Do we need more than one document in the tree view?

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galou_breizh
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Do we need more than one document in the tree view?

Post by galou_breizh »

I would like to have your opinion about this:

"the tree view should show only the currently active document".

To answer your question, I'd like to know when you take profit of the fact that you see more than one documents in the tree view.

My opinion:
Pro:
- I can see a value from another document (this could be also achieved by switching to the document if only one document were shown in the tree)

Contra:
- the tree is overcrowded
- if I want to work on a feature, its name is not enough, I have to go up in the tree and see to what document it belongs
- "Select all" is useless because it selects all features in ALL documents
- They are some side effects because some elements in inactive documents stay selected, cf. https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=20251, https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=28544

Thanks for your feedback,
Gaël
chrisb
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Re: Do we need more that one document in the tree view?

Post by chrisb »

galou_breizh wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 9:00 am "the tree view should show only the currently active document".
Do you mean that you want to have the possibility to load more than one document (as before) but only the tree of the currently visible document can be expanded?
Then I would appreciate it. I now do it myself collapsing the trees of non visible documents, because I often have opened similar versions of the same model and it happens that I change things in the panel of the wrong document.

If you want to be even more drastic and allow to load only one document I would not support it.
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alberich
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Re: Do we need more that one document in the tree view?

Post by alberich »

I think maybe it should be a Preferences option that documents not in focus are default collapsed or expanded per user choice. I generally prefer collapsed to avoid the clutter (and errors as chrisb says) but I just had to work on a model that needed several open documents that I needed to be expanded so I could jump between them to get values to copy and paste.
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easyw-fc
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Re: Do we need more that one document in the tree view?

Post by easyw-fc »

alberich wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 9:45 am I think maybe it should be a Preferences option that documents not in focus are default collapsed or expanded per user choice. I generally prefer collapsed to avoid the clutter (and errors as chrisb says) but I just had to work on a model that needed several open documents that I needed to be expanded so I could jump between them to get values to copy and paste.
+1
ezzieyguywuf
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Re: Do we need more that one document in the tree view?

Post by ezzieyguywuf »

I agree that we only need one document in the tree view. I don’t understand why it is not this way already.
Jee-Bee
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Re: Do we need more that one document in the tree view?

Post by Jee-Bee »

I agree to a single model in the tree too
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easyw-fc
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Re: Do we need more that one document in the tree view?

Post by easyw-fc »

ezzieyguywuf wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 11:07 am I agree that we only need one document in the tree view. I don’t understand why it is not this way already.
the following is a way that I also use to work with very often..
alberich wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 9:45 am but I just had to work on a model that needed several open documents that I needed to be expanded so I could jump between them to get values to copy and paste.
removing the docs from the tree would be a big sacrifice then...
galou_breizh
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Re: Do we need more that one document in the tree view?

Post by galou_breizh »

alberich wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 9:45 am I think maybe it should be a Preferences option that documents not in focus are default collapsed or expanded per user choice. I generally prefer collapsed to avoid the clutter (and errors as chrisb says) but I just had to work on a model that needed several open documents that I needed to be expanded so I could jump between them to get values to copy and paste.
I also thought about having a preference for this but forgot to write it in the post. I would see actually 3 options for "Tree behavior":
- Show all opened documents without automatic collapsing
- Show all opened documents but collapse inactive ones
- Show only the active document.

But wouldn't be this collapsing/uncollapsing be annoying when switching between documents?
chrisb wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 9:33 am Do you mean that you want to have the possibility to load more than one document
I definitely want to be able to load more than one documents at once.
chrisb
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Re: Do we need more that one document in the tree view?

Post by chrisb »

galou_breizh wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 1:03 pm But wouldn't be this collapsing/uncollapsing be annoying when switching between documents?
No, it would be as if the tree belonged to the model displayed in 3D view. Switching one of them switches the other.
alberich wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 9:45 am I think maybe it should be a Preferences option that documents not in focus are default collapsed or expanded per user choice.
It sounds intriguing to have it configurable to meet anybodys personal preference. But reading the answers I don't think we need the choice here. How often is it that you have to copy things between the tree views? If unselected models are collapsed it is is one additional click. And how often is it, that you have to scroll in the tree view because two or more of them are expanded? Yes, that's at least another click as well. Going to preferences and change a setting is so much more effort, it's not worth changing them.
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alberich
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Re: Do we need more that one document in the tree view?

Post by alberich »

chrisb wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 2:27 pm Yes, that's at least another click as well. Going to preferences and change a setting is so much more effort, it's not worth changing them.
I don't see a workflow where changing the suggested Preference option would be done repeatedly within a single project. The need to be in expanded view or collapsed view seems to crop up in on a project-wide basis in my experience (limited, admittedly). I would set the preference once for the given project according to whichever was most efficient. For yesterday's project, expanded view saved me a lot of extra clicking. But only for that project. Normally, though, I would opt for the collapsed view.

And if we can't have the option then I would vote for the collapsed as default.
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