[bt-devel] question about drop-down lists

[Eeli Kaikkonen]

Greg Hellings wrote:
> I disagree.  I think there are two perfectly reasonable mechanisms already
> presented: the single text box which responds to a keyboard entry both to
> receive focus and to indicate entry; and a second one, like the submenu
> pop-ups that you mention in the wiki article.  Fundamentally we're trying to
> reach the same goal: entering the user's destination.  However, that's where
> the similarity ends.  In the same way that I don't want one fantastic device
> to tell me both when my food is done and when my sleeping is done, I don't
> want one device to enter my destination with a keyboard and with a mouse.
> The simplicity of the submenu system for mouse users makes is ideal for
> mouse use - the simplicity of a single text entry box makes it ideal for
> keyboard users.  Any sort of unified hybrid system is going to sacrifice
> beauty, simplicity, rapidity or some other base functionality.  Don't fight
> it -- use two systems.
>
> A single key press to capture input in the input box, and a single button to
> bring up the submenu display would be ideal.  And placing the option for
> which to display in the configure panel or view menu seems perfect.  My
> understanding is that users will tend to choose one and stick with it, so
> having both displayed simultaneously is confusing and unnecessary.  I don't
> think that any single widget, no matter how well designed, will be as good
> as two well-designed widgets in the present case.
>   
Continuing with this topic... Greg has good and valid points but I still 
wasn't convinced so I implemented dropdown lists according to my 
original plan. The selection list is just an ordinary menu so it's not 
as sophisticated as described in wiki pages. The buttons are not very 
beautiful and take some extra space. This could be changed by writing a 
bit more code for widgets, now they are positioned with layouts and it 
causes some problems.

Besides the looks I don't see any reason why this solution would be 
suboptimal. All of you who can test it, please give comments. The next 
step could be to make it configurable, it's very easy to make the 
buttons disappear.


--Eeli Kaikkonen