Death of the Application Browser

[J. Landman Gay]

On 11/30/2015 4:29 PM, Monte Goulding wrote:
> Thanks Jacque, this is a good list.

I deleted a long commentary before I hit Send. :)

<snip>
>
>> 2. I need to see card numbers and object layer numbers.
>
> Would it be sufficient to have something like <number>. <name>
> instead of just <name>? Perhaps there might be a way in preferences
> to specify an object descriptor to use??? This would be a fairly
> lightweight change I think. Trying to add proper columns would be
> much more work.

Number-name would work, though it isn't as easy to read as a column. But 
I'd be okay with it. Not sure what you mean by "object descriptor" though.

>
>> 3. I need to see IDs for all cards and objects.
>
> Do you need to see IDs all the time or just sometimes?

Just sometimes, but I usually leave IDs in view anyway. The tooltips in 
the AB make me crazy so I turn off tooltips (and I don't want them in LC 
8 either, but they're better than nothing.) I keep the ID column visible 
in the App Browser instead.

> What do you
> need them for? the tooltip gives you the long ID in LC 8. Would it be
> helpful to have a Copy Object Reference > Short ID … Long Name in the
> contextual menu? What about drag and drop object references to the
> script editor or drag an image off the browser and drop on a button
> and it sets the icon and IDs into the property inspector? All fairly
> easy fixes but you need to detail what you are using the ID for to
> see if they resolve the issue.

I do need IDs for icons, so either the "copy short ID" or drag/drop you 
suggest would be great -- as long as clicking on the image to drag it 
didn't change the selection. But IDs are imperative when I get an error 
message like this:

   Hint: field id 12345 of card id 2069 of stack...

This is common in mobile apps, and when it shows up it's almost 
impossible to find the object if you can't scan a list for IDs. In the 
App Browser you can display the IDs in their own column, and then sort 
the controls by ID. It only takes seconds to find the object that way. 
When I'm working on mobile apps I always have the ID column in the App 
Browser showing.

Which reminds me, someone mentioned the ability to sort by various 
criteria and this example is one of those times I need that. I work a 
lot on other people's stacks and you'd be surprised how many people 
never name the controls.

>
>> 4. I need the ability to open the property inspector for an
>> unselected object for quick reference, without changing the current
>> selection or location.
>
> Yes! Me too. Perhaps a preference whether clicking on the flipper of
> a group selects the object and actions from the contextual menu
> shouldn’t select the object. You should need to click on the name to
> select the object and open the stack. I expect this isn’t all that
> tricky a change either.

Agreed. Left-clicking the name should change the target object that will 
be acted on. Double-clicking a name should both change the target and 
additionally navigate to it in the stack. Right-clicking should present 
the contextual menu and leave the original target intact.

And a feature request: It would be nice to be able to copy or cut an 
object from elsewhere and paste it into the current card you're looking 
at, without needing to first change your location to go get that object.

-- 
Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com