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List:       koffice
Subject:    Re: Menubar and toolbars
From:       Reginald Stadlbauer <reggie () troll ! no>
Date:       2000-01-31 11:08:10
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On Mon, 31 Jan 2000, Casey Allen Shobe wrote:
>> >   2.Combo boxes should not be used in tool bars. There's a problem
>> > with their dimensions: width is bigger then height. So, if tool bar
>> > with combo boxes is docked to the side of application window, it
>> > wastes lots of screen space (and looks ugly).
>> >   Also, according to the KDE style guide (AFAIK), tool bar buttons
>> > and menu items must have the same functionality. But functions of
>> > combo boxes of KOffice apps like "Font size", "Font family" and
>> > others doesn't have their equivalents in menu bar ! So tool bars is
>> > the wrong place for such combo boxes.
>> >   Novell used interesting solution to this problem in its Perfect
>> > Office (maybe 5 or 6 years ago). All redesigned combo boxes where
>> > joined to one "listbar". It's something like QHeader widget in Qt,
>> > but with pop-down (or pop-up) listboxes attached to "listbar's" items
>> > (I have a screen shot of such a "listbar" implemented with PyQt, if
>> > somebody is interested).
>> >
>> > Separating tool bars with buttons only and using a special widget to
>> > hold combo boxes could make GUI of KDE (KOffice) apps cleaner.
>> 
>> I'll forward this to the koffice developers.
>
>I agree with the "list bar" concept.  I think that drop down boxes are
>necessary, but they should all be on one bar by themselves by default.  Of
>course, I think that KDE's toolbar customizeability should still allow you to
>add them to toolbars if you want to...for people who like everything at the
>top anyways.

I don't see a problem with combo boxes in toolbars. If KToolBar would emit a
orientationChanged() signal when it changes the orientation and have a
method which returns the orientation (like QToolBar) one could connect to that
signal and hide the combos of a toolbar if it becomes vertical and show
something different or so. Like M$-Office does it - I think that would be good.

-- 
Reggie

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