[VS] [some Mac specific] mostly cosmetic issues - new and old

[Michael Young]

Hello everyone,

I apologize to others on the list who are presenting meaty issues, but 
I only have time for fluff right now. My current 
observations/suggestions may seem out of place in these list 
discussions. Please understand that I think Valentina, including VS, is 
a great product that I want to see it get better and I offer my 
observations/suggestions in that vain.

1. Application icon is still jaggedy. :-)

2. When I start up the VS program the Schema Browser window is drawn 
then it is very quickly redrawn about 5% larger. I have no idea why 
this redrawn happens. It makes the program start look unsmooth. OS X 
10.3.9. Dual 1.8 GHz G5. 1600 by 1200 LCD monitor at native resolution. 
Schema Browser window size is the VS program default window size, not 
full screen. Mac VS 2.0b12.

3. Schema Browser Preferences window opens with the right lower corner 
window resize control (is that the correct name?) overlapping Cancel 
button, which looks a little bad. Also the Schema Browser Preferences 
window can be resized, but the resize is not remembered because the 
default window size is used the next time the Schema Browser 
Preferences window is opened. Does this Schema Browser Preferences 
window even need to be resizable? The only reason I can see for such 
windows to be resizable is that larger fonts might need a larger 
window.

BTW, Schema Browser Preferences window screen location should probably 
be remembered.

4. Speaking of fonts. It is great that font size can be changed in 
Help. It would be great if font size could be changed in VS itself or 
have I missed that feature?

5. To my way of thinking, Schema Browser Datasources column + sign at 
the bottom should "create" new datasource not "open" new datasource 
since the next three columns to the right all "create" when clicking +. 
Shouldn't this first column + also create for consistency? How about 
some type of connection icon in the first column in addition to the + 
or in place of it? Besides this column's + mouse over tip says "open 
new datasource", but the window that opens when the + is clicked says 
"Connect to Valentina Server". The tip and window title should probably 
be consistent.

An alternative idea might be to present a different create window when 
+ is clicked depending on what the Datatsources top of column pulldown 
list setting is. For example, with ODBC datasource selected in this 
pulldown clicking the + presents ODBC datasource window, with Valentina 
1.x Database Files selected in this pulldown clicking the + presents 
that type of create window, etc.

6. VS Preferences might include VS font size default, Valentina 1.x vs. 
Valentina 2.x Database Files default for new local databases, and 
Database File path default.

7. Speaking of Database File path, I find it curious that File:Open 
local database appears to default to the last Database File folder 
used, while the create new Database File path appears to always 
defaults to the Application folder. The Open folder methodology makes 
more sense to me, however both Open and Create might benefit from VS 
Preferences path defaults.

8. Shouldn't the very commonly used Mac shortcut command-N do something 
- new Schema Browser, new database, new something?

9. Quitting VS with databases open presents a dialog window that will 
freak out my end users. For example, "Please confirm 1 databases still 
open, close anyway?" (Of course, "database" rather than "databases" 
should be present in this dialog window.) End users will call me in 
panic about what to do in that dialog window. From the VS web site:

"On Your Desktop. VS.Admin is the easy to use solution for Windows and 
MacOS X. It is easy enough to use by anyone in your office. You can 
even browse and preview databases containing pictures."

However, this dialog will not be friendly for my end users. Maybe a 
database close routine should be presented as an option in this dialog 
window with a list of the open databases? Or maybe create a VS 
Preferences selection that has an option to not allow users to quit VS 
with open databases?

10. Datasource Elements column appears to use "delete" and "close" 
synonymously. These terms do not intuitively mean the same thing to the 
end users I have shown VS. The end users just stare at me when I 
"delete" a datasource with - click then proceed to open it again, 
especially since the Database Elements - click really deletes tables, 
for example. It seems to me that these various columns need to be more 
consistent in using "open", "close", "new" (which probably the 
preferred term) or "create" and "delete" so that my end users will stop 
staring. :-)

Thanks for reading this post.

Sincerely,

Michael Young

PS Product name consistency would probably be helpful to me as I try to 
present VS to others as a viable business solution.
http://www.paradigmasoft.com/en/products/business/VSTUDIO

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VS.Admin for MacOS X $59 Buy Now

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