I'm working on a feature for VisualWorks called Fluid Positioning. The idea is to simplify the layout of user interfaces in the UI Painter by making the layout automatically fill in the Position tab information in a natural way.
The following video shows what I have working so far. The video below is a bit blurry. A better version can be found on the Simberon Web Site. The demo shows a lot of flickering of the user interface. This is because I've disabled some optimizations at this stage to allow me to see exactly what's going on at all times. When I re-enable the optimizations, most of the flicker should disappear.
Very nice, it will be great to see this working more fully. I'm glad to see somebody try to approach this problem with some modern ideas about automatic placement and proportioning. I'm guessing that careful addition of augmentation (control) keys to dragging will create more options for the user as he or she positions various controls and panes.
ReplyDeleteI'll try first without control keys to see how intuitive the interface is. I fear that control key will just make it too complex to use. I'll let you know how it goes.
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