Re: [android-developers] Re: layout editor in 2.3 SDK sucks! Sorry but it does.
Hi Tim, sorry for the delayed answer. On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 1:55 PM, Tim H. timho...@gmail.com wrote: Preview 2 is much improved - being able to drag views up and down the list (and into child layouts) is great, no need for the up/down button now. Again, can still use some work, but it's getting back to the point where I am comfortable using drag and drop, but able to do things manually now. Here's some frustrating things I would like to get see fixed, which may relate to the tools or integration with Ecliipse: * Refactoring If I rename something, all references to it should be updated This is in the plan, we want full refactoring across Java and XML for resources. * Other Properties in the right-click menu I could take off the stinking property window completely, if all custom properties (like references or resources) could be picked from here - this is already done for things like layout_width (Other...) - resource references/properties could be done the same way, (Select Resource..) This is in Preview3, and personally I don't like it too much. There's too much in there. I think the better option is to fix the properties view to not suck which we have plans for too. * Property state If you move from one view to the other, you get pushed back to the top of the property window. Especially if I am editing a property that every one of the views I click on has, this should not happen... my property window should stay focused on the same property for the new view. It does this *some* times, but the times it doesn't is frustrating I think the issue is when moving to a view of a different class. We should do something to try to keep (some) of the same properties on screen but it's never going to work perfectly for all cases. * Resource Chooser (for String Properties) Very frustrating when you have any more than about 100+ strings, say using them for tags, and you need to select one from this - it loads the list of resources and resets back to the top of the list - every time. You can either try to scroll down the list and quickly click your item, or wait for the whole list to load, reset to the top, then scroll down to your item - this is a lot of wasted time. I could just manually type the string (@string/whatever), but I'd prefer to pick from a (quicker) list. That's a good feedback. We should definitively improve things there. We have plan to fully rewrite this dialog anyway, so we'll see when we get there. Since we didn't have a bug open for this I'll create one: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=13875 * Simultaneous Viewing of MultiRes Layouts I'd really like to see a way to view multiple layouts simultaneously (i.e. compare my HVGA and WVGA side by side) Do you mean when editing? We would like to have a way to preview all variations of a layout so that you can compare them. Doing it during editing is mostly going to be challenging with regards to screen real estate, but should be doable. http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=13876 * Merging Layout Changes Even more, I'd like to see a way to make it much easier to work with multi-res layouts. Currently, if I add a view to one layout, I have to add it to all layouts that it will apply to. For example: I have customized version of: res/layout/main.xml res/layout-land/main.xml res/layout-large/main.xml res/layout-ldpi/main.xml If I want to add a view, assuming it would be added to all layouts, I have to either add it once for each version of my view, and set all the properties each time - or (try to) copy and paste it to each layout, although copy and paste needs a lot of improvements still. This is extremely challenging because either we're too cautious and it'll never happen or we do it too often and it won't do what you want either. I think a better solution is to use the include tag. You'll see in ADT 9.0 preview 3 we have a way to extract part of a layout into a new layout to be extracted. It doesn't (yet) support also updating alternate version of the layout, but we'll add that. In ADT 9.0 you'll also have improved support for include tag which will make them a lot easier to work with. * Deprecated/Newer Feature Warnings As developers, we want to make things compatible for as long as possible, so it would be helpful if the tools pointed out if we are using things that may not work prior to x.x - such as new properties that are added/removed/etc. We do get warnings for deprecated properties (in the property window), but that is about it. That's a good point. I think devs often compile against a newer versions to have access to new resource items (or manifest elements), but want to target previous versions. Something that tell them that some used attributes will be ignored on previous versions would be useful. http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=13874 Xav -- Xavier Ducrohet Android SDK Tech Lead Google Inc.
Re: [android-developers] Re: layout editor in 2.3 SDK sucks! Sorry but it does.
