Hi everyone,
I was wondering if it would be worthwhile to modify Inkscape's UI where input of measurement values are used. My apologies if this has been discussed before.
Currently (version 1.4.2) measurement input fields use an edit box containing the number and a combo box to specify the measurement unit.
My suggestion is to use an edit box alone, with the user indicating the measurement unit after the number by typing its name e.g. "4.2px". A space may be optionally used if desired e.g. "4.2 px" (current locale is used to interpret and display decimal points).
Okay, but why?
- Less UI widgets to place, show/hide/enable, reflect to/from, etc.
- Less chance of accidentally using the wrong unit by forgetting to change the combo box selection.
- Ability to use multi-unit measures e.g. "2p4" to indicate 2 picas and 4 pts, common in typography, or things like "6ft 2in".
- Percent symbol (%) can be used where appropriate to indicate a percentage of some contextual distance e.g. a document dimension, lessening the need for users to figure out the computed distance.
If this is of any interest, I have some C++ library code to help with implementation.
Ray Gardener Daylon Graphics Ltd. www.daylongraphics.com