Re: amaya 1.2a bugs...

> Sender: www-amaya-request@w3.org
> From: Irene.Vatton@inrialpes.fr
> Resent-From: www-amaya@w3.org
> Date: Wed, 03 Jun 1998 10:41:50 +0200
> To: jg@pa.dec.com (Jim Gettys)
> Cc: www-amaya@w3.org
> Subject: Re: amaya 1.2a bugs...
> -----
> In-reply-to: Your message of Tue, 02 Jun 1998 13:31:08 -0700."
>              <9806022031.AA16211@pachyderm.pa.dec.com>
> 
> > I've found that it would be very desirable to have a delete column
> > command for tables; trying to find the non-empty cell can be quite
> chalenging,
> > or emptying all cells in a column is likewise boring.  This is an
> > enhancement request, rather than a bug report.
> 
> When you delete a cell, if the column includes only empty cells, the column is
> automatically deleted. This is exactly what you want to do with a "delete
> column".
> 

Yes, I understand....  The way the UI works is just fine.  But read on...

> >
> > I've also found that Amaya's display of tables with almost empty columns on
> the
> > right edge is buggy. The layout  if the table does not naturally fit on the
> > page has columns (including non-empty columns) off the edge of the screen.
> > This can make it a real challenge to try to find and delete the offending
> > extra cells that are forcing the table to have unwanted columns. This
> > is more than slightly annoying, making it very hard to make progress (I
> > eventually got my window wide enough to succeed at a layout which included
> > the offending columns, but this was very hard...).
> 
> Amaya only adds a new column when you add a new cell in a row. If your table
> has
> empty columns it's because you have created them before.
> Please pay attention when you're editing a table: a return create a new cell
> and you have
> to use the -> key to move to the next empty cell.
> I agree that in this particular case it would be useful to have an horizontal
> scroll to
> delete extra columns.
> 

With the bug in the display code causing nearly empty columns to format 
off the edge of the screen (not even accessable via the scroll bar), it 
is VERY painful to deal with getting rid of these right hand empty columns.  
I have no major problems with the table UI as it stands; it is the formatting 
bug that drives me to total distraction, as a simple mistake ends up being 
very difficult indeed to undo, since the point at which you need to type 
is no longer visible on the screen.

So while it would be nice to have a delete column feature, this is down
in the noise.  The disaster is the formatting bug, which causes it
to be almost impossible to use the UI (in fact, the only recovery under
some circumstances seems to be in the structure view; there have been times
when I've not been able to get the window wide enough to ever get the
right hand columns back on the screen).

I recommend taking amaya for a test drive on my table from hell, and add
an extra right hand column.  You won't like the result.
				- Jim

Received on Wednesday, 3 June 1998 11:54:44 UTC