Zugg Software :: View topic

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:11 pm

OK, I've about had it with this &^%& docking system. Putting the command line into a dockable toolbar has got to be one of the worst design decisions I have made in a while.

So, is *anybody* customizing their command line toolbar? Like adding other buttons, or removing the existing buttons?

My guess is that the answer to this is "NO". Because most people don't know how to customize a toolbar in CMUD (because I've never documented it) and because it is probably too flaky.

A large number of "corrupted layout" issues are related to the command line toolbar getting detached from the correct window. And this bug that I'm having with closing a capture window and reopening it causing the "ComPanel has no parent" error is another problem related to the toolbar system. It's likely that this new error was caused by an update Developer Express made to their toolbar system, which I updated in v3.13.

I think CMUD would be a *lot* more stable if I just got rid of the command line toolbar completely and replaced it with a fixed command line panel that you can enable and disable. This would prevent you from moving the command line to any other location, and would prevent you from customizing the command line bar with other buttons and controls.

What do people think about this? Since I need to get another beta released asap, maybe I'll just go ahead with the changes and see who complains.

Enchanter Joined: 11 Feb 2003 Posts: 511 Location: USA

You can always just change it for stability and leave it as a possible feature to add back in another time.

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:45 pm

personally i was trying to find a way to dock my command line without locking the layout because i kept detaching it and it would get annoying to have to reset my layout like 50 times a day, i think it would be a good change, i cant speak for everyone though

Beginner Joined: 22 Dec 2008 Posts: 21

I agree with hadar. Having the command line fixed would be a good thing, since I have also moved it by accident and then had to take time to figure out how to get it attached at the correct location with the correct width.

If this would also make CMUD more stable, that would be a great side-effect (though the latest betas are much more stable for me than 2.37 ever was).

Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 2:37 am

I really don't like making these kind of huge changes close to a public release, but I don't see any choice now. It is definitely a change in the DevExpress ExpressBars toolbar system that is causing the crash. Windows is trying to give keyboard focus to the command line within the toolbar when the toolbar hasn't been loaded/displayed yet. No way around this one that I can find.

ExpressBars just wasn't designed for the kind of dynamic toolbars used in CMUD. The idea of a dynamic toolbar within a docked window just never seemed to occur to them I guess. Maybe if I used their own window docking system it would work, but the user interface of the AutomatedQA window docking system is a lot better.

So, I'm going to keep working tonight to try and push out a new version. I don't have much choice since I can't work on it during this weekend and I want to replace the bad 3.13 version asap. I just hope I don't add more bugs than I fix with replacing the command line.

And sorry in advance to anybody who liked undocked command lines, or command lines docked to the top of the window. I've got to go with fixing the stability for the majority of users at this point.

Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 3:38 am

I think that a stabler docking system would greatly improve the general feel and image of cmud. I realize that what cmud is using is fairly advanced,.. but there HAS to be another alternative i would think. maybe not with all of the features, but stability >features imho.

I *HAVE* used those features, but I don't currently. and i'm not entirely sure it's a NEED feature, with floating buttons now.....

Wizard Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 2320

I think I once figured out how to customize the command line buttons, but decided I didn't need to, and stuck with the default. Go ahead.

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:58 pm

I've never wanted to customize it, but I have on occasion, accidentally undocked it. Removing this would be fine for me as well.

Wanderer Joined: 22 Oct 2006 Posts: 92

I tried to customise the command line but the changes never stuck, certain items jsut added themselves back in and then the command line would suffer some weird bug and I'd have to shut down and re-open Cmud, so I stopped trying back when CMud was still V. 1