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[WriteLog] positioning windows: observations & suggestions

To: <writelog@contesting.com>
Subject: [WriteLog] positioning windows: observations & suggestions
From: scace@uu.net (Eric Scace)
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 16:55:20 +0400
   First off, I LOVE being able to position the data where I want it.
(That's why these are called "personal" computers.)

   As a newbie, I started off trying to fit windows around within the main
WriteLog space.  It was a frustrating exercise: windows locked into
unanticipated locations.  If I docked the Check Super Partial window on the
side, for example, it could not be sized to be any taller than the Log part
of the window.

   Plan B was to make everything (beam heading, rate, check super partial,
check call, etc.) its own independent window.  This worked great!  Almost!

   For instance, the Rate window contains time on/off information.  During
the IARU contest this data is not useful.  So I covered that part of the
Rate window up with the Beam Heading window.  All fine... until I saved
WriteLog & exited.  When I re-entered, WriteLog remembered where the windows
were located on the screen -- but did not remember the sequence of overlap.
The Rate window was in front of the Beam Heading window.

SUGGESTION:  WriteLog should remember the sequence of overlaps between its
various windows.

SUGGESTED SIMPLIFICATION:  It seems like the user can accomplish everything
he wants with everything as a separate, independent window.  Maybe it's time
to drop the mechanism for docking data within the Log window.

   I created two Bandmap windows (left and right radios) and stacked them on
top of each other on the left side of the screen.  This is because my "left"
and "right" radios are actually stacked on the left side of my desk.  With
fidgeting, I was able to get each of the two windows to be about identical
in size... filling up the screen vertically... and just wide enough to
display a column of calls.  When I save the configuration, saved my log,
exited WriteLog, and the re-opened the Log, the Band Map windows blew up to
their original sizes and stacked themselves in "cascade" fashion on top of
everything else.  I had to go through the whole re-sizing and re-positioning
exercise again.

SUGGESTION:  WriteLog should remember the size, location, and stacking
sequence of the Band Map windows.

SUGGESTION:  The title bar of the Band Map window should be titled to
correspond to the Radio Name being displayed in the QSO Entry window.  At
the moment the windows are titled "1-Bandmap" and "2-Bandmap"... and one has
to experiment to figure out which one is "right", "left", etc.  (The
workaround is to change frequency on one of the radios in the QSO Entry
screen, and observe which Band Map shows the corresponding frequency.)

SUGGESTION:  A "tile band maps vertical/horizontal" function would make it
easier to create the Band Maps of equal size within a given space on the
screen.

-- Eric R3/K3NA
scace@uu.net


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