SynthMaker

'Breadcrumbs' style schematic navigation

Archive · 2004 3 old posts

From the original SynthMaker forum (2004–2014), with its members’ names and dates.

cbit ·

I often right click without wanting to go 'up' a level when i'm viewing a the content of a module (i think because i still expect a context menu when i Rclick).

I noticed that the schematic view shows the current 'path' in grey text at the top left eg. "Root--vstView". I thought this could be used as an alternative means to return to a higher level in the schematic.

If each level represented in this title functioned as a button (like an underlined text link in a web page) to take you to the appropriate level, the current right click behaviour could be removed.

(The web vesion of this system is often called a breadcrumbs navigation)

I just thought of something else, which is harder to explain than it would be to use 🙂 ..

Following on from the above. imagine If the current level in the breadcrumb nav was highlighted in white. Usually, the current level would be the rightmost 'level' that appears in the breadcrumb nav.

Imagine if you moved from 'Root--vstView' to 'Root' .. but when you arrived at Root level, the breadcrumb nav still read 'Root--vstView'.. the difference being that now 'Root' is highlighted in white instead of 'vstView' being highlighted.

With this behaviour, the breadcrumb nav would provide a convenient way to revisit a module from the previous 'path' after you'd moved to a higher level in the schematic.. the advantage being that it would be a bit quicker than having to locate the module's 'triangle' icon on screen again.

In the case that you want to go to Root and enter a different module to the one you were inside previously.. you'd click 'Root' in the nav title and then click the new module's downward arrow icon as usual. At this point, the breadcrumb nav would be updated to reflect the new path.

Let me know if any of this isn't clear.

I'd be interested to hear opinions on this.

jorge ·

I understand what you mean and I think it is a very good idea.

Would you want the right-click-to-go-up to be completely removed then?

In general I avoid dialog boxes and menus including context popup menus, I think they're not very user friendly. I really dislike the way with most windows applications, anything you want to do or change in the application you're using, you have to go inside some obscure menu option to some settings dialog with some specific tab where you press a button that brings you another dialog box....

With synthmaker, I'm trying to avoid to the maximum unnecessary clicks, for example when you hover the cursor over a component you see all the options that you'd normally see in a popup menu, but without having to click. With the right-click-to-go-up I was thinking something similar, eventhough you do need the click, it can be done very near to where the cursor is rather than having to move it to the toolbar for example. Width the idea you're suggesting which I think is very good and I will most probably implement it, you have to move the cursor to the top of the schematic view each time you want to go up the hierarchy.

I can see the other advantages of your suggestion, for example the ability to move several levels up and down in one go. I think it is very user friendly. I like the idea of keeping the full path in case you want to go back down until you select a different path. Overall it is much better than the way it works at the moment.

cbit ·

pehaps an preferences option to disable level-up through right clicking? (personally, i'd prefer not to have it, but i can imagine other users finding it useful).

Wrote something here? To have a post removed or your name hidden, write to [email protected].

Before your first post

A few rules keep this a friendly place. You agree to them once.

Shown next to what you post, here and in the app. It doesn’t have to be your real name: 3–24 lower-case letters, digits or _ (capitals become lower case, spaces become _).

    Then your post goes up straight away.

    Delete this reply?

    Open it in SynthMaker?

    It goes on the track you’re editing there, in place of that track’s sound, and into My sounds. Your other tracks stay as they are.

    Want to keep that track’s sound? Start a new song in SynthMaker first (Song › New song), then open this.

    Report this reply?

    Only the developer reads reports. The person isn’t told who reported them.

    What’s wrong with it?

    Block this person?

    You won’t see their posts and replies here any more. They aren’t told, and you can unblock them at any time.

    People you’ve blocked

    Their posts and replies are hidden from you. Unblock someone to see them again.

    The community rules

    A few rules keep this a friendly place. Everyone agrees to them once, before their first post.