Observations on Geomview for X 1.4.1 beta

[rowley at mermaid.micro.umn.edu (Tim Rowley)]

I've been using geomview for X on my linux box for a while.  It's
great to have geomview running at home.  However, I've noticed some
quirks in the user interface that may need addressing.

First information about os/lib/gv version:

-----------------------SLICE WITH AX---------------------------------
Linux snow 1.0 #2 Mon Mar 28 21:09:42 CST 1994 i486
XFree 2.1 on Cirrus Logic 5428 (full acceleration enabled)
Using fvwm 1.21c window manager
14 libs found in cache `/etc/ld.so.cache' (version 1.4.3)
	 1 - /usr/openwin/lib/libxv3.so.3.0
	 2 - /lib/libvga.so.1.0.11
	 3 - /usr/openwin/lib/libss.so.3.1
	 4 - /usr/openwin/lib/libolg.so.3.0
	 5 - /lib/libm.so.4.5.24
	 6 - /lib/libgr.so.1.3
	 7 - /lib/libc.so.4.5.24
	 8 - /usr/X11/lib/libXt.so.3.1.0
	 9 - /lib/libXpm.so.3.3.0
	10 - /usr/X11/lib/libXaw.so.3.1.0
	11 - /usr/X11/lib/libX11.so.3.1.0
	12 - /usr/openwin/lib/libUSS.so.2.0
	13 - /usr/openwin/lib/libUIC.so.2.0
	14 - /usr/X11/lib/libPEX5.so.1.1.0

Geomview for X, 1.4.1 beta
Compiled:
 By slevy at kowalevsky[0.99.14]
 On Sun Mar 13 19:19:41 CST 1994
-----------------------SLICE WITH AX---------------------------------

Now for the observations:

Labels for buttons in Appearance panel are too big for said buttons

Normalize options shouldn't be in the Appearance panel

Entry areas for numbers have an odd behavior:
	* They destroy the X cut buffer
	* When the cursor leaves the entry area, the "carrot" is left
		of the left side of the number -- the wrong place
	* When the cursor leaves the entry area, the number is
		highlighted -- but not if you just changed the
		number

Cut, Copy, and Paste options in the Edit menu don't work

The number for line width in the Appearance panel is shifted over from
	all the other numbers

None of the sliders (in the Lights and Material panels) show what the
	slider is varying between.  Ie: do I move the slider left or
	right to make the object more shiny?

You can't have more than one color inspector up at once

The sliders in the color inspector aren't marked RGB (they might
	be HSV, CMY...)

The load and save directory browsers:
	* The filter should just be a wildcard -- not the full path
		and then a wildcard
	* The width changing directories/files lists get annoying
		when moving through directory trees.  Perhaps
		combine them into one list, or just list the last
		path segment in the directory list and make it
		a constant width

The Credits panel has an initial size which is about one character
	too narrow to put the text in without a scrollbar

<Escape> in a camera window doesn't quit the program

In the Commands panel, the history doesn't track the last command
	executed (Neat having the history, though)

Geomview should grab a private colormap if it doesn't have enough
	colors

Backspace isn't working for entry areas except for highlighted
	portions...  I think that's a problem on my end (keymaps)

It uses a expensive, commercial widget library to implement
	the user interface.  :-/  This may prevent people from
	using geomview in places where they either aren't allowed
	or can't use precompiled binaries (either policy or using
	a different architecture).  The use of Motif may prevent people
	from modifying the source to suit their needs.  Unfortunately,
	there aren't many alternatives:

		Xlib: Standard, but a headache to write an interface. 
		Xt: Ditto.
		Xview: Declared dead by Sun. (well, not entirely, but
			they've thrown their weight behind Motif)
		SUIT: Supposed to be quite good.  I think it's free for
			academic use, but has a huge royalty for
			commercial use.
		tk/tcl: Easy to write and has a pretty good set
			of features.  Interpretive, so it'll be slower
			than Motif.  People would have to obtain and
			compile tk/tcl to do development.
		Interviews: Don't know much about this one.  It's free
			and based on C++.

Well, that's all I can think of for now.  Please let me know if you
need help deciphering my ramblings...

-- 
  o  Fighting for the right to yell  o   Tim Rowley   UofM ACM Secretary    o
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