Problems with version 7.x

[t.kernstock]

Hello Eric,

I have been using SWTDesigner the last four years and always extended support & service since that time. Although every new version had some smaller issues (that where corrected quickly) I always saw improvements in usability and functionality plus I always enjoyed working with the designer.

A few weeks ago I installed Eclipse Ganymede and Version 6.9.1 and converted my projects to the new platform - everthing was fine and looked good. So i decided to "additionally" install Designer version 7.0 and today version 7.1. (Additionally because in some of my classes I'm using custom components that cause V7 to stop rendering and I don't have time to review/change these components)

Some of the problems I had (like very slow parsing and very(!) unresponsive behaviour) are better since 2 days, the missing "Cursor Property" returned in V7.1 and I'm sure that all other bugs will be eliminated in short time. Don't get me wrong - I'm a programmer myself since over 20 years and I know that it is impossible to deliver software thats completely bugfree, especially if it's as complex as the designer. I'm always willing to send examples that help to find these bugs but what concerns me right now is the way features are removed in V7 or changed in a way that won't let me use my prior designed screens.

Let me clarify what I mean:

In Formlayout I always could choose to which component a control should be connected (there where these little buttons on each side of the active control) and when moving the control I had the green lines that indicated which side of the control was used. In the new version I only have 4 buttons that choose automatically where to connect. I cannot edit the FormData properties (FormAttachments) anymore !! I looked for tutorials and in manuals but didn't find infos how to do that correctly.

In V7 there is no more propertypage where I could choose margins, offsets .....

In Gridlayout I had the option (in the context menu) to remove vertical/horizontal hints - this function doesn't exist anymore causing all widgets/components using hints to render incorrect. Furthermore I could resize components at points that where indicated in blue - now I can only change the colspan (like in V6.9) !

My questions are

is now if these "missing" functions will be delivered in a later version (like the cursor) or will they stay like that ? If they stay will there be a tutorial on how to use Formlayout correctly and change the Attachments ?

If these features are gone forever - will version 6.9.1 be supported in future or is version 7.1 the only path ?

Am I the only one having these problems ?

To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm able to continue using SWT Designer if it stays like that - my productivity broke down, figuring out how to repair my designs, documenting problems or find workarounds for missing functions hence I will continue using version 6.9.1 for now, but if this version will not be supported anymore that is not a permanent option for me.

I really would appreciate if there is a solution for my problems so I could continue using your product in future !!

What I would like to mention additionally is, that the support team is really extremly helpfull


best regards

Thomas

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Product: SWT Designer Professional
Version: 7.1.0.200906260828
Expected: Eclipse 3.4
Actual: Eclipse 3.4.0.v20080512
Actual Eclipse Build Name:
Actual Eclipse Build ID: M20090211-1700
IDE Actual Name: Eclipse
IDE Actual Version: 3.3.101.v200902111700
IDE Actual NL: de_AT
Serial Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Activation Key: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Physical Address: 00-15-F2-1D-1A-89, HardwareAddress[80-00-98-3A-AB-8D-2C-45], HardwareAddress[80-00-6D-34-AB-8D-2C-45]
Platform Product: Eclipse
Platform Version: 3.3.101.v200902111700
OS Name: Windows XP
OS Architecture: x86
OS Version: 5.1
Priority: Standard
Log Included: No

[t.kernstock]

For all who are interested - here are the answers of the support team:

In Formlayout I always could choose to which component a control should be connected (there where these little buttons on each side of the active control) and when moving the control I had the green lines that indicated which side of the control was used. In the new version I only have 4 buttons that choose automatically where to connect. I cannot edit the FormData properties (FormAttachments) anymore !!

One of the complaints we always received about FormLayout was that it was too difficult to use. It required too much intricate knowledge of how the layout itself worked and the relationships between widgets. Our earlier FL design exposed the full power of FL, but made it almost impossible for new users to use or get right. With the 7.x release we reexamined the entire process and decided to greatly simplify it based on work we did with GroupLayout. If you actually sit down with a blank slate and try to lay out a new form, the new usage model is much easier and much, much faster. That said, it probably seems a bit barren to any former FL power users. In the near future, we will be adding back some power user features like manual control over the layout data properties and independent control over the sides of each widget. The automatic positioning and widget attachments that we have in place now will remain.

Note that v6.9.2 and v7.1.0 are bother designed to be installed and used simultaneously, so you can continue to use v6.9.2 for any FL based layouts until we add in some power user features.

[Eric Clayberg]

As our support team mentioned, we will be adding back some power user features to FormLayout.

We are also looking into adding in the GridLayout manual sizing options.

If you notice any other minor missing features, let us know. They were probably overlooked and can be easily added back in.