[Lazarus] Package dialog ?

[Michael Van Canneyt]

On Tue, 24 Mar 2015, Juha Manninen wrote:

> On Mon, Mar 23, 2015 at 10:46 AM, Michael Van Canneyt
> <michael at freepascal.org> wrote:
>> What is the rationale for duplicating the 'Add' button in the package dialog?
>
> It solved this and many other complaints about usability :
>  http://bugs.freepascal.org/view.php?id=24337

Ehm, 'many other complaints' ? that is just your opinion :-)


>> The buttons as they are now are highly confusing. I preferred the old system
>> where there was only 1 button. That was clear and intuitive.
>
> The old system was also far from intuitive. You needed at least 7
> clicks to add one existing file.

I don't mind 7 clicks, as long as I know where to click.

> What more, there was a filter which prevented adding some files, but
> didn't give any feedback.

Hm. Strange argument. If that is a problem, just give the ability to switch filters. 
Not a reason to completely change the way of working ?

> The filter is still there in the "Add Files" feature.
> Then d'n'd was implemented and added files without using that filter.
> I added the button which opens a standard file open dialog and is
> consistent with d'n'd and shares some code with it.

No problem with all this, but the main issue I am having is that the icons are VERY unclear.

>
>> If you really want to add a button (I will not argue that point, clearly
>> someone thought it was necessary), then please give them a very distinctive
>> look.
>> [...]
>
> True, it is not perfect.
> My plan is to remove the "Add files in Directory" feature, or to move
> it to the "More >>" menu. It is needed extremely seldom.
> The standard file open dialog lets you select many files in one
> directory. If you have many directories then you must repeat it which
> is not a problem typically.
>
> How to make it truly intuitive? I am NOT happy with the current
> situation either.

IMHO:

0. Remove the new "add (with 2 plusses)" button (see below)

1. The "Add stuff" must be destroyed entirely
    (well, split into multiple dialogs).

2. Add a 'New item' button, with an icon which resembles 'new file'.
    It invokes the 'File|new..' dialog, but adds to the package instead of the project.

3. Duplicate the 'New item' functionality in context menu.
    Context menu and button bar should be in sync, IMHO.

4. Duplicate 'Add file(s)' (single plus sign) button functionality in treeview context menu.

5. "Add Directory" can be moved to 'more' and added to context menu.

6. "Add editor file' can be moved to 'more' and added to context menu.
    (Personally, I've never used this functionality, but practices may differ).

7. Add a new 'Manage dependencies' button (something with a package-like icon).

8. Context menu should also have 'Manage dependencies'

9. Rework dependencies management to something more sane. Multi-select etc.

The "clean up dependencies" should IMHO be removed, but that is a separate topic entirely.

Anyway, just my proposal...

Michael.