface: as few interface elmenets as possible to
inambuguously enable everything we can offer to the user.

Thanks,
Alex

--=20
Alexander Roitman   http://ebner.neuroscience.umn.edu/people/alex.html
Dept. of Neuroscience, Lions Research Building
2001 6th Street SE, Minneapolis, MN  55455
Tel (612) 625-7566   FAX (612) 626-9201