Ideas for reducing the space required in the bandmap window.

[dl2ki]

The zoom slider could also be replaced by two small buttons. The buttons are easier to use than the slider.

[kyleboyle]

This could be an interesting discussion. Are you trying to eliminate one of the header or footer toolbar rows, maximizing the real-estate of the frequency axis itself? It's not clear there is any change in real-estate allotment from your screen shots. Also, the buttons cannot use english words as icons because different languages will have different words with different lengths, so they need to be meaningful universal images.

[dl2ki]

Hello,

i didn't want to start a discussion with this example, but just to present an idea, since "clear functions" can currently be triggered in both the upper and lower areas of the bandmap window. The labeling of the buttons is just for clarity. The operation of a horizontal slider (zoom) is also a bit more complicated in my opinion. Two buttons (with small + and - symbols) would suffice.

In addition, accidentally pressing the "Create an additional Bandmap window" button can easily mess up the previous window arrangement if the additional window is docked somewhere. This is also related to the question of how many users actually use multiple bandmaps.

QLog has so far been characterized by a very clean, clear and uncluttered GUI. This is in contrast to the often colorful and overloaded GUIs of Windows-based programs.

Therefore, I would like to leave the free areas of the bandmap window in the examples as they are. It contributes to a clearer bandmap window, the frequency axis is large enough. The free area at the bottom could be used for later purposes.

From my point of view, I would leave the design of the GUI to the author of the software, who has done an excellent job so far. Therefore, my contribution is only meant as personal and individual food for thought, which you can think about, use, not use or change. In the end, everything should always lead to a general added value and not cover a single case.

[kyleboyle]

Could you explain how you reproduce the following:

pressing the "Create an additional Bandmap window" button can easily mess up the previous window arrangement if the additional window is docked somewhere.

As far as my testing goes, the additional bandmap windows always appear as floating windows first.

[dl2ki]

That is correct. In this case, however, the floating window covers other windows so that it is essential to move it. The window then tries to dock. It also depends on the original window arrangement, which is different.

However, this is not a problem that needs to be solved for me, as I do not use multiple bandmaps. For me, the bandmap of the band on which I am currently active is sufficient. So it was just a general note from my point of view. I have not yet noticed any other opinions on multiple bandmaps.

I also don't think it helps to keep the QLog interface clear. If you absolutely need it, you can also monitor other bands via a DX cluster. But that is also my personal opinion.

[foldynl]

Wolfgang,

The design of this window is entirely my responsibility. Let me explain what led me to reduce the number of buttons.
If you use only a single bandmap, the change might not be very noticeable. However, if you have multiple windows open, the GUI had already become crowded with too many buttons. The "+-" buttons were too large, and having a "-+" for each window was very unpleasant.

As for the zoom slider, I chose this element because it is widely used in other applications, and I thought users would be more familiar with it. It also helped to reduce the space needed for implementing the Zoom function.

Generally, small buttons with text labels are a big problem. Each language has different word lengths, and it’s very difficult to maintain a consistent and "expected" layout across all languages.

Regarding the reduction of the bandmap width — I believe that change didn’t actually affect the width, but I need to double-check.
The general issue with the width is that we have to be prepared for bandmaps for example 2.4 GHz and even higher bands. Unfortunately, this is a necessary compromise to keep everything universal.

Another reason is that I’m seeing more and more callsigns that are longer and longer, so the application must be able to display them properly as well.

I will try to look into some changes that could help reduce the required space. However, I’m not sure how quickly I can get to it — I’m currently reworking the entire Upload/Download process, and it’s proving to be more complicated than I initially thought.

Anyway, thanks for your opinion. Your opinion has always positively influenced the development of QLog.

[foldynl]

I played around a bit with the constants and managed to reduce the size. For now, it's only for testing in testing_0.44. I would leave the buttons unchanged for now — it was possible to achieve this just by adjusting the spacing of individual elements and removing the long label.