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Re: [ccp4bb] CCP4 GUI |
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CCP4bb navigationCCP4bb <-- 2007 <-- May 2007 <-- 10 May 2007Subject: Re: CCP4 GUI From: William Scott wgscott {- at -} CHEMISTRY {- dot -} UCSC {- dot -} EDU Date: 2007-05-10 Hi Martyn: I never use the GUI and it scares me, so I probably should just STFU, but that sort of thing has never kept me from pontificating. I often get emails from people asking how to do something with the GUI and they don't believe me, because I've developed a reputation as something of a Mac OS X shill. The Mac OS X GUI (and newer Linux desktops like Xfce) are nice because they are unobtrusive. The CCP4 GUI, at least back when I decided to try it, seemed to always fight me and try to make me do stuff I don't want to do, and I already have a wife. The worst GUI I have seen is the one with Phenix. Which is odd, because it has the best command-line experience. I think the file parsing and IO is part of the open-source portion of the project (CCTBX) and since that is already an optional distribution with CCP4, may I humbly suggest tighter integration with the existing CCP4 suit? If that happens, a parsing editor for the def file is really all you would probably need for a GUI. Bill On Thu, 10 May 2007, Martyn Winn wrote: This is timely. We're in the process of a) trying to organise a major effort to tidy up the existing ccp4i classic (rather than fire-fighting problems), and b) thinking about designing the next generation. Not sure which this is. Option b) would be a project over several years. Can you elucidate further. As an expert user, would you want a less scary free text box (which is essentially what Run&View Com File is), or actual widgets for every option. The latter could be done as a hidden folder, made visible according to an Expert switch in Preferences. As developers, we also have to think about long-term maintainability. Options, in particular little-used options, can soon become out-of-date. m On Thu, 2007-05-10 at 12:41 +0200, Miguel Ortiz Lombardia wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > Dear all, > > I'm a well-known luddite as Eleanor says. However, I shamelessly confess > that the CCP4 GUI is great. Not that I think this is necessary here, I'm > sure most people agree with that. > > If I write now is because Martynn's e-mail have reminded me of something > I thought once, but forgot to ask for to the ccp4i developpers: perhaps > the GUI could have "two faces/modes", a basic one and an expert/advanced > one. I understand that they already exist, but the "expert" one is > hidden under the "Run&View Com File", while I'm thinking on a real > expert GUI-mode. Users should be able to choose one or the other in > their defaults, or switch from one to the other on-the-fly. > > I don't have a particular problem in editing the scripts as it is done > now, but I have found that students tend to get a bit nervous about > doing it themselves ;-) > > Cheers, > > > Miguel > > Martyn Winn escribió: > > The level of detail in the GUI is a matter of constant debate. The > > underlying programs are far far richer, so the question is how much to > > expose in the GUI. We try to get a balance between ease-of-use and > > coverage, but it won't always work. BTW I don't think we ever claimed > > that ccp4i (or anything else in ccp4) is "finished" ;-) > > > > Having said that, we're always happy to hear about specific defects in > > the GUI. When reporting these to ccp4@dl.ac.uk please give as much > > information as possible, in particular knowing the context is always > > helpful. > > > > Cheers > > Martyn > > CCP4bb navigationCCP4bb <-- 2007 <-- May 2007 <-- 10 May 2007 |
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