Request for next version - resize dialog

[Michael Warwick]

Hi

Really pleased to find that you have carried forward the work on PDFtk
Builder. One feature I would like to see is the ability to resize the
dialog box as many pdfs I work with have longer path and file names.

Michael

[David King]

I assume that your request to make the "dialog box" resizable is specifically referring to the width of the file name column of the main form. I think the changes already implemented in v4 adequately handle the UI issues associated with long file names/paths --- see following explanation.

In both the original (v3) and enhanced (v4) versions of PDFtk Builder, the main form is not resizable and the width of the columns in the source PDF file list are fixed. This simplifies the UI design and assures the form always appears in its intended compact layout, leaving space on the screen for other windows to support selection of input files via drag-and-drop and viewing of input and output PDF files.

In v3, the file list consisted of a single column which displayed location (folder path) + file name. Because of length of the location + file name strings typically exceeded the width of the column in the file list and because the beginning characters of the strings were usually identical (since most source PDFs files are typically selected from the same folder), the user was forced to resort to horizontal scrolling in order to read and distinguish entries in the file list.

In v4, I implemented a new default display option (Mode 1) that hides folder locations when displaying the file list and automatically truncates the displayed file name strings from the center of the string when needed to fit the width of the column. This change improved usability of the file list by focusing on the file names to differentiate entries in the list and by abbreviating the entries to eliminate the need for manual horizontal scrolling. The width of the list was also slightly increased, and a second column was added to display two useful indicators, P (partial page range) and T (displayed file name truncated). In v4, the file list can also be toggled temporarily to Mode 2 to include the folder path like in v3 (but with the horizontal scroll bar disabled) or the user can select the Properties option in the context (right click) menu of the file list to display the folder path, file name and other info for the selected source PDF file in a separate window.