Death of the Application Browser

[Geoff Canyon]

On Mon, Nov 30, 2015 at 3:41 PM, J. Landman Gay <jacque at hyperactivesw.com>
wrote:

> 1. Horizontal/column view so it is easy to drill down from stack to card
> to object, and see their relationships to everything else. Basically I want
> Finder column view.
>

Navigator doesn't do the Finder column view exactly -- there is a menu with
all the cards listed, and you can select any of them to see everything on
that card. There's also a card list view, which shows all the cards (in
case there are too many to show on a menu) and you can right-click any card
to browse its controls. The list is filterable (as all control lists are)
to make it easy to find the one you're looking for.


> 2. I need to see card numbers and object layer numbers.
>

Navigator doesn't do this at all -- it never occurred to me. What's the
purpose? It would be easy to add in general, but maybe a little bother to
get right with the filtering.


> 3. I need to see IDs for all cards and objects.
>

Done, this is a preference setting.


> 4. I need the ability to open the property inspector for an unselected
> object for quick reference, without changing the current selection or
> location.
>

In the preferences, unhilite AutoUpdate Selection. Then either right click
and select Object Inspector (N) or set the prefs so a double-click,
option-double-click, or option-command-double-click opens the object
inspector. Or use Navigator's built-in property tools.

Oh, or make a bookmark of the controls -- clicking bookmarks doesn't update
the selection.


> I'll probably think of other things. The main problem for me is the amount
> of scrolling necessary to locate things
>

For really long lists of controls the filter function is your friend here.
And the ability to open multiple Navigators. I was especially pleased when
I made *everything* in Navigator behavior-based, so you can have dozens of
copies if you need -- and a titlebar-double-click minimizes any of them, or
a command-double-click in any titlebar minimizes/opens all of them.

Bookmarks also help here. Wow, and saved control sets. I'd forgotten I did
this. Bookmark whatever controls you like, then save and name the set. You
can have as many sets as you like, and swap them out with a menu selection
whenever you like. It seems control sets are local to a specific copy of
Navigator, so I should look at that.

, the inability to see where I'm at in the object hierarchy,
>

Navigator does this well for me, but YMMV

and the way the PB forces unwanted navigation.
>

See the above, and again YMMV.