[Lazarus] New compiler options page "Additions and Overrides"

[Mattias Gaertner]

On Sat, 8 Jun 2013 14:28:31 +0300
Juha Manninen <juha.manninen62 at gmail.com> wrote:

>[...]
> > Definitely :-)
> > To this day I don't understand what its intended purpose is :(
> 
> I am happy to read this.
> I have though I am stupid while everybody else is comfortable with the
> IDE-macro page.

You can see the purpose here:
http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/IDE_Window:_Compiler_Options#Changing_the_LCLWidgetType_in_Version_1.1_and_above

And here:
http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/Macros_and_Conditionals#Overview

 
> I share the concerns of the new UI.
> The new grid is OK by itself but its current location makes an illogical GUI.
> The setting pages + build modes form a 3-dimentional space. The
> selected build mode makes a 2-dimentional "slice" of that space
> visible. The settings on different pages then affect only the selected
> mode. It is logical and comprehensible.

And comfortable for two or three modes.
But for more modes it is not good.


>[...]
> >From Mattias:
> > What about a checkbox to hide the build mode options or maybe
> > 'Show advanced features'?
> > That checkbox itself would of course be disabled,
> > when the project uses advanced features.
> 
> Yes, we must somehow divide for "normal" and "advanced" views.
> My original <All build modes> was an idea for that direction. I think
> it is still a valid option.
> It would change the settings pages heavily when selected. Your grid
> and IDE-macro page would show only for it. The GUI for paths could
> have a new grid etc.

Note:
The matrix in the new page is nice, but that's only one feature. The
more important features are useful even if you have only one build mode:
The package additions and overrides and the "global" options.

I could add a checkbox to only show the current mode instead of
all modes in the grid.

 
> One idea was to show the advanced settings only when 1 build modes
> are defined.
> It is not practical because the plan is to have Debug and Release
> modes by default. They are useful for anyone.

I doubt that. See Michael's, Dodi's and my mails.

 
> Another issue is that there is new data structure associated with the
> new grid GUI. It also duplicates some existing settings. So, not only
> the GUI is illogical but also the data structure behind it.

What structure is duplicated?
The old structure duplicated all settings for every mode.
The new structure has no such redundancy.

Mattias