Public bug reported:

Binary package hint: gcalctool

First, kudos to the calculator team for the new look, the colours, and
the novel bolding of the computed results. Its nice to know that
improvements can always be made to familiar tools like this.

However... while we are all familiar with text editors that support
scrolling to reveal off-screen content we can usually tell when we are
missing something because the text does not make sense without the
hidden parts.

We don't have that luxury with numbers.

It isn't immediately obvious that I'm not seeing the entire sequence of
a really large number when it is cut off on one side. Scrollbars are
primarily adjustment tools, not visual indicators.  While you can tell
the user that the computed results lack precision for financial values,
it takes on a whole different meaning when hidden numbers skew the
apparent results by several orders of magnitude.

I would suggest a couple of approaches to the problem:

1) Enlarge the window gradually as the displayed text grows, leaving the
keypad the same size and centered in the middle. The window would not
shrink but would remain at the largest size. Allow the user to resize
the window manually.

2) Place a prominent marker beside the cut-off edge to flag the hidden
text. For example if I had the numeric sequence 1234567890 showing in a
too-small window it could be marked as:

567890
<<   (in red)

Again, thanks for the improvements and I hope this bug can be stomped out!
Brian

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
Package: gcalctool 5.32.0-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-22.33-generic 2.6.35.4
Uname: Linux 2.6.35-22-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: amd64
Date: Thu Oct  7 22:43:52 2010
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/gcalctool
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100429)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gcalctool

** Affects: gcalctool (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: amd64 apport-bug maverick

-- 
Horizontal scrolling is a poor solution
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/656696
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