Setup.exe new GUI "preview"

Roth, Kevin P. KPRoth@MarathonOil.com
Mon Dec 17 13:23:00 GMT 2001


I took a peek. Here's a couple of random comments:

1. The list of mirrors to pick from used to expand vertically a bit more
than it does now. Any chance it could have its longer status
re-instated? 

2. I didn't see any jumping in the z-order behavior anymore. Kudos! But,
I still notice that if I move the first window off to one side, and
click "next", the next window re-centers itself on the screen. As long
as the next window is the same size as the previous one, it would make
more sense (to me) if it wouldn't reposition itself.

3. The only window without a minimize button is the package picker. I
assume that will change?

4. On the package picker, if there's "work" to be done, I think it
should show on the screen (at least initially). This means instead of
just showing the list of categories, you'd also show any installed
packages that have updates waiting. Currently, if one of my already
installed packages has an update waiting, I don't see it unless I click
the "View" button 2x (once to switch to "full" view, and again to switch
to "partial" view). I think if the category view is going to remain the
default, that it should at least expand just far enough to show all
packages that are pre-selected for action (e.g. updates).

5. Related to above, my real preference would be to split out the "full"
vs "partial" choices from the "category" vs "list" choices. In other
words, the "view" button should switch between just 2 things - a list
view and a categorized view. Then, a new button should be added labeled
"Expand" or "Show All", that would cause all packages to be displayed
on-screen (in either view mode, with the initial default view being to
show just the packages that are currently in the "partial" view). Once
you click "Expand", it should change to "Hide Unselected" (or similar),
so that the user can shrink the list back to just the items he's
selected for action. Furthermore, if I switch from "category" to "list"
view, the next time I use setup.exe, it should remember that
preference...

Looking forward to the final product. Keep up the great work!

--Kevin




-----Original Message-----
From: Gary R. Van Sickle [mailto:g.r.vansickle@worldnet.att.net]
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2001 2:59 AM
To: Cygwin-Apps
Subject: Setup.exe new GUI "preview"


I figured before I went to bed tonight (er... this morning) I'd upload
my latest
build and source of the work I'm doing on Setup.exe's GUI for people to
check
out/comment on/pillorie/whatever.  While not ready for public
consumption, it
does download and install Cygwin packages from the web as one would
hope, and is
largely feature-complete as far as the new GUI goes.

File links are here:

http://home.att.net/~g.r.vansickle/cygwin/setup/

Actual files are here:

http://home.att.net/~g.r.vansickle/cygwin/setup/setup.exe
http://home.att.net/~g.r.vansickle/cygwin/setup/setup-src.tar.bz2

So what's new and exciting here?  Previously, setup.exe was a number of
separate
dialog boxes presented in sequence.  I've taken the bulk of those
dialogs and
made them pages in a Wizard-style property sheet, which allows a number
of
improvements:

- No more "hide-and-seek" where the dialogs end up at different places
in the
z-order as you "next" through them, without resorting to "always on
top".
- One line of code, and now we have a minimize box in the corner.  A
lifesaver
for those full Cygwin installs over a 56K modem if you ask me.
- Much of the page navigation logic is now handled by the property sheet
instead
of the individual pages.

So let me know what you think,

--
Gary R. Van Sickle
Brewer.  Patriot.



More information about the Cygwin-apps mailing list