PocketCAS on iPad user interface

[swehba]

Great product. Loads of functionality. However, I'm struggling getting my head around the UI.  In landscape mode, you see three sections: document, current calculation editor, and results.  Lots of repeated information.  For instance, a comment in a document appears in all three panes. Seems like a huge waste of space. Also, if a calculation has more than one equation, solving it displays one row for each (not unexpected), but you have to scan a bit to figure out which result matches which equation. Would be very helpful to at least number lines/cells.

[MrMage]

Hello,

What else would you actually do with this much space? The left pane always serves as an overview for the calculations.

I'll consider a different ordering of input/output in future versions, but for now it'll stay like this.

MrMage

[swehba]

The point is not to just use the space but to put it to the best use.  OK, so you have three panes: document, selected cell editor, selected cell results.  Make them clearly distinguishable from each other and minimize the repetition.  Some ideas:

(1) Is it really necessary to have two separate panes -- one for the document and one for the current cell?  Why not select and edit cells in place within the document pane?

(2) Need a way to tie the results more clearly to the lines in the editor.  Perhaps numbering the lines in both panes? Perhaps displaying the result directly after each editor line?

(3) Maybe there needs to be an organizational construct between the level of the document and the cell -- perhaps a "page."

If any of these ideas sounds intriguing I'm more than happy to storyboard them out.  Just let me know.

Again, I'm not bashing the product.  What it DOES it great.  I just think how it LOOKS could be improved.

[MrMage]

Hello,

In-place editing has some technical difficulties, so I won't implement it in the near future. But your suggestions did give me some ideas about what I could improve later. But I will have to make sure that any changes will not have a bad impact on the workflow (e.g. I wouldn't want to need _more_ clicks to accomplish a task due to some cosmetical changes).

Cheers

Daniel