I cannot reproduce that. Can you give me an example of what your layouts look like? On Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 10:22 PM, Eong eong.c...@gmail.com wrote: Text view in merge block are still missing. On 12月16日, 上午8时47分, Xavier Ducrohet x...@android.com wrote: Hey everyone, we just released a preview of ADT 9.0.0 that fixes some of the issues you all have. Seehttp://tools.android.com/download. Make sure you know this is dev version, not a final, fully-tested, public release. Hope this helps. Xav On Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 3:24 PM, XanXa xanxamob...@gmail.com wrote: 1. I have moved a TextView with Style into a linearLayout and the TextView loosed the style. 2. When I try to use an empty LinearLayout I can't add any child (I have to put Layout width and heigth). 3. It's so difficult put the view where you want using only the editor and always modify the rest of views. 4. The ctrl+z work bad and strange, sometimes do things I didn't. I didn't like the up and down arrows and neither the + and - buttons but they made their job, Why not keep them until the drag is ready?. Finally I think I'll going to use the XML editor for a while. Nevertheless, I know the old editor was awfull and slow to use and we needed a new Layout Editor powerfull and easier to use. We must work hard to make this new Android Layout Editor more stable and usable. (Sorry about my English) On 13 dic, 16:35, Julie Andrews julieonli...@gmail.com wrote: On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 8:41 PM, niko20 nikolatesl...@yahoo.com wrote: Ok, the new layout editor is fancier and all but no more properties window? I have to right click to set properties now? And many times the right click menu does not function correctly either, like it will be missing sub menus, etc. I want my properties list back! -niko -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comandroid-developers%2Bunsubs cr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- Juliehttp://www.sirsainfo.in/http://thttp://tradinglogically.blogspot.comhttp://tradinglogically.blogspot.comhttp://vikitionary.blogspot.comhttp://gandhi-the-man-of-millenium.blo... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- Xavier Ducrohet Android SDK Tech Lead Google Inc. Please do not send me questions directly. Thanks! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- Xavier Ducrohet Android SDK Tech Lead Google Inc. Please do not send me questions directly. Thanks! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
Re: [android-developers] Re: layout editor in 2.3 SDK sucks! Sorry but it does.
Hi Tim, yes we would like to do full refactoring support across XML and Java (for android XML files). On Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 12:32 PM, Tim H. timho...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Xavier, r9 is much improved! I am still seeing some glitches, such as if you drag something onto a supposedly invalid area, it still makes changes and/or makes the view disappear! What I would love to see make the next version is correcting references to alignments when a view is renamed, i.e. if I rename a view that is in a RelativeLayout, other views that refer to that view are also corrected. This would be a godsend! Thanks, Tim On Dec 15, 7:47 pm, Xavier Ducrohet x...@android.com wrote: Hey everyone, we just released a preview of ADT 9.0.0 that fixes some of the issues you all have. Seehttp://tools.android.com/download. Make sure you know this is dev version, not a final, fully-tested, public release. Hope this helps. Xav On Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 3:24 PM, XanXa xanxamob...@gmail.com wrote: 1. I have moved a TextView with Style into a linearLayout and the TextView loosed the style. 2. When I try to use an empty LinearLayout I can't add any child (I have to put Layout width and heigth). 3. It's so difficult put the view where you want using only the editor and always modify the rest of views. 4. The ctrl+z work bad and strange, sometimes do things I didn't. I didn't like the up and down arrows and neither the + and - buttons but they made their job, Why not keep them until the drag is ready?. Finally I think I'll going to use the XML editor for a while. Nevertheless, I know the old editor was awfull and slow to use and we needed a new Layout Editor powerfull and easier to use. We must work hard to make this new Android Layout Editor more stable and usable. (Sorry about my English) On 13 dic, 16:35, Julie Andrews julieonli...@gmail.com wrote: On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 8:41 PM, niko20 nikolatesl...@yahoo.com wrote: Ok, the new layout editor is fancier and all but no more properties window? I have to right click to set properties now? And many times the right click menu does not function correctly either, like it will be missing sub menus, etc. I want my properties list back! -niko -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comandroid-developers%2Bunsubs cr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- Juliehttp://www.sirsainfo.in/http://thttp://tradinglogically.blogspot.comhttp://tradinglogically.blogspot.comhttp://vikitionary.blogspot.comhttp://gandhi-the-man-of-millenium.blo... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- Xavier Ducrohet Android SDK Tech Lead Google Inc. Please do not send me questions directly. Thanks! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- Xavier Ducrohet Android SDK Tech Lead Google Inc. Please do not send me questions directly. Thanks! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
Re: [android-developers] Re: layout editor in 2.3 SDK sucks! Sorry but it does.
ADT is a pig, too slow. every time i type a dot , it is like crash.. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
Re: [android-developers] Re: layout editor in 2.3 SDK sucks! Sorry but it does.
