Could print/save PDF dialog boxes be moved?

[DrJJWMac]

I was rather frustrated when I went to print a record to PDF. The print dialog box hid almost all of the information about the record and was locked right in the middle of that information. Then, the Save as PDF dialog box completely hid all information and was also locked in place. At that point, I had no way to review the record I had chosen in order to give a reasonable file name to the PDF that would be created.

–> Mac OS with Tap Forms 1.1

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JJW

[Brendan]

Other than Microsoft apps, pretty much every app uses a sheet to display the print dialogue screen. I’m not sure about that. It’s technically possible obviously, but I’d rather style after Apple than after Microsoft if possible.

[DrJJWMac]

As a point of reference, these apps do NOT use sheets for the print dialog:

* Curio (a Mac-only app)
* Igor Pro (also a Windows app)
* Maple (also a Windows app)
* TeXShop (a Mac-only app)

So, the jury is split IMO. Each of the above apps have window content that would be completely obscured by a dialog-box that would appear as a sheet. Curio is a prime example … it has an efficient GUI for production work. Would you take a moment to review how it works to print an Idea Space? I think the floating dialog box serves as a good example of what I really think must happen when I go to print a database record in Tap Forms … I should somehow still be able to the full content of the record that I am going to print.

[rant]
I sometimes in frustration believe, the GUI design anthems from Apple are applied much as an over-zealous religion even in the face of intuitive reasoning that demonstrates how they may not work well for all cases.
[/rant]

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JJW

[DrJJWMac]

OK … I reviewed Curio a bit more. It does use sheets. However, in those cases where it does, the title bar has clear information about what is behind the sheet. That information is in the form of Project Title – Idea Space Title. In Tap Forms, the equivalent would be to show Form Title – Record Title, where Record Title would have to be defined.

So … what would help to alleviate my frustration is to have the title bar above the print dialog sheet to show FORM TITLE – RECORD TITLE for the form + record selected. Perhaps Record Title could be taken as the first TEXT field in the record. Or perhaps better … this setting could be user-definable somehow. In whichever case, such a change would help remind me exactly what I am printing … what RECORD from which FORM. That is where the frustration lies, especially then when I want to do a Save to PDF instead. Having the FORM and RECORD title displayed would help me make a proper file name.

As a note … selecting more than one Idea Spaces in Curio brings up a floating dialog box for for the print selections.

Apologies otherwise … my previous rant could be misplaced now that I realize better what is missing. Not that using a sheet in Tap Forms for the print dialog is wrong, just that more probably needs to be done with how it is set up.

Thanks.

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JJW

[Brendan]

Hi JJW,

Perhaps there’s a good case for not using a sheet. I’ll give it some thought. I’ve been playing around with it and it just doesn’t feel right to me. But I’ll leave it like that for a bit during development and see if it grows on me. As for the title bar, Curio uses a different style title bar than I do. I have my buttons and app title in the title bar combined. I would have to remove “TAP FORMS” from the title bar to show the form name. I don’t know about a record title though. Other than maybe the record number (e.g. 1 of 10).

Thanks,

Brendan

[DrJJWMac]

Perhaps you might find some other way to include the Form Title and Record Title information somewhere as the sheets (print and save to PDF) are displayed. That would be a great help.

Thank you for the consideration.

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JJW

[DrJJWMac]

A good resolution to the Save as PDF issue would be …

–> When saving just ONE record, have the file name pre-filled with the Form Title – Record Title/ID
–> When saving the entire form, have the file name pre-filled with the Form Title

My best hope would be that Record Title/ID would be taken as the text of the first text-field in the current record.

That would resolve the greatest my frustrations to the point of full satisfaction with sheets during print and save as PDF processes.

Thanks!

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JJW

[Brendan]

Hi JJW,

I’ve modified the next update to use the form name as the “Job Title”, which is then used as the file name to save the file. Now, the preview that you see in the sheet displays the record information, so you would be able to know which record(s) you’re printing.

Thanks!

Brendan

[DrJJWMac]

Thank you. The Save as PDF sheet hides the preview. For individual records, using “Record Title” as part of the form name would therefore still be useful if at all possible to do. What you’ve done is a great step forward in any case.

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JJW

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