Borders make tool window buttons to big

The new (build 813) borders around the tool window buttons (Project, Structure, CVS, ...) make the buttons much too big, esp. in the bottom area.
Screen estate is a rare resource, please don't waste it like that! How about using only separators between the buttons instead of borders all around them?!
The lines above and below the text are completely superfluous as there are already borders on the outer sides of the window as well as on the inner sides of the tool window bars.

Stephen

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Completely agree. Although the new borders look better, they reduce
the usable space more than necessary.

Tom

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I must adamantly second Stephen's sentiments. After so much wonderful work
has been done to refine screen use efficiency I was terribly dissapointed to
boot build 813. Is there any way to configure tool button borders off?

"Stephen Kelvin" <mail@gremlin.info> wrote in message
news:12406349.1051013686805.JavaMail.jrun@is.intellij.net...

The new (build 813) borders around the tool window buttons (Project,

Structure, CVS, ...) make the buttons much too big, esp. in the bottom area.

Screen estate is a rare resource, please don't waste it like that! How

about using only separators between the buttons instead of borders all
around them?!

The lines above and below the text are completely superfluous as there are

already borders on the outer sides of the window as well as on the inner
sides of the tool window bars.
>

Stephen



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Stephen Kelvin wrote:

The new (build 813) borders around the tool window buttons (Project, Structure, CVS, ...) make the buttons much too big, esp. in the bottom area.
Screen estate is a rare resource, please don't waste it like that! How about using only separators between the buttons instead of borders all around them?!
The lines above and below the text are completely superfluous as there are already borders on the outer sides of the window as well as on the inner sides of the tool window bars.


-1. I like the new borders around the buttons. I think they make it look a
lot nicer and frankly, at 1600x1200, I don't even notice the loss of a few
pixels in the code editor.

+1 for having the ability to switch the borders on and off though, since
obviously not everyone feels the same way I do.

Cheers,
Vil.
--
Vilya Harvey, Consultant
vilya.harvey@digitalsteps.com / digital steps /
(W) +44 (0)1483 469 480
(M) +44 (0)7816 678 457 http://www.digitalsteps.com/

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>-1. I like the new borders around the buttons. I think they make it look a
>lot nicer and frankly, at 1600x1200, I don't even notice the loss of a few
>pixels in the code editor.

Well, I have an LCD display, that cannot be driven with a higher
resolution than 1024x768.

Tom

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Thomas Singer wrote:

Well, I have an LCD display, that cannot be driven with a higher
resolution than 1024x768.


That's why I support the ability to switch the borders off. I'd prefer to
have them on, but obviously there are others like yourself who'd prefer them
switched off. It seems like a sensible candidate for the "Appearance" tab in
the IDE settings dