Re: Request feedback for gcalctool feature request.

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Mon, 8 Nov 2004, Rich Burridge wrote:

> Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2004 09:25:16 -0800 (PST)
> From: Rich Burridge <Rich Burridge Sun COM>
> To: desktop-devel-list gnome org
> Subject: Request feedback for gcalctool feature request.
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I've just received a great patch from Sebastien Estienne that adds an
> even more basic Basic mode to the gcalctool calculator. I've blogged
> about this. See:
>
>   http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/richb/20041108#gcalctool_devolves
>
> Your feedback is requested. Should we add this in as an extra mode
> for GNOME 2.9/10? Should this replace the existing Basic mode?

I'd say yes because when I use a calculator it is usually for fairly
simple task which would be covered by the light mode (for more complicated
tasks there is Gnumeric, or Mathematic or ...)

The only downside I see to this new mode is that it makes impractical my
suggestion of having an oversized (easier to hit) button for = like on a
physical calculator :(
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=155099

Equals is not on the bottom right where Gnome has successfully conditioned
me to expect the action button, it would be nice if things could be
adjusted so that the equals button was on the bottom right.

It would of course be nice to be able to type 2+2 directly as Luis
suggested but hopefully it could be done without the complexity of
Qalculate which is a turnoff for me and begs the question what kind of
users are you aiming for?

I would be a little bit concerned that niave users might not realise that
more complicated versions of the calculator were available by using the
menu items, it migth be good if there was some kind of visual indicator
hinting at the other modes.  Perhaps something could be added to the
status bar, similar to how a word processor has a small space on the
status bar for INS/OVR that displays the current mode and (if you are
lucky) is clickable and changes modes.

Personally I would have used Ctrl+1 2 3 4 as bindings for the modes, as
the current keybindings wont make any sense in other langauges.  I
probably wouldn't call this new mode Light either, I'd rename it to
Basic/Simple and call the current Basic mode "Normal".
But that is just me.

Other minor points:
the horizonal scrollbar seems odd.

Would it be possible to have a proper division symbol?
I mean a horizontal bar with a dot above and below because when I first
started using computers I had to learn to use / for division and * for
multiplication rather than symbols I had previously learnt as a child.  It
is all to easy to forget how confusing this was at the time.


Sincerely
Alan Horkan

http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/
Inkscape, Draw Freely http://inkscape.org
Free SVG Clip Art http://OpenClipArt.org