Hey everyone, we just released a preview of ADT 9.0.0 that fixes some of the issues you all have. See http://tools.android.com/download. Make sure you know this is dev version, not a final, fully-tested, public release. Hope this helps. Xav On Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 3:24 PM, XanXa xanxamob...@gmail.com wrote: 1. I have moved a TextView with Style into a linearLayout and the TextView loosed the style. 2. When I try to use an empty LinearLayout I can't add any child (I have to put Layout width and heigth). 3. It's so difficult put the view where you want using only the editor and always modify the rest of views. 4. The ctrl+z work bad and strange, sometimes do things I didn't. I didn't like the up and down arrows and neither the + and - buttons but they made their job, Why not keep them until the drag is ready?. Finally I think I'll going to use the XML editor for a while. Nevertheless, I know the old editor was awfull and slow to use and we needed a new Layout Editor powerfull and easier to use. We must work hard to make this new Android Layout Editor more stable and usable. (Sorry about my English) On 13 dic, 16:35, Julie Andrews julieonli...@gmail.com wrote: On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 8:41 PM, niko20 nikolatesl...@yahoo.com wrote: Ok, the new layout editor is fancier and all but no more properties window? I have to right click to set properties now? And many times the right click menu does not function correctly either, like it will be missing sub menus, etc. I want my properties list back! -niko -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comandroid-developers%2Bunsubs cr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- Juliehttp://www.sirsainfo.in/http://thttp://tradinglogically.blogspot.comhttp://tradinglogically.blogspot.comhttp://vikitionary.blogspot.comhttp://gandhi-the-man-of-millenium.blogspot.com/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- Xavier Ducrohet Android SDK Tech Lead Google Inc. Please do not send me questions directly. Thanks! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
Re: [android-developers] Re: layout editor in 2.3 SDK sucks! Sorry but it does.
On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 1:55 PM, Tim H. timho...@gmail.com wrote: a) For layouts to work in 1.5, you have to put them in a specific order - To do this correctly, I can no longer move views up or down, I have to manually edit the xml - the new drag-and-drop seems to prevent you from making a mistake in this regard, but doesn't allow it to be corrected (i.e. you get a Red box with the X across it) Oh, is this with the issue what you cannot reference an item that's declared after? hmm yeah we're going to have to fix this. b) The drag-and-drop method is very align-happy in RelativeLayout - many times I have to go and remove alignments that it added automatically - it reminds of of something akin to FrontPage creating HTML.. throwing on properties that may or may not be necessary :) Well we certainly want to be able to add/remove links after drops. I think allowing any kind of alignment at drop is going to be very hard, and you can't have any links at all. It's probably going to be a necessary evil. c) The new system makes it difficult if not impossible to align one layout with another - for example, try to add two Linear Layouts inside a RelativeLayout, one below the other. hmm how is that different from before? d) Even with 'Display extra margins' turned on, it is sometimes difficult to drag new views into an empty layout - particularly when there is a number of other views nearby. This was not difficult before, when I could just right-click and add a view to the empty layout yeah I agree. I mentioned above that empty layouts are now automatically expanded during drag and drop, and it's a really nice workflow, imo. There are improvements for sure, like I said, I'm ecstatic that they are working to make it easier, but as bad as the old method was, I find myself having more difficulties now than before.. maybe I just need more time to get used to it. I don't think it's you. We decided to move to this one as it roughly reached the level of the previous one (since this is full rewrite). We obviously didn't expect some people relied a lot on the add/remove/move buttons in the outline. Hopefully we'll get to a point soon where you don't need them any more. Xav On Dec 12, 3:51 pm, Bob Kerns r...@acm.org wrote: I thought I had this issue. But it turned out to be that I didn't know how to use the new RelativeLayout functionality. You can't just drop the new view anywhere, you have to drop it onto the specific locations that indicate what relationship the new view should have to what's there. Including the initial content view, which you need to relate to the parent. It's really quite slick, guiding you toward a correct-by- construction approach that really helps you get relative layouts right without thinking much about it. But it's baffling at first. On Dec 12, 12:19 pm, Tim H. timho...@gmail.com wrote: - After deleting some views, suddenly I can no longer add new views -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- Xavier Ducrohet Android SDK Tech Lead Google Inc. Please do not send me questions directly. Thanks! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
Re: [android-developers] Re: layout editor in 2.3 SDK sucks! Sorry but it does.
there's no doc at the moment as it's very much a work in progress. That first version is quite rough, I'll admit (but has a few more features than the previous one). We're hoping to release updates very frequently. Xav On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 9:10 PM, stanchat stanc...@tccons.com wrote: The new Layout Editor is also giving me problems. I'm trying to add a Linear Layout as the child of another linear layout and then add a textview and button. I'm having a hard time doing that with the new editor. I miss the big + and - along with the arrow keys to move views up and down. Is there any documentation on the new editor -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- Xavier Ducrohet Android SDK Tech Lead Google Inc. Please do not send me questions directly. Thanks! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
Re: [android-developers] Re: layout editor in 2.3 SDK sucks! Sorry but it does.
