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Author Topic: Tabbed Browsing: GWC (HTML5) vs. GWC-JS  (Read 10897 times)
Enrico S.
Posts: 35


« on: February 17, 2017, 11:22:00 am »

Hi all.
An appreciated feature of old GWC was the tabbed browsing.
Using the window style <StyleAttribute name="startMenuPosition" value="menu" /> in conjunction with StartMenus & TopMenus with GWC, the UI of applicaitions is very similar to the WCI model for Multi Document Interface.
Using this model I can have multiple applications running inside the same browser window, with no horizontal space wasting, and viewing a tab for each currently running application: very appreciated by end-users (customers).

With the new GWC-JS client all this is lost, because I need to keep always open the left side panel to see which applications are currently running and to switch between them: its quite unfriendly and space expensive.

This seems to represents a big step back from GWC, and makes my existing programs unusable at once with GWC-JS: end users refuses to use the programs in this way.

However the feature of GWC-JS of showing stacked background windows from the left side panel seems have no practical utility.

Does anyone else have the same point of view ?

Best regards.
Enrico


Reuben B.
Four Js
Posts: 1047


« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2017, 12:49:22 pm »

Quote
because I need to keep always open the left side panel to see which applications are currently running and to switch between them: its quite unfriendly and space expensive.

I just want to make sure you are aware that the appearance of that "space expensive" left hand size is configurable.  If you resize your browser window and make it smaller,  if the width of the browser window drops below a certain amount, 1400 pixels, then that left hand side disappears.  That number 1400 is configurable and if so if you set it to a higher extreme amount then the left hand side never appears unless you click the icon to make it slide out (or have an extremely large monitor).  You can follow these instructions here http://4js.com/online_documentation/fjs-gas-manual-html/#t_gwc_js_custom_sidebar.html and change the number to a higher amount.  As some people discovered there is a .css you can edit directly if you want to avoid the whole grunt process and don't do any other customisation.   To find the .css, search for 1400 in .css files beneath FGLASDIR/web :-). 

I like setting the 1400 to a much larger number so that the navigation panel never appears unless you explicitly click on it.  If you think about it, this left hand panel is analogous to what used to happen with the GDC when you click on the GDC taskbar entry in the windows taskbar.  This would show all the windows and applications available and you could select and bring a different window to the top. 

So whilst I personally don't live having that left hand panel visible by default and taking up space unnecessary, by simple configuration steps I can make it disappear except for when I want to actually use it , and I accept that by relating it to GDC on Windows and noting that the UX is similar.



The other thing to be aware of, is that in the latest release of the GWC-JS (1.00.30) a new style was introduced so that you could control if each new program remained in the same browser tab, or if each one opened in its own browser tab.  Have a look at http://4js.com/online_documentation/fjs-gas-manual-html/#gas_whatsnew_300_mr.html and search for browserMultiPage.   This isn't quite the same as appearing in one browser tab with a rendered tab for each program but might be acceptable.



Finally the best time to have these types of discussions about new functionality is during the Early Access Programs that occur prior to each major versions release.  So in the case of 3.0 which was released December 2015, the Early Access Program (EAP) ran during the last quarter of 2015.   The EAP for 3.1 isn't far away, I don't have the exact dates but I would expect some posts to go out soon giving notice.   (support team members got their first look this week).   

The browserMultiPage style was introduced as the result of customer feedback halfway through last year but we would rather have got that feedback during the 3.0 EAP, rather than having to do that implementation mid release cycle. 

I see looking through the old eap mailing lists you participarted in previous EAP's but not the 3.0 EAP.   I would strongly encourage you to participate in the upcoming EAP and make sure that the GWC-JS is an acceptable path forward for those with StartMenu & TopMenu  tabbed container model.   You can give feedback now if the configuration step above doesn't help, but you are probably looking at a 3.1 implementation if there is any change seen we are so close.

Reuben

Product Consultant (Asia Pacific)
Developer Relations Manager (Worldwide)
Author of https://4js.com/ask-reuben
Contributor to https://github.com/FourjsGenero
Enrico S.
Posts: 35


« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2017, 05:25:58 pm »

Hi, Reuben and thanks for your reply.

I understand that the left hand panel disappears under certain (tunable) conditions, but once disappeared that panel, startmenu & topmenu disappears too.
This is the real problem.
With GWC theese menus can be placed at top position and are visible and usable in any circumstance. with GWC-JS they desappears and the user must first click on sandwich menu to make the sidebar visible, then click on the line corresponding to the main program, then the startmenu appears at top position and finally the user can make his choice.

You may understand the disappoint of end-users.

Enrico


Enrico S.
Posts: 35


« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2017, 10:01:12 pm »


The other thing to be aware of, is that in the latest release of the GWC-JS (1.00.30) a new style was introduced so that you could control if each new program remained in the same browser tab, or if each one opened in its own browser tab.  Have a look at http://4js.com/online_documentation/fjs-gas-manual-html/#gas_whatsnew_300_mr.html and search for browserMultiPage.   This isn't quite the same as appearing in one browser tab with a rendered tab for each program but might be acceptable.

Sorry, but there is no topic, no style in both on-line and PDF suggested manuals of GST 3.00.32 (try to follow your link)
No way to know, no way to test.

Anyway, running a new task in a new application tab or in a new browser tab is very different in terms of usability.
Moreover imagine to start the main application from a web page (A) with a javascript that open a new browser window (B) without toolbars, address bar etc ...
In this case if your application run a new task in a browser tab you'll not see that task into the just opened browser window (B) but in the old one (A) in background position, behind the current window (B).

If you can explain me how to use/try the browserMultiPage style I'll try soonest.

Regards.
Enrico



* web-manual.png (11.65 KB, 350x96 - viewed 1911 times.)

* no-topic.png (18.29 KB, 296x379 - viewed 1903 times.)

* no-style.png (92.08 KB, 1064x551 - viewed 1920 times.)
Reuben B.
Four Js
Posts: 1047


« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2017, 12:00:59 am »

Hi Enrico,

Your screenshots suggest that you are looking at the help in the documentation that was shipped with Genero Studio 3.00.32.  This has a release date of 10th November 2016.  The documentation shipped with Genero Studio is not on-line and is as is at the release date.

The browserMultiPage style was included with the GAS 3.00.24 maintenance release dated 31st January 2017.   The online documentation has been updated to reference it ...

So reason you don't see it is you are looking at documentation that was written before the feature was added in the latest maintenance release.

Ultimately you need this link ... http://4js.com/online_documentation/fjs-fgl-manual-html/#r_fgl_presentation_styles_userinterface_style_attributes.html#r_fgl_presentation_styles_userinterface_style_attributes

which you can get to from
http://4js.com/online_documentation/fjs-gas-manual-html/#gas_whatsnew_300_mr.html
http://4js.com/online_documentation/fjs-fgl-manual-html/#fgl_whatsnew_300_mr.html

I would strongly encourage every Genero developer to have the online documentation links in their Browser favourites ...
FGL http://4js.com/online_documentation/fjs-fgl-manual-html/
GAS http://4js.com/online_documentation/fjs-gas-manual-html/
GDC http://4js.com/online_documentation/fjs-gdc-manual-html/
GST http://4js.com/online_documentation/fjs-gst-manual-html/
(and others)
... you'll note that these URLS have no version information.  These links will always show the latest versions.

Reuben









Product Consultant (Asia Pacific)
Developer Relations Manager (Worldwide)
Author of https://4js.com/ask-reuben
Contributor to https://github.com/FourjsGenero
Enrico S.
Posts: 35


« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2017, 09:14:31 am »

Hi, Reuben.
Thanks for your answer.
I have just installed GAS 3.00.24 and added the new style ...

  <Style name="UserInterface">
      <StyleAttribute name="browserMultiPage" value="yes" />
  </Style>

to my style file.
I get an error  "Not in enumeration" in GST code editor but probably I may ignore it.

I loaded this stylefile as second statement after the MAIN in my menu manager (the first statement is CLOSE WINDOW SCREEN).
Unfortunately this new style seems to work only with RUN statement, while I'm using the StartMenu to launch programs.

Anyway my intent is to reproduce with GWC-JS a behaviour similar to the WCI with startmenus. This is perfectly done with GWC and completely lost with GWC-JS.

Regards.
Enrico
.
Four Js
Posts: 65


« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2017, 03:36:09 pm »

Hi Enrico,

I filed your feature request to have in GBC something like we had with "tabbedContainer" in GWC HTML5.
Reference is GBC#1262. I don't know yet when it will be done. I let you follow it.

Regards,
Guney
Reuben B.
Four Js
Posts: 1047


« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2017, 11:59:36 pm »

Quote
I get an error  "Not in enumeration" in GST code editor but probably I may ignore it.

just to explain this, you may ignore it.  It is a similar to what you faced with the documentation.

You are using a version of Studio that was released in Nov 2016.  The new Style Attribute was added early 2017.  The .xsd inside Studio that was written in Nov 2016 does not know about the extra option that has been added to the .4st in January 2017 and that is why you see that text in the real-time syntax checker.

Product Consultant (Asia Pacific)
Developer Relations Manager (Worldwide)
Author of https://4js.com/ask-reuben
Contributor to https://github.com/FourjsGenero
Enrico S.
Posts: 35


« Reply #8 on: February 23, 2017, 08:00:00 am »

Hi Guney & Reuben.
I appreciate your answers and I hope to see back that feature in the next EAP.
Thanks a lot.
Enrico
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