GUI rewrite
- GUI instead of shell interface
- ~Avalonia/Uno~ WPF framework
Demo of GUI rewrite progress:
https://github.com/Decimation/SmartImage/assets/4624891/47e8a178-a1b0-4c31-b7d5-1e2721f5ac73
Rewrite
The GUI rewrite will be the successor of the current shell UI — it will be the primary build of SmartImage. The current shell UI will be deprecated.
There are many reasons behind deprecating the shell UI and replacing it with the new GUI.
Terminal.Gui was the shell UI framework used, and WPF is the GUI framework for the new GUI.
Shell UI
I came to find many shortcomings and problems with using Terminal.Gui throughout its usage. I won't go into details, but these issues ultimately resulted in far too many hacky workarounds and a disorganized codebase. Additionally, it's a shell UI which isn't as user-friendly or powerful as an actual GUI framework.
GUI
I will fully elaborate and document functionality and behavior later, but the GUI has all the features of the current old shell UI with fixes and improvements, in addition to new ones.
CC @SakiSakiSakiSakiSaki I think you will like this a lot.
You are an absolute mad lad. This looks astonishing. The small thumbnail preview for each link is so insane, the attention to detail is sick.
You've outdone yourself man, full props.
v4.0.0 was just released. Could you try it out? @SakiSakiSakiSakiSaki
Looks pretty good. I have a few suggestions:
- You can move
Cancelcloser to the search progress indicator, to have them more connected in design. - You can probably add some
Prev/Nextbuttons below the queue. - Since the queue appears to be a table, would it be possible to index them with a small column to the left of every entry?
- You could probably either gray out the
Remove/ 'Delete' button unless an item is actually highlighted in queue, or add anXindicator next to a queue item when highlighted. - Could you have the queue items take long paths into account, or just show the file names?
- And is there a particular reason why there's a column on the right side of the Queue string?
- For the Config tab, when switching engine selection, you should have it maintain its striking blue color, instead of having it fade.
- What are the differences between
Clear,Restart, andReset? Would it be possible to add a tooltip when cursor is hovering over? - What's that orange box below
Restart? - Am I supposed to be getting image previews of the links in the thumbnail? Currently only shows input image?
- When an image is in queue, and I click
Reset, the image disappears from queue. After this, when I add another image throughBrowse, the image gets added to queue, butRundoes nothing, and I can't click on it in `Queue.
Overall, looks really sleek. Has much higher potential than the shell UI.
Update
Try out v4.0.2. It resolves many issues and has new features (I still have to fully update the wiki with GUI documentation).
Response to Suggestions
You can move
Cancelcloser to the search progress indicator, to have them more connected in design.
I'm keeping Cancel where it is because it is associated with the nearby buttons in terms of function.
You can probably add some
Prev/Nextbuttons below the queue.
You can already navigate the queue with the mouse and the keyboard which makes buttons redundant.
Since the queue appears to be a table, would it be possible to index them with a small column to the left of every entry?
And is there a particular reason why there's a column on the right side of the Queue string?
The queue control been made a ListBox in the newest version which is cleaner and has no columns (as of now).
You could probably either gray out the
Remove/ 'Delete' button unless an item is actually highlighted in queue, or add anXindicator next to a queue item when highlighted.
This has been mostly implemented in the latest version.
Could you have the queue items take long paths into account, or just show the file names?
Are you saying you want the queue to only display file names?
For the Config tab, when switching engine selection, you should have it maintain its striking blue color, instead of having it fade.
The blue color is shown when the control is focused, and it fades when out of focus.
What are the differences between Clear, Restart, and Reset? Would it be possible to add a tooltip when cursor is hovering over?
Tooltips have been added in v4.0.2 which explain most of the controls' behaviors. I'll update the wiki soon with documentation.
What's that orange box below Restart?
This was a status icon for an image but this has since been changed.
Am I supposed to be getting image previews of the links in the thumbnail? Currently only shows input image?
The preview originally only showed the input image, but I added thumbnail previews in the latest version. There is a label underneath the preview box which describes what is currently displayed in the preview.
When an image is in queue, and I click Reset, the image disappears from queue. After this, when I add another image through Browse, the image gets added to queue, but Run does nothing, and I can't click on it in `Queue.
This has been fixed.
Does anyone have thoughts on my response regarding questions about the new UI? I want to ensure I've addressed and/or resolved everything about the new UI.
cc @SakiSakiSakiSakiSaki