A new graphic user interface
in [Mathematica]
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From: Helen Read on 9 Aug 2010 05:16 On 8/8/2010 7:20 AM, AES wrote: > > I've not made much use of the built-in palettes in Mathematica to date, > but probably should do so. > > I have been making considerable use, however, of the "Inspectors" that > have been showing up in various of Apple's newer apps and other > third-party apps for Macs, and finding them very user-friendly. > > I suppose these Inspectors are in essence just tall, skinny, highly > multi-function palettes; but their attractive features include: > > * One single Inspector for the whole app offers direct access to a > whole bunch of detailed "utility" functions (various formatting tasks, > for example), all visible in one single tall skinny window which you can > position wherever you like. > > * Open this Inspector with a single click on a single, obvious icon > that's right there in the application's main Toolbar; dismiss it with a > single click. > > * Tall window allows you to scan down rapidly (preferably without > scrolling) to see what task capabilities or utility functions are > available; and maybe expand the one you want by clicking its triangle. > Don't have to try to remember the name or location of the function you > want. > > * Tabs at top can let you quickly select broader categories of such > functions. > > * Tall skinny structure allows individual task to have a horizontal > control bar and/or a text box input/ > > It's just a generally handy, friendly user interface, with a built-in > "teaching" capability for the user, as compared to multiple palettes or > dialog boxes, that have to be searched out in multiple menus. This sounds an awful lot like the Classroom Assistant Palette and the Basic Math Input Palette. -- Helen Read University of Vermont
From: Murray Eisenberg on 9 Aug 2010 05:16 Try the Mathematica Classroom Assistant palette! I think it fulfills many of the desiderata you indicate. On 8/8/2010 7:21 AM, AES wrote: > In article<i3gpp1$2v0$1(a)smc.vnet.net>, > Murray Eisenberg<murray(a)math.umass.edu> wrote: > >> What iwould you want in the Mathematica front end that could be more >> user-friendly? In what ways do you find it currently unfriendly? > > I've not made much use of the built-in palettes in Mathematica to date, > but probably should do so. > > I have been making considerable use, however, of the "Inspectors" that > have been showing up in various of Apple's newer apps and other > third-party apps for Macs, and finding them very user-friendly. > > I suppose these Inspectors are in essence just tall, skinny, highly > multi-function palettes; but their attractive features include: > > * One single Inspector for the whole app offers direct access to a > whole bunch of detailed "utility" functions (various formatting tasks, > for example), all visible in one single tall skinny window which you can > position wherever you like. > > * Open this Inspector with a single click on a single, obvious icon > that's right there in the application's main Toolbar; dismiss it with a > single click. > > * Tall window allows you to scan down rapidly (preferably without > scrolling) to see what task capabilities or utility functions are > available; and maybe expand the one you want by clicking its triangle. > Don't have to try to remember the name or location of the function you > want. > > * Tabs at top can let you quickly select broader categories of such > functions. > > * Tall skinny structure allows individual task to have a horizontal > control bar and/or a text box input/ > > It's just a generally handy, friendly user interface, with a built-in > "teaching" capability for the user, as compared to multiple palettes or > dialog boxes, that have to be searched out in multiple menus. > -- Murray Eisenberg murray(a)math.umass.edu Mathematics & Statistics Dept. Lederle Graduate Research Tower phone 413 549-1020 (H) University of Massachusetts 413 545-2859 (W) 710 North Pleasant Street fax 413 545-1801 Amherst, MA 01003-9305
From: Murray Eisenberg on 9 Aug 2010 05:16 Comments interspersed below. On 8/8/2010 7:22 AM, telefunkenvf14 wrote: >> > ...Besides the eye candy I mentioned above, I happen to really like the > overall Mathematica interface. I think the ribbon would be a space-waster and > would serve only to confuse new users about the nature of Mathematica (the > underlying markup structure of the .nb files, etc.) Amen! > One related example, which I believe emphasizes my point: When > students jump into using palettes they're able to create a pile of poo > rather quickly----a pile they cannot possibly debug due to the fact > they've never absorbed 'everything is an expression'. Clinging to the > pointy-clicky route also makes the documentation seem very foreign to > new users. I have nothing against using palettes, but things need to > be learned in proper order.... I held that position, too. But Helen Read's reports in this group provide empirical evidence that this is an unfounded concern: with the Classroom Assistant palette, what begins as point-and-click soon morphs into just typing input, apparently without much or any intervention by the instructor to suggest this change. > > Here are a few thoughts/suggestions (my prezi suggestion is a pipe > dream...): > > 2. Stylesheets need to be easier to create and alter (without fear > that your going to screw something up---this is frustrating and extra > confusing for new users.) Agreed, although it's no longer as bad as I thought. (The real difficulty is in designing the changes so as to look good, and realizing that you have to account for the different environments -- screen, print, presentation, slideshow -- for each style.) > > 4. While I've also REALLY grown to love the documentation materials > (especially compared to other languages!!), I do wish there were a way > WRI could somehow include a way for users to contribute to it and > customize it. (i) When a user comes across a documentation example > they find confusing, it would be nice if there were small/discrete > button that linked to additional explanations provided by the > community. This would be a way to document 'gotchas' and points of > confusion amongst users---and would surely be useful summary info that > WRI could use to improve the product. (ii) I'd also like to be able to > bookmark locations in the documentation and save scraps of customized > code ideas, tagged to those bookmarks. I know this would cut down on > the mountain of scrap notebooks I have!! Yes! Just being able to bookmark a Documentation Center page, and insert annotations on a page, would be a significant improvement. (I didn't miss some way of doing, did I?) For bookmarking, there is already a way, albeit rather clunky: use the URL button at the top of any ref or tutorial page to copy the page's URL, and just paste the URL as the target in a hyperlink you create in a notebook of your own. Unfortunately, there are no URL buttons at the top of guide pages, and creating the hyperlink text and then supplying the copied URL as its target takes too much work. -- Murray Eisenberg murray(a)math.umass.edu Mathematics & Statistics Dept. Lederle Graduate Research Tower phone 413 549-1020 (H) University of Massachusetts 413 545-2859 (W) 710 North Pleasant Street fax 413 545-1801 Amherst, MA 01003-9305
From: E. Martin-Serrano on 10 Aug 2010 03:54 Hi, One possible approach. Trusted users could be all owners of a license. All contributions might be edited or refined by anyone under well established protocols and rules and Wolfram would designate privileged maintainers to keep things tidy. This is the way Wikipedia works. Somehow, the standard WRI documentation would be kept isolated from this procedure except for the addition of the links from the standard documentation to the expanded Wiki-like contributions. E. Martin-Serrano. -----Original Message----- From: David Bailey [mailto:dave(a)removedbailey.co.uk] Sent: Monday, August 09, 2010 11:15 AM Subject: Re: A new graphic user interface On 08/08/10 12:21, telefunkenvf14 wrote: > > 4. While I've also REALLY grown to love the documentation materials > (especially compared to other languages!!), I do wish there were a way > WRI could somehow include a way for users to contribute to it and > customize it. (i) When a user comes across a documentation example > they find confusing, it would be nice if there were small/discrete > button that linked to additional explanations provided by the > community. This would be a way to document 'gotchas' and points of > confusion amongst users---and would surely be useful summary info that > WRI could use to improve the product. (ii) I'd also like to be able to > bookmark locations in the documentation and save scraps of customized > code ideas, tagged to those bookmarks. I know this would cut down on > the mountain of scrap notebooks I have!! > This is an excellent idea - I hope WRI are listening! For example, people would soon flag the fact that MatrixForm leaves an extra layer in expressions like: A = Transpose[B]//MatrixForm This is not obvious from the documentation. Of course, to make this work, WRI would have to vet the extra material, or give trusted users the right to add material. David Bailey http://www.dbaileyconsultancy.co.uk
From: David Bailey on 10 Aug 2010 03:55
On 09/08/10 10:12, David Park wrote: > In addition to the weekly full system backup on the PC backup drive, and a > monthly backup to DVD of all my important files, I also have a short term > CurrentBackup folder on my desktop. I make quick copies into there from the > home folder for current notebooks that I've been doing a lot of work on. > It's a simple low-tech method. > I like low tech backup methods too - you know exactly what is going on. I wrote a small C program to copy a file to a backup folder, appending a number to the file name so that multiple copies of the same file can be stored. For my main backup, I have found a splendid product with the curious name "EASEOUS TODO BACKUP". This copies and compresses a whole partition to another drive - typically an add on drive. The resulting file can be used to restore the entire machine, or it can be "mounted" so that it appears as another read-only drive. Remarkably this software is free - just download it! I don't think a backup mechanism built in to Mathematica would be useful - because I always have other files outside Mathematica, that I like to save at the same time. David Bailey http://www.dbaileyconsultancy.co.uk |