[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-pim
Subject:    Re: [Kde-pim] Printing Code in kaddressbook
From:       Mirko Boehm <mirco.boehm () comcast ! net>
Date:       2002-05-21 11:41:46
[Download RAW message or body]

Anders Lund wrote:

> > The other option is to have three different dialogs coming up one after the
> > other - the printer configuration, the print style selection and the print
> > style options.
> >
> > I am looking for a way to integrate the printer configuration into the
> > wizard to have only one.
>
> The idear of kdeprinter is to add application specific dialog pages to the
> print dialog. So using that standard, you would have only one.

I understand that this is supposed to be used with options regarding printer
setup. Everything else is hard to understand, I think.

> The obvious option is to put the printer properties page as the first page of

> the wizard. It is there to use, iirc.

Right, that is what I want to do.

> > > I'm pretty sure the most common print would be phone or address lists,
> > > for which the table and card views provide really good designs. And
> > > having the view define the printing lets the user work with the design
> > > prior to printing, instead of having to use the preview and canceling the
> > > print to get back and change properties.
> >
> > Not true. Your print style can provide a preview in the wizard. That is the
> > idea of having PrintStyle objects that know their wizard parent.
>
> Again, I define a view with a set of data that I want to see. I have a table
> with the phone numbers of members of the tennis club, for example. Now if
> that was easily printable, I'd probably print it and hang it up next to the
> phone. Etc... I don't WANT to have to deal with a new thing called "printing
> style" and messing with reselecting the data to print, and watching a preview
> to make sure the display reflects my wishes: I allready did that by defining
> that view.

You do not have to reselect, at first. The printing wizard hands the list of
contacts to be printed to the print code, and this is by default your selection or
current filter set.
Let me think about how we can make the concept of the print style better
understandable.

It is a different concept, since we deal with different media. If you ever wrote
print code, you will have seen that dealing with paper is completely different
than dealing with screen objects. So the concept of screen views is not easily
transferable to paper, anyways.

> > I do not agree. In fact, I think this is at least trying to know exactly
> > what users may think, what is usually to much to ask :-)
>
> No, it is the way things commonly works. Most computer programs that has a
> print button prints what is currently displayed in the main contents display.
> Hence the expectation. Now, providing other options is not bad at all, but
> having them as default is going to be confusing.

As I said, defaults are good. Selecting the current view as print style should be
possible. The filter and selections are respected, anyways.

> > So my opinion is that the last selected print style should be remembered,
> > no matter what display style is selected.
>
> Now it looks like we are not going to completely agree on this. My suggestion
> at this point would be to add a printStyle() method to the view interface,
> and make activating the style for the current view, including filters, the
> default. For advanced users a "use last printing style" option could be
> provided. And there would be room for more specialized styles, I guess an
> option to print address labels would be appreciated by buissness users.

Well the solution when there is no agreement is to provide an option :-) We can do
that. In fact, it could be easily done to have the view provide a
PrintStyleFactory object what could be selected by default. This way, both
concepts could be integrated.

Address labels would be a nice PrintStyle. No changes required to add it.


OK, CU,
--Mirko.


_______________________________________________
kde-pim mailing list
kde-pim@mail.kde.org
http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-pim
kde-pim home page at http://pim.kde.org/
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]