InfoQube IM - Community

Submitted by DavidF on 2016/11/15 05:53

hi,

Pierre, you suggested F11 could perhaps no longer perform a Hide/Show Pane function and do this toggling between docked/undocked business. For what it's worth, can I cast my vote for a plain and simple hide/show panes function whether it's F11 or something else. I don't spend a lot (well, any) time shifting between docked and undocked in my usage. My practice is to create the layouts I want, with panes in the position I want for that purpose, save them and load them as required. Then, regardless of what the particular layout is, I have F11 to remove the panes and put them back as required. I find this quick ability to unclutter the screen incredibly useful and I would hate to see it go.

DavidF

Comments

I think this would be handy. The way F11 works now is confusing IMO.

F11 : hide all panes. F11 again : show panes as they were previously set/pinned.

IQ geek

Windows 8.1

CPU: Intel i5 2.6ghz

>F11 : hide all panes. F11 again : show panes as they were previously set/pinned.

That's the way it should work. Perhaps reset your keyboard shortcuts will fix it

Pierre_Admin

IQ Designer

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

>F11 : hide all panes. F11 again : show panes as they were previously set/pinned.

That's the way it should work. Perhaps reset your keyboard shortcuts will fix it

Pierre_Admin

IQ Designer

[/quote]

OK, the fact that there are 2 very distinct modes there -- not just a distinction between cluttered/uncluttered views -- and (at least) one extra intermediary state, wasn't clear to me.

(I suspect it's not super clear to many other users either.)

Mode #1 - "Maximize workspace" mode (panes hidden), doesn’t record how you open your panes (it seems). Pressing F11 from mode #2 will switch to mode #1 and hide all panes/maximize workspace. Fine, Expected.

Mode #2 - "Cluttered workspace" mode, records modifications to opened panes, etc.. Pressing F11 while in mode #1 will show the cluttered workspace of this mode #2. Fine, expected.

“State X” = Mode #1 + pinned panes = that’s the “undocumented” state. As if you pin panes while in mode #1, it remains #1 even it’s now cluttered. It doesn't become a new #2. So if one comes back to IQ (switching from another application, whatever), there's no way to know what mode you're in just by looking at panes. #2? #1? Pressing F11 from cluttered "State X" will bring you back to cluttered Mode #2. Rather unexpected.

So my problem is that the mode I’m in is never really clear (unless, the “Maximize Workspace” button is displayed somewhere and I understand that the maximize mode doesn’t really mean that the workspace is always maximized). I could be in a "maximized" mode temporary state where the space isn't actually maximized, and I could also be in an unmaximized/cluttered space where no panes appear. (That last one is less of a problem since nothing is really lost.)

2 possible suggestions/solutions:

Pressing F11 while in "State X", to presumably switch to mode #1 (Maximized/uncluttered workspace) could either:

1- (simpler) Treat the current set up as the new #2 (since some panes are now pinned it’s not a maximized workspace anymore), discard the previously “saved” workspace, and directly switch to #1... That's probably what the user wants : simply uncluter the interface and eventually come back what was just left in “State X”.

2- (More complicated, I find) Show a dialog saying : A- “Show main workspace (hide panes & save current workspace as the new default)”, B- Hide currently pined panes and show the last open panes.

IMO, #1 is better. As soon as a user starts to pin panes while in mode #1, IQ should record the new setup and automatically switch to mode #2. This way, you never have to try to find out what mode you’re in.

(Obviously, if no panes were pinned while in mode #1: simple : there's no ambiguity or "State X" : just switch to #2)

Or... leave as it is but questions will always arise. "why am I pressing F11 and not getting back to the workspace?" etc.

In v88, I've change the logic a little. The Maximize state is not a toggle but evaluated based on the current pane states

So a Maximize will always maximize the workspace

If the user pins a pane after a maximize, the state is no longer maximized

HTH !

Pierre_Admin

IQ Designer

Thanks! Seems like a good solution.

IQ geek

Windows 8.1

CPU: Intel i5 2.6ghz