Just a thought... I wonder if any of the developers who are passionate about using the notoriously buggy ADT layout editor might consider being passionate about contributing to its development. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the ADT is an open source project, right? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
Re: [android-developers] Re: layout editor in 2.3 SDK sucks! Sorry but it does.
On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 12:19 PM, Tim H. timho...@gmail.com wrote: You say nothing was changed? I have an issue where I can no longer right click and add views or layouts from the Outline window - and the add, move up/down buttons have been removed. Is this a bug - or was this intentional? This is intentional. add/move up/down is only valid in linear layouts really, and that can easily be done in the layout. For relativelayout they don't work at all. The current drag-and-drop method makes it practically impossible for me to design layouts - especially if trying to keep layouts compatible with 1.5. I am extremely happy that work is being put into the designer - it desperately needs it - but in its current state, I have a lot of issues: what's the issue with working on 1.5? - Properties are apparently not saved at every state, I see old values randomly pop up (such as Text was empty, then it returns to @+id/ Button01) hmm that is very strange. Did you make sure you hit enter? I'll double check this tomorrow. - After deleting some views, suddenly I can no longer add new views Also very strange. Haven't seen this problem in the current build so we may have fixed something there already. Xav -- Xavier Ducrohet Android SDK Tech Lead Google Inc. Please do not send me questions directly. Thanks! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
Re: [android-developers] Re: layout editor in 2.3 SDK sucks! Sorry but it does.
yes ADT is open source. http://tools.android.com Xav On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 12:36 PM, Frank Weiss fewe...@gmail.com wrote: Just a thought... I wonder if any of the developers who are passionate about using the notoriously buggy ADT layout editor might consider being passionate about contributing to its development. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the ADT is an open source project, right? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- Xavier Ducrohet Android SDK Tech Lead Google Inc. Please do not send me questions directly. Thanks! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
Re: [android-developers] Re: layout editor in 2.3 SDK sucks! Sorry but it does.
On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 12:47 PM, Bob Kerns r...@acm.org wrote: Well, that's the only thing you changed about the properties, but hardly the only thing you changed. yes that's what I meant It took me a while to figure out how to arrange things in a relative view. THAT has certainly changed! We're still going to tweak that UI, and we also want to better display the relationship between items for existing views. For the better, certainly -- but it is very hard to figure out. It's hard to figure out why dragging things in most positions doesn't work -- that you have to go to that grid, which at first doesn't seem to be what you are looking for. That is, while the new functionality is much cleaner and more usable -- it is also much less discoverable. I don't have a solution, other than having some highly-visible detailed documentation. The meaning of the different positions on that grid I also find confusing -- but the way it shows you the attributes it sets makes that aspect discoverable. In fact, were it not for that, I'm not sure I ever would have figured it out, and would have just ignored the whole thing, and edited the XML for everything. Just to illustrate the value of discoverable we definitively value comments like this, and as I said above we're going to tweak this ui. The issue with the missing properties view is much the same deal. The forced properties view was indeed, as you put it, very annoying. But it was also very obvious. Yes that is a good point. We're toying with the idea of creating a layout perspective that puts the proper views in by default. Switching perspective is a bit annoying too though. Xav -- Xavier Ducrohet Android SDK Tech Lead Google Inc. Please do not send me questions directly. Thanks! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
Re: [android-developers] Re: layout editor in 2.3 SDK sucks! Sorry but it does.
On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 12:51 PM, Bob Kerns r...@acm.org wrote: I thought I had this issue. But it turned out to be that I didn't know how to use the new RelativeLayout functionality. You can't just drop the new view anywhere, you have to drop it onto the specific locations that indicate what relationship the new view should have to what's there. Including the initial content view, which you need to relate to the parent. It's really quite slick, guiding you toward a correct-by- construction approach that really helps you get relative layouts right without thinking much about it. But it's baffling at first. One of the things that we're looking into is more feedback during drag and drop. In the dev build for instance we automatically expand empty layouts so that you can drop into them (since they normally have a 0x0 size). I think displaying info in them (during drag and drop only) would help too. Xav -- Xavier Ducrohet Android SDK Tech Lead Google Inc. Please do not send me questions directly. Thanks! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Android Developers group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
