[Paraview] Input Editor - Cramped Input Port Selection

Utkarsh Ayachit utkarsh.ayachit at kitware.com
Wed Mar 17 10:19:42 EDT 2010 

Folks,

I've committed some changes. A slight change from the mockup is the
placement of the radio buttons, since the buttons on the top seemed
disconnected from the pipeline view when more than 1 input ports were
present. Also, if there's only 1 input port, the radio buttons are now
hidden.


Jeremy,

I think I understood what you meant, and I've tried to address that
issue as well. Feel free to give that a try.

Utkarsh

On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 12:08 PM, Jérôme <jerome.velut at gmail.com> wrote:
> Then I was right : I was not clear enough!
>
> First, I talked about the current panel, not your mockup. I agree with
> those who enthousiastic.
> Second, the problem I noted on the multiple-input-port panel is that
> the input are not ordered by index, but by name. Changing "Source"
> to "ArbirtraySource" in the filters.xml for streamer with custom source
> will change the order the inputs appear. Well, I know, if the name are
> well-chosen, it is not a problem.
>
> Now, let's take this pipeline:
>
> builtin
>    |
>    |---Wavelet
>    |        |
>    |    Gradient
>    |
>    | --- PointSource
>
> If you want to initialize a stream tracer in the Gradient at each point
> of PointSource, you have to select Gradient, then choose filter ->
> Stream tracer with custom source. The inputs panel is shown, with
> the Input field being already set to the selected 'Gradient'. What you
> have to do is to set the Source to PointSource from the pipeline. Well...
> Attached is a screenshot of this procedure, but Source is named
> ArbitrarySource. The Gradient is set as ArbitrarySource, and Input field
> is not set.
>
> I hope I am clearer now!
>
> Jerome
>
>
>
>
> 2010/3/16 Utkarsh Ayachit <utkarsh.ayachit at kitware.com>
>>
>> I am not sure why there's a problem. In your case, your filters have 2
>> input ports. e.g. in the stream tracer case,  referring to the mockup,
>> INPUT1 will be called "Input" while INPUT2 will be called
>> "ArbitrarySource" or "Source" as the case may be. Both of which
>> allowing the user to only add  1 item in the input box next to them.
>>
>> Utkarsh
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 4:23 AM, Jérôme <jerome.velut at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > My 2 cents on this :
>> > It seems to me that the input list is provided in alphabetical order. In
>> > my
>> > case I have a lot of custom plugins that take 2 inputs, one being
>> > vtkImageData
>> > and the other a vtkPolyData (such a stream tracer with custom source).
>> > Depending on wich is the 'principal' input, the default input setting of
>> > this
>> > panel have non-corresponding type. For instance, the Image input is set
>> > to an existing PointSet.
>> >
>> > I don't know if I am clear enough, but maybe you can try with the stream
>> > tracer
>> > with custom source: in the current configuration, there is no problem.
>> > But I
>> > am
>> > quite sure that if you rename the 2nd input "Source" to
>> > "ArbitrarySource" in
>> > the
>> > filters.xml, you will understand this tiny problem.
>> >
>> > Jerome
>> >
>> > 2010/3/16 Christian Werner <christian.werner at rwth-aachen.de>
>> >>
>> >> I vote yes for the mockup!
>> >>
>> >> Utkarsh Ayachit wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> I agree, the pipeline preview is confusing and for the most part
>> >>> useless. Unless people object, I'd vote for removing it as well.
>> >>>
>> >>> Attached is a sample mockup. In case of filters like Append which have
>> >>> single input port, but multiple input connections, the use can type in
>> >>> a comma separated list of the inputs in the input field or select
>> >>> multiple items using the pipeline browser in the dialog.
>> >>>
>> >>> Utkarsh
>> >>>
>> >>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 11:22 AM, Christian Werner
>> >>> <christian.werner at rwth-aachen.de> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> As a user, may I present three suggestions, two of which should be
>> >>>> very
>> >>>> easy
>> >>>> and still yield an improvement.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> 1) remove the Pipeline Preview: This may be rude because it's somehow
>> >>>> nice.
>> >>>> But then again, you cannot change what happens to the pipeline
>> >>>> anyway.
>> >>>> Also,
>> >>>> I don't think one would change his mind about the selection of the
>> >>>> inputs
>> >>>> just because the Pipeline Preview shows something unsuspected. Most
>> >>>> of
>> >>>> the
>> >>>> time the user knows what he is doing and wants to quickly and easily
>> >>>> select
>> >>>> his inputs. The actual layout works against this intend. The Pipeline
>> >>>> Preview can be included again once a nice layout is found.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> 2) hide the Pipeline Preview and make it visible if the user wants to
>> >>>>
>> >>>> 3) change the layout such that the inputs are shown on top and let QT
>> >>>> manage
>> >>>> the form's height. You normally don't use so many inputs, so this
>> >>>>  most
>> >>>> probably would never lead to problems.
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Best regards,
>> >>>> Christian
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Paul Edwards wrote:
>> >>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> One simple fix would be to make sure that the preview window isn't
>> >>>>> selectable.  A lot of my users get confused thinking one box is for
>> >>>>> the input and the other as the source.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Regards,
>> >>>>> Paul
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On 12 March 2010 19:10, Utkarsh Ayachit
>> >>>>> <utkarsh.ayachit at kitware.com>
>> >>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> I cannot agree more. I am going to take a stab and fixing this
>> >>>>>> before
>> >>>>>> 3.8. We've just had too many complaints about this dialog to keep
>> >>>>>> on
>> >>>>>> delaying this.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Utkarsh
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 2:00 PM, Christian Werner
>> >>>>>> <christian.werner at rwth-aachen.de> wrote:
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> Hello!
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> I wonder why the input port selection is so cramped in the input
>> >>>>>>> editor.
>> >>>>>>> It
>> >>>>>>> is really bad that you cannot actually read out the selections you
>> >>>>>>> make
>> >>>>>>> without moving the scrollbar. Then, after scrolling, you cannot
>> >>>>>>> change
>> >>>>>>> the
>> >>>>>>> other input without scrolling back. This really steals your time.
>> >>>>>>> On
>> >>>>>>> the
>> >>>>>>> other hand there is that pipeline preview which is nice to see but
>> >>>>>>> honestly
>> >>>>>>> I'd instantly trade it away for a better overview on my inputs. I
>> >>>>>>> have
>> >>>>>>> attached a picture that shows the situation on my PC.
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> By the way, doesn't anyone have any idea about my last issue? (no
>> >>>>>>> cell/point
>> >>>>>>> data in imported ITK volumes):
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> "Create Cell or Point Data out of Image"
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> Best regards,
>> >>>>>>> Christian
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
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>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >>>>
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
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>> >
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>> >
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