View Issue Details

IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0002105FreeCADBugpublic2021-02-24 23:10
Reporterbejant Assigned Towmayer  
PrioritynormalSeveritytweakReproducibilityalways
Status closedResolutionwon't fix 
Product Version0.15 
Target Version0.20 
Summary0002105: The Button To Open Data Tab > Placement Widget Is Not Always Visible
DescriptionSometimes the button to open the Data tab > Placement widget does not appear when it should be visible (at the far right of the Placement field). When the button doesn't appear, a new user doesn't know to click there to open the Placement widget.

It does remain visible once it appears.
Steps To ReproduceIt's explained pretty well in this forum post:
http://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10840&start=20#p88154
Additional InformationConfirmed by in the forum by David.Boettcher using Windows 7 and Ubuntu 15.04, and also by me using Ubuntu 14.04:

OS: Windows 7
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.15.4671 (Git)
Branch: releases/FreeCAD-0-15
Hash: 244b3aef360841646cbfe80a1b225c8b39c8380c
Python version: 2.7.8
Qt version: 4.8.6
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 6.8.0.oce-0.17


OS: Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS
Word size of OS: 32-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 32-bit
Version: 0.16.4928 (Git)
Branch: master
Hash: d8f63bcfd10301f3d1e141cced4370f0782238d0
Python version: 2.7.6
Qt version: 4.8.6
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 6.8.0.oce-0.17
 
TagsUI
FreeCAD Information

Activities

wmayer

2015-05-17 09:12

administrator   ~0006144

1. Just to point it out the normal way to open the Placement dialog has always been to go over the menu, i.e. Edit > Placement. The alternative to open it via the property editor is only for convenience and it was never claimed that this is the suggested way to open this dialog.

2. In the property editor you can modify a property when you click either on the corresponding item under 'Property' or 'Value'. For an integer property a spin box is opened, for a text property a line edit is opened and for the placement property the '...' button is opened. Why should this be handled differently? Btw, it's not true that you have to click on the very right side to get this button. As said above you only have to click somewhere on the corresponding items.

3. In the forum link it is suggested to show the placement dialog as a third tab instead of the '...' button.
a. This would be quite annoying and would disturb the workflow because clicking on an item in the property editor should only open an editor *inside* the item but it should never directly open an editor *outside*.

b. The placement dialog is rather large and if it was embedded as a third tab in the property editor it would always show scroll bars because there is not enough space to show it completely.

bejant

2015-05-18 15:45

reporter   ~0006146

Last edited: 2015-06-02 22:54

There is more info in the related forum thread:
http://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10840&start=20#p88286
but I copied it into this note too.

=====
>>>"1. Just to point it out the normal way to open the Placement dialog has always been to go over the menu, i.e. Edit > Placement. The alternative to open it via the property editor is only for convenience and it was never claimed that this is the suggested way to open this dialog."

Agreed the [...] button is a convenience (and I don't know when it might have been added) but I'll argue that the button itself implies that it is a suggested way to open the Placement dialogue. Now that the Data tab stays on top after it is selected (instead of the old way with the View tab always on top), that button is even handier to use.

=====

>>>"2. In the property editor you can modify a property when you click either on the corresponding item under 'Property' or 'Value'. For an integer property a spin box is opened, for a text property a line edit is opened and for the placement property the '...' button is opened. Why should this be handled differently? Btw, it's not true that you have to click on the very right side to get this button. As said above you only have to click somewhere on the corresponding items."

I think it should be handled differently because it's too easy for a user to never know the button exists. The button doesn't appear at first so the user clicks the little icon to the left of the Placement property to expand it (the little [+] icon in Windows or the solid triangle icon in stock Ubuntu and this theme):
http://forum.freecadweb.org/download/file.php?id=13833&sid=be1ae9da782d0b41c50d390cd1413969

The Placement property field is expanded to show Angle, Axis (default), or Position sub-fields. The user can click anywhere in the sub-fields and the button remains hidden:
http://forum.freecadweb.org/download/file.php?id=13834&sid=be1ae9da782d0b41c50d390cd1413969

The user expands the Position property to relocate the object and the button does not appear. Maybe that it not appearing now is OK, because if the user is this far into the sub-fields he doesn't want to access the Placement widget:
http://forum.freecadweb.org/download/file.php?id=13835&sid=be1ae9da782d0b41c50d390cd1413969

After moving the object and not collapsing the Placement property fields, if the user selects a different object in the hierarchy tree to move, the Placement property of the next object is also expanded as it was for the first object. A new user has just inadvertently been is taught an inefficient way to change the Placement property.

Interestingly, after the button appears a user can quit all FreeCAD documents and if that FreeCAD session isn't closed, if the user opens another FreeCAD document the button appears without any other user interaction....

=====

>>>"3. In the forum link it is suggested to show the placement dialog as a third tab instead of the '...' button."

As you've noted (and the forum OP agreed) the third tab isn't a good idea as a solution here.

Kunda1

2017-09-27 17:17

administrator   ~0010204

@peterl94 care to weigh in ?

peterl94

2017-09-28 14:07

developer   ~0010207

This behavior may be limited by the Qt widget the property editor is derived from. When you click on a cell in the value column, a widget for editing the corresponding item is created and displayed in that cell. For the Placement property, clicking on the value cell of the Placement row, displays a widget to edit the entire Placement property ("..." button). Clicking on a value cell of an individual component of the Placement (X position for example), displays a widget to edit that individual component. At least this behavior is consistent, even if it is not completely intuitive to some people.

I'm not sure how the "..." button could be made always visible or even if it should be.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
2015-05-16 02:19 bejant New Issue
2015-05-17 09:12 wmayer Note Added: 0006144
2015-05-18 08:42 wmayer Status new => feedback
2015-05-18 15:45 bejant Note Added: 0006146
2015-05-18 15:45 bejant Status feedback => new
2015-06-02 22:53 bejant Note Edited: 0006146
2015-06-02 22:54 bejant Note Edited: 0006146
2017-09-27 17:17 Kunda1 Note Added: 0010204
2017-09-28 14:07 peterl94 Note Added: 0010207
2018-05-31 00:11 Kunda1 Tag Attached: UI
2021-02-06 06:50 abdullah Target Version => 0.20
2021-02-24 23:10 wmayer Assigned To => wmayer
2021-02-24 23:10 wmayer Status new => closed
2021-02-24 23:10 wmayer Resolution open => won't fix