Allow window to display well on smaller screens

[gingerbeardman]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

• Cannot use the window on small screens

Describe the solution you'd like

• window layout should cope with small screens

Describe alternatives you've considered

• change to higher resolution

Additional context

• my screen has native resolution of 640x480 (same one I use for my Dreamcast)
• whilst i can change to high resolutions they are less reasable as they are not the native screen size

[Louhike]

I'm actually working on a feature to fold/unfold the different parts of the software (I can provide a screenshot it's unclear), do you think it would help? I try to make to improve readability for smaller resolutions but I have some difficulties to do so while also adding new features. If you (or someone else) has any idea how to do so, I'll be pleased to read them. But in any case, it's definitly something I'm working on.

[gingerbeardman]

That sounds promising.

Readability is not the problem, but rather that the window has a minimum/expected width of around 1000px meaning the right half of the window gets cut off on buy 640x480 display. Even at 800x600 parts are not accessible. At 1024x768 I can see everything.

Existing:

Possible?

Ideas:

• window elements expand/contract at red lines to stretch controls to different screen sizes
• option to hide folder column might help, but I see the columns adjusting dynamically
• apply button and menu checkbox would maybe need to be relocated
• save/load path defaults could be moved to the space to the right of SD card dropdown
• copy/remove/SD columns make sense to be combined into a single "on SD" column
  • checking would set to copy
  • unchecking would set to remove
• checkbox could be indeterminate state before apply and solid after?
• maybe a way to cancel all changes since last apply
• sidebar green line could be folded, or
• progress bar, free space, most recent log message, could all be moved to a status bar

I don't use shrink because it's too slow to copy onto SD and then shrink compared to doing it myself with the gditools shrink_all.sh script

As it is I use your app to do the initial load and then switch the MadSheep app to do any work after that as I find that app easier to use by and large. Yours copes with shrunk gdi and generates the names, MadSheep will not generate the names for those shrunk discs, but will honour the names you generate.

I understand this is a bit of effort, but it would be very much appreciated!

If you're into these ideas I'd be happy to help directly with a responsive form/window design in whatever tool you use for development. Let me know!

[Louhike]

Thanks for the recommandations! I tried to make a new version this morning (unreleased for now, I'll release it with other changes with the 0.6.3 version). I used adjustements I was already working on and some of your recommandations. I will keep this issue opened to implement some of your other recommandations in another version. I attached binaries of the software with thoses changes if you want to try them. If you have any feedback on it, please provide it here. UGGM_with_changes_for_size.zip

[gingerbeardman]

Here is what I see, will have a think on it.

[Louhike]

I don't know if it's obvious but you can resize the different parts with the gray bars.

[gingerbeardman]

I did eventually figure that out! Thanks

I'll try using your test version and see how it feels.

Comparing to MadSheep SD Maker (random image from google) 770px wide

[gingerbeardman]

This beta version is not really doing it for me. Sorry

[Louhike]

No problem. Is the right part the biggest problem ? Maybe I should let the ability to fold it at least, until I find a way to display items in a more efficient way. Do you think it would help ?

[gingerbeardman]

I think the main problem is that only half the window is list. The rest is chrome that I never really use.

IMHO an app that is for managing the games should focus on the games (list)

[Louhike]

I just released 0.6.3 version which is a modified version of the beta I provided. But i'm gonna make other changes on 0.6.4 version. I'll try to remove the right part. I guess I'll put an help icon for the upper part (and display it on a popup). I'm not sure what I will do for the log though (with info and errors messages). I need to think about it. Thanks for your messages and proposals, it is really helpful.

[gingerbeardman]

My pleasure! And no worries, I understand this is an ongoing endeavour.

My thoughts compared to MadSheep app - why is the log needed? The most recent message is all I ever read. This could be in status item.

I will do a wireframe mockup later on of how I see the window looking.

[gingerbeardman]

This is how I envisage it looking:

This is just a guide to concepts, hierarchy, use of space — it is not an exact placement guide!

Notes

• "scan" would be automatic
  • app launch
  • any time local folder changed
  • any time SD drive is changed
  • after apply
• "undo" would do a new scan and cancel any changes that have been made between app launch or last sync/apply
• OnSD/Copy/Remove merged into "On SD?" to reduce the number of required table columns
• Save/Load prefs would be automatic on app quit/load respectively
• Apply/Undo would be active/disabled depending on whether any changes have been made since last sync
• horizontal scroll bar would be optional depending if other columns are visible (I personally don't see the need for any other columns)
• full log could appear when interacting with status bar most recent log message

Shink

• This is an odd one because not all games work after being shrunk (is there a compatibility list that could be referenced automatically?). Plus it would be better to use the modern, faster, in-place shrink tool on a local copy of the game before transferring to SD to be fast and friendly to the user

No Local Folder

• I think it would be good to have the ability to run without a local folder. More thought needed about the implications of this

[Louhike]

Wow, great mockup! I think I will use it for the 0.6.4 version.

Shrink => A compatibility list is a feature I want to add, but it will require a lot of testing. I would also like to have a better integration with GDITools. I was in contact with the developer some months ago (a great guy), but we both had other things to do at the time. I'll try to see what can be done.

I was doing the shrinking on local before but it was actually longer on my PC, but I guess it depends on your hardware (SSD or HDD, SD card adapter speed, etc.). The slowness annoys me, I want to work on it.

No Local Folder => This is also something I want to add. I'm planning to add it for the 0.7 version. I think I'll do a 0.6.4 version and then work on this one.

[Louhike]

640*480 seems now ok with version 0.7.0. Will be released in coming days with 0.7.0 version (currently in testing).

[gingerbeardman]

Amazing work!