Can't unpin all slices?

Joel Baldwin

I just got back from vacation and eagerly did the SSDR 2.0 upgrade I had read about while gone.
Fired it up using my 6500 and started trying it out.
I quickly came to the horrifying realization that I couldn't unpin all 4 slices that the 6500 is capable of.  I could unpin all but the last/first slice.  I appears that there has to always be at least one slice pinned!
?! WT* !?
Is this correct?  Bug?  Will it be fixed in the future?

Chris DL5NAM

it's correct and not a bug ! Hope they "fixed" not in future :-)

lyndy brannen

WT* would you unpin from?
With the other three slices unpinned and the control panels unpinned,  there is nothing left to unpin from.  
The  "horrifying realization"  could have been avoided by reading and comprehending the appropriate  Flex releases.

Ken - NM9P

Yes, one slice will always remain pinned to the main window. You can pop out any three others, as well as control panel and CWX panel. The slice that remains pinned is your choice....if you open four, you can then pop out any three of them.

Kevin

I also wondered about leaving one panadapter behind. Seems like a strange design decision but it goes along well with all the other strange GUI issues. I figured it was Flexnormal.

73,
Kev K4VD

Tim - W4TME

This is not a defect, it is by design.  One panadapter must stay associated in the SmartSDR main window.

Joel Baldwin

I consider this a significant design flaw.  It limits how I can use the radio.
I'll drop the matter for now.
If I ever do a write-up on desired enhancements/fixes/goofs in SmartSDR I'll bring it up again.
Thanks for the replies.

Tim - W4TME

It limits how I can use the radio.

I'd like to better understand how this is the case.  

There are radio controls that are global which only exist on the main window that need to be easily accessible.  They are required for running the radio.  The main window with one panadapter can be resized to a fairly small size and the top and lower control areas, which are not present in the popouts take up less than 1/6 of the total area.

Kevin

Global and pretty rarely used controls. I'd rather drop the whole window frame by popping out the one and only or last panadapter then minimize the window frame to get it out of the way. This saves a little space when there's a single panadapter and makes lining things up cleaner when there's multiple panadapters.

As they are global controls, associating them physically with a single panadapter doesn't add any value. Maybe take these global controls and add them to their own popout or even as a module on the radio stack?

I'd personally like to see each of the modules in the radio stack poppable.

This provides an option. A user can decide whether to pop out or leave in place so everybody is getting the environment they desire.

Now that SmartLink is in full production I wonder if FRS would consider putting together a team including customers and maybe someone with lots of GUI design experience to provide some input for a redesign.

73,
Kev K4VD

Michael Coslo

As long as we remember that if ten of us are a team, we'll have at least 5 different ideas of how things "Have to be", and consider each other as completely wrong. There is simply no possible way for every user to have every environment they desire - too many conflicting demands.


And I too would love to hear how this limits the use of the radio. SSDR has been around a few years now, and an freshly added feature is diminishing the radio's use?

Kevin

Mike:

I always wonder about the black and white view. Why does an idea have to be completely wrong? In this case if a person wants to pull out four panadapters how does that affect someone that does not want to pull them out? No wrong.

Sure. You don't have a desire to pull out all four panadapters, and you don't have to. I have a desire, and I can't. How hard would it be to satisfy both desires?

Kev

Michael Coslo

It isn't a black and white view, Kevin. It's understanding that you can't keep everyone happy. If I might give a personal case, I had posted that I would love the window to follow focus as I move the mouse around, instead of having to click in it. I mainly liked the idea because I find it a bit of a nuisance when I want to say, move from an active window to the controls window, perhaps to change power. It's a small thing, but when I'm really cooking, say during a contest, it would be nice for the mouse to follow with no click.

But Tim rightly pointed out that it would interfere with some other functions. I saw that, and now don't think it is even a good idea on my part. Looking at your post in another thread, it seems that what you are looking for is more of a cosmetic improvement for you than an actual design deficiency. This is a big change from a bug or a design flaw. 

Kevin

OK

Ken - NM9P

Kevin, the way I have experienced it is this... The main window at its minimum width and height is wide enough to contain the control pane at minimum height, (one section of the panel) and the CWX panel, and one slice, if all three are open. I you pop the control panel and CWX panels out, you have a little bit wider slice window, plus the controls and pull downs for volume, radio setup, TNF, CWX, +pan, etc. on the top and bottom. Additional slices popped-out can be shrunk down to the head of a hat pin, because there are no additional pull down controls. If the first slice was allowed to be popped out, then they could allow the main window to shrink a lot smaller....BUT..... As soon as you pop a control panel, slice, CWX panel back IN, then they would need to implement additional scrolling on the main window, because most of the stuff popped back in wouldn't fit in the main window. Even then, customer service would be getting lots of additional calls saying "I can't find my slice A" Or "where did my CWX panel go?" Or " I had two slices popped out, and now I can only find one of them" ..... Or they would need to automatically change the size of the window depending upon what is in it (not very desirable for a lot of folks.) As it is, everything that can be opened, whether popped out or left IN, will basically fit in the main window. I would like to have it another way, and have even proposed a small "minimum size" for the main window with everything popped out, and the ability even to hide the main window. Many advanced users would be able to handle such an option, but a lot of new users might be baffled by it to the point of frustration. For this reason, I understand FRS' decision to go with it the way it is. And I have adapted to it. In fact I have been surprised at how small I can make the Windows for secondary slices that are popped out! ( But perhaps they will consider a user-selectable option some time in the future?) Ken - NM9P

Tim KE4UK

You could say that the fourth panadapter is prepopped seeing as how it ends up all by itself anyway. Or it could be the unpopped pop out LOL.

Tim KE4UK