Button bar improvement ideas

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Mjolnir
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Button bar improvement ideas

Post by *Mjolnir »

Hello all,

Here some suggestions to improve the "Button bar" (.bar):

1. Be able to temporarily disable/hide from button bar an "unused" button (rather delete/move it)
* (my) usage: I'm used to test/set some buttons, and "keep" them appart for further usage or investigation, thus, don't want (temporarily) to show them in my current button bar
** Note: I also neither want to delete them, nor move them to another bar... and I even have a "WIP button bar"
* Implementation idea: have below the "Run maximized" checkbox a new checkbox like "Disable current button"

2. Have a "description/comment" zone within a button (only visible on button change window)
* (my) usage: Tooltip is great, I sometime add more information, details, so on, regarding current button, command options that I may user later
* Implementation idea: have another text zone below/like the "Tooltip" to enter some text, only visible on button/button bar modification

3. Have a deploy button on a 2 lines (or more) button bar
* (my) usage: I have a 2 line button bar, and would like to fold/unfold the 2nd line
** Note: I don't want to restart TC on each "switch"
** Note: I also use the "Show as menu" option for different bars called from this main button bar... but it's not here the "purpose"
* (my) crappy working solution : I've duplicated my 2 lines button bar as "Bar2Lines" and "Bar1Line", and removed from last one, any buttons after the "-2", then add a button in each button bar calling one or the other (but this is crappy for maintenance of button on 1st line)
* Implementation idea: following the "-2" option to add a CR row in the button bar, could it be possible to have (for example) a "-3" (or an internal cm_XXX) command/button to deploy the second row of the current button bar

4. Have a command to switch from show/hide the menu titles (Files/Mark/Commands/...) from the button bar
* (my) usage: show/hide the title menu
* Question: is there a way to do this ? I may have missed this ? (I imagine something like : a button to load an empty menu, and another to (or same one as "switch") load a full menu), or a trick via TC Editor or a plugin ?
** Note: I don't want to restart TC on each "switch"
* Implementation idea: and internal cm_XXX command to switch from Show/Hide the menu titles, of, even, (if hidden), following some MS Window apps usage: use the "Alt" keyboard key to temporarily show/raise it

What do you all think about those points ?
All simple/similar workarounds ?
Mjr.
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Re: Button bar improvement ideas

Post by *petermad »

4. Have a command to switch from show/hide the menu titles
The titles from the menu are only used as tooltips in the buttonbar if you don't use the internal English, and the .lng file you use does not have a corresponding .inc file - AND the Tooltip line for the button is empty, and the command is internal.

You can open a .lng/.mnu file with the command OPENLANGUAGEFILE wcmd_xxx_yyy.lng. So if you have two copies of your .lng/.mnu file set one with acorresponding .inc file and one set without.
Last edited by petermad on 2022-09-22, 14:42 UTC, edited 1 time in total.
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Mjolnir
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Re: Button bar improvement ideas

Post by *Mjolnir »

@petermad
Thx for your response, but not sure having understood it...
I tried :
* Copy only WCMD_FRA.LNG & WCMD_FRA.MNU (and not the WCMD_FRA.INC one), then renamed those 2 copies to WCMD_FRN.LNG & WCMD_FRN.MNU
* Then, add a button to load it :
---
TOTALCMD#BAR#DATA
OPENLANGUAGEFILE
WCMD_FRN.LNG
wcmicons.dll



-1
---
* But, on click on the button, I still get the menu.
My idea was to hide/remove it completely... I surely have missed something :-/

---

Edit: I've removed any entries within .mnu file, and load it : the only title entry remaining is "Start". As said, even if this last "Start" menu could be removed, there is still the space taken by this (possibly) empty menu, between TC title & Buttons bar...
=> I'll better see a usage like one in Notepad++: you can disable showing the menu, and quickly showit/raise it by pressing "Alt" key
Last edited by Mjolnir on 2022-09-22, 07:17 UTC, edited 1 time in total.
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Fla$her
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Re: Button bar improvement ideas

Post by *Fla$her »

* Implementation idea: have below the "Run maximized" checkbox a new checkbox like "Disable current button"
And how to return it back?
* Implementation idea: have another text zone below/like the "Tooltip" to enter some text, only visible on button/button bar modification
Do you suggest converting a lot of text to a graphic icon? Draw a sample implementation.
a "-3" (or an internal cm_XXX) command/button to deploy the second row of the current button bar
Not only the second. It would be better if it were possible to hide only the rows marked in front up to -2 or the end, and not all in a row after one marker. Otherwise, we have to duplicate several bar files.
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Mjolnir
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Re: Button bar improvement ideas

Post by *Mjolnir »

* Implementation idea: have below the "Run maximized" checkbox a new checkbox like "Disable current button"
> And how to return it back?
On my view, the only way should be (except from TC Editor, or directly in .ini file) : right click on Button bar / "Change", and, on expected button, uncheck the "Disable current button"
This idea is really for button investigation/further usage/put it aside, temporarily
* Implementation idea: have another text zone below/like the "Tooltip" to enter some text, only visible on button/button bar modification
> Do you suggest converting a lot of text to a graphic icon? Draw a sample implementation.
No, quite simple: only have, I imagine, a single text box line (same as ToolTip line, below it) to enter free text, only visible when user modify its button
a "-3" (or an internal cm_XXX) command/button to deploy the second row of the current button bar
> Not only the second. It would be better if it were possible to hide only the rows marked in front up to -2 or the end, and not all in a row after one marker. Otherwise, we have to duplicate several bar files.
For sure, not only for the "second line" (that was an example on having a Button bar, with only one "-2" button, making it a 2 row button bar)
My idea is: unfold any (or the "last folded found") row "below" this possible "-3" or command
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Re: Button bar improvement ideas

Post by *petermad »

2Mjolnir
@petermad
Thx for your response, but not sure having understood it...
I tried :
* Copy only WCMD_FRA.LNG & WCMD_FRA.MNU (and not the WCMD_FRA.INC one), then renamed those 2 copies to WCMD_FRN.LNG & WCMD_FRN.MNU
* Then, add a button to load it :
---
TOTALCMD#BAR#DATA
OPENLANGUAGEFILE
WCMD_FRN.LNG
wcmicons.dll



-1
---
* But, on click on the button, I still get the menu.
My idea was to hide/remove it completely... I surely have missed something :-/

Yes something like that, but rather call the files WCMD_1_FRA.LNG and WCMD_1_FRA.MNU - that way plugins etc, know that your language is French.

But dont you see a difference in the Titles shown when you hover a button with the mouse - with WCMD_FRN.LNG it shows the text in your WCMD_FRN.MNU file and with WCMD_FRA.LNG it shows the text from your WCMD_FRA.INC file - which it not always exactly the same.

I thougt your object was to not use the text from the .mnu file. If you don't want any title shown at all when hovering the button, you can put a single space in the Tooltip field of the button - but of course that is not easy to turn on and off.

You can turn tooltips off by using Tips=0 or Tips=2 in wincmd.ini
You can change the delay for how long it takes before the tooltip is show with ToolTipDelay=milisecs in wincmd.ini

But there are no em_commands to change these settings on the fly.
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Mjolnir
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Re: Button bar improvement ideas

Post by *Mjolnir »

petermad wrote: 2022-09-22, 08:47 UTC Yes something like that, but rather call the files WCMD_1_FRA.LNG and WCMD_1_FRA.MNU - that way plugins etc, know that your language is French.

But dont you see a difference in the Titles shown when you hover a button with the mouse - with WCMD_FRN.LNG it shows the text in your WCMD_FRN.MNU file and with WCMD_FRA.LNG it shows the text from your WCMD_FRA.INC file - which it not always exactly the same.
My point here is rather to have no menu shows between the TC title & the button bar, and a possibility to raise/show it (like in Notepad++ "Hide menu" option activated, and Alt/F10 to raise/show it)
You can turn tooltips off by using Tips=0 or Tips=2 in wincmd.ini
Good point, didn't know about this parameter, but no, I clearly not want to avoid the tooltips, I like it.
Just want another text field in the edit button window, just to add/store some free comment text, that could be only stored and visible by editing the button, withing the edit button window.
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Re: Button bar improvement ideas

Post by *petermad »

My point here is rather to have no menu shows between the TC title & the button bar
Aha, now I get it - it is TC's main menu you want to hide, not the buttonbar tooltips generated from the menu. I didn't inderstand that because the topic is named "Button bar improvement ideas" and the Menu is not connected to the buttonbar.

You can actually hide the menu:
  1. First put the parameter RestrictInterface=1 in the [Configuration] section of your wincmd.ini (and restart TC) - this will hide the "Start" menu item.
  2. Then make a nomenu.mnu file of 0 bytes in TC's Language directory.
  3. You can load that menu from a button with the command OPENLANGUAGEFILE nomenu.mnu
  4. Make another button to load your ordinary menu
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Re: Button bar improvement ideas

Post by *Mjolnir »

petermad wrote: 2022-09-22, 14:24 UTC
My point here is rather to have no menu shows between the TC title & the button bar
Aha, now I get it - it is TC's main menu you want to hide, not the buttonbar tooltips generated from the menu. I didn't inderstand that because the topic is named "Button bar improvement ideas" and the Menu is not connected to the buttonbar.

You can actually hide the menu:
  1. First put the parameter RestrictInterface=1 in the [Configuration] section of your wincmd.ini (and restart TC) - this will hide the "Start" menu item.
  2. Then make a nomenu.mnu file of 0 bytes in TC's Language directory.
  3. You can load that menu from a button with the command OPENLANGUAGEFILE nomenu.mnu
  4. Make another button to load your ordinary menu
Whaoo, works fine ! (sorry for the missunderstanding point)
Thx for this trick !
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Mjolnir
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Re: Button bar improvement ideas

Post by *Mjolnir »

Mjolnir wrote: 2022-09-21, 22:01 UTC 2. Have a "description/comment" zone within a button (only visible on button change window)
Got an idea: if, within the "Change single button" / "Tooltip" textbox, we add (for example) a double ";;" : lets consider any text after this ";;" not shown as tooltip on waving the mouse over the button ?
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