Only read through this quickly as I'm pretty busy, but it looks good to me. There's another issue I've had in mind with the pcbnew OOBE: now that I'm adding footprint preview to eeschema, the pcbnew init routines happen on the first run of the eeschema component selector...
I was thinking about consolidating the whole thing into one big KiCad init routine. Thoughts? On Sun, Mar 05, 2017 at 07:01:03AM +0800, John Beard wrote: > Hi, > > Here is a (proposed) patchset to modify the "user experience" (to use > a buzzword) of Pcbnew and cvPcb when the user loads it for the first > time with no fp-library-table. > > The current behaviour is quite unfriendly, as it doesn't get the user > to consent to an action when initialising the library, it does one of > two actions (cpopy default table, or create empty table - which one > depends on various conditions) which means that users click the OK > button not fully knowing what just happened. > > Furthermore, if they click though that dialog without reading it, they > will then be frustrated by the lack of libraries later, which > manifests as an error or an empty footprint chooser. Bear in mind, as > far as users are concerned, the libraries are installed (e.g. > /usr/share/kicad has content), but as far as KiCad is concerned, they > are not necessarily configured (empty or default fp-lib-table in > user's home). > > This has caused several people to struggle with getting started with > KiCad, and people asking how to proceed is a semi-regular occurence on > IRC. > > This patch changes to the following process: > > * If user fp-lib-table is found and it has at least one library, > everything is normal > and the user isn't disturbed. > * If fp-lib-table is missing: > * On Pcbnew/Cvpcb start, pop up a dialog saying this and giving > these options: > * Quit - exit Pcbnew/cvPcb witohut attempting to create > fp-lib-table. Users can then make their own arrangements. > * Copy default table - attempt to copy the default table. If > this fails, return to the choice dialog. > * Create empty table - if this fails return to the dialog. > * In no case did the user get an fp-lib-table they didn't ask for. > * If a blank or default table is created, a second dialog appears, > informing the user that the library table might need configuration. > This provides three options: > * Cancel - user doesn't want to configure the table now, table > is unchanged > * Open Manual - the manual referenced in the dialog message is > opened so the user can read about library configuration > * Open FP Library Manager - go directly to the library > manager, rather than expecting the user to cancel the dialog and find > it themselves. The wizard is accessible from the manager dialog. > * If fp-lib-table is found, but it's empty when the user goes to use > it (e.g. on a keyword search for footprints), the > Cancel/Manual/Manager dialog is shown again, but it's a warning rather > than informational, as it was before. > > The aim here is to ensure that the configuration is "management by > consent" and that the user is: > > * Not surprised by "secret" configuration behind the scenes > * Informed of and consenting to specific actions > * Guided though configuration with dialogs that give access to > mentioned tools, rather than a block of text and an OK/Cancel button, > after which they are on their own. > > Technically speaking, this is done by moving the global fp-lib-table > loading into common, and invoking it only when the frame is shown > (rather than prior to the kiface load). The reason for this is so that > the followup dialog can access the manager. Also, it reduces special > casing before kiface load. > > The on-show invocation is done by a small class subscribed to the > frame's wx "Show" event, and once the event is received, the class > unsubscribes itself (so it's a one-shot), and executes a lits of > startup actions. The class is such that you can add multiple startup > actions, any of which can "veto" startup if needed. > > Sorry for the long email: the change is not really that complex, but > the configuration process has several paths. As the first thing a new > user to Pcbnew sees, I think this is a fairly important thing to get > right. > > Cheers, > > John _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers Post to : kicad-developers@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
