[Bf-funboard] Toolbox design

Thorsten Wilms bf-funboard@blender.org
Thu, 2 Oct 2003 17:21:29 +0200


Hi!

I would like to present the current state of my work for the toolbox 
(work on the icons hasn't been so fruitful up to now).

http://wrstud.urz.uni-wuppertal.de/~ka0394/en/blender_ui/

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About organization:

I can think of three different ways to categorize everything that 
could go into any menu.

1. Context-Layers or maybe Levels
- Application (Prefs and Quit, can all belong to the next one)
- File
- Scene
- Screen
- Active window
- Active Object
- Selection
- 3D Cursor (belongs here mainly for ADDing things)

There can be no selection and no (truly) active object, but at any 
time your in an active window in a screen and in a scene in a file 
in the application blender. Therefore you have selections on all 
these levels allowing to operate on them.


2. Basic Operations
- Add
- Remove (Delete, Clear)
- Change (Transform, Edit)

to expand a little bit:
- Select
- Copy

In a hierarchy starting with these, the Snap-Menu should be 
top-level, because it' entries belong together, but don't fit 
well under one of the other top-levels.


3. Modality / Mode of Operation (short: MoO! ;-)
- Commands
  Single gesture (click or keypress), therefore nonmodal.
  Example: "Select All".
  Mode of Operation: straight execution.
- Tools
  Temporary modal things like Border-Select.
  Mode of operation in the sende of a menu: Start.
- Modes
  Explicit modes like Proportional Vertex Editing.
  Mode of Operation: Toggle!
  Boolean Options belong here as well
- Mode-Selections
  different to the above in that it's not a boolean thing, but 
  a selection from a list of possibilities.
  Mode of Operation: Selection.
 


All of these categorizations can be used to sort items inside a 
hierarchy starting from another one. For example entries that refer 
to addition, deletion or editing could go in the same order everywhere. 
For providing extra consistency.
  

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Autocomplete semi-commandline


Like mentioned before in some post of mine, there could be a textfield
somewhere on the toolbox menu. Starting with the first key entered, 
possible completions would be shown in a list next to the field.
Like "Add" "Append" "Apply Size/Rot" for "A".

Now what about making _all_ blender functionality accessible through 
this way?

Example: Setting OSA to 16:
- Hit spacebar
- Enter "osa"
- Below the textfiled a line reading "OSA" and the current value appears.
- Complete entry "osa 16" and hit enter.

Example: Adjusting the red value of the material applied to the active
object.
- Hit spacebar
- Enter "red"
- All red-values that could be meant appear in form of sliders (just like 
in the buttons-window)
...
This would fit well with button-panels, because those could be called by 
name.



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Thorsten