Re: gEDA-user: xgsch2pcb config dialog

[Peter Clifton <pcjc2@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 2009-11-16 at 22:09 +0000, Kai-Martin Knaak wrote:
> On Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:59:49 +0000, Peter Clifton wrote:
> 
> 
> > Please fetch, test, enjoy.. 
> 
> Some quick notes: 
> 
> * There is next to no documentation. No man page, no output  on "-?", no 
> help button in the GUI, either.

It is supposed to be simple enough that isn't an issue ;)
Ok, honest answer... we didn't get around to adding them. If you can
think of anything useful to add in either case, let me know though.

Perhaps the "--help" invocation should print something like
"
Usage: xgschpcb [project_filename]
"

But that's about all I can think..

Ideally the GUI should be simple enough that the user does not _need_
help from within the program. If something about it isn't simple enough
without help, then I assert that I or Peter B designed it wrong. ;)

> * What is the format of the "extra gnetlist arguments"? Should the 
> options be preceded with "--"?

I don't know.. whatever you want to pass to the gnetlist command run by
gsch2pcb. -- will "probably" stop gsch2pcb processing things as
arguments - and I can't recall if the "extra" arguments are passed
before or after, so that is probably not a good idea.

> * A window that shows the actual project file would be welcome. 

I don't see it being that useful - this is meant to be a simple tool. I
certainly don't want to offer an editable window for this, since it
gives the user a great opportunity to shoot themselves in the foot.

> * How about a log window rather than sending all the spew to stdout?
> This log should also include all gsch2pcb commands emitted by xgsch2pcb.

That is a fair idea - although in an ideal world, the output is only for
debugging, and should not be necessary. xgsch2pcb attempts to throw
warning dialogs for anything "usual" it parses in the gsch2pcb spew,
such as missing footprints.

> * The GUI deviates from the usability standards of Gnome or KDE:
>   + There is no row of menus. 
>   + A Quit-Button on the upper left of the GUI is pretty unusual.

It doesn't need a menu, so why have one? By avoiding it, we remove the
clutter. Point me to where either guide says all apps must have a menu.

That said.. if the UI gets more options, perhaps a menu is something we
might need. 




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