Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Global Outliner?

Author:David Valentine
Posted:6/23/2000; 12:44:08 PM
Topic:Global Outliner?
Msg #:18044 (In response to 18039)
Prev/Next:18043 / 18045

Unfortunately, I haven't really worked with outliners much, except for the Windows Explorer and similar apps Ahhh! The tree control is not an outliner. It's got to be one of the worst interface elements ever concocted. All these lines, boxes to expand outlines, very little visual input.

If MS's idea of an outliner is the present tree control (just like regedit today), someone whack Balmer and Gates on the head. (I'd say send over the Mac group to show them how things might work, but if they don't know how good the group is, don't tell them.) Every time a tree control pop's up to display a disk structure, I scream. There is a very familiar method of navigating the disk directories, it's called a file selection dialog, and it can be programmed to display and select only directories.

And way too many programemrs just use a tree without thinking. How many times do you navigate down a tree to find only one item? You clicked 4 times to select one item, and there are two selectable items in the node. There are more non-items than items. Damn. And these tree controls never come up expanded.

The mac finder has an outliner-like display, as does the apple installer (which has a nice visual way of displaying if something is a collapsed tree is selected). No lines, indents. Selection boxes off to the side. Simple triangles for open, closed (I wonder where they got that from ;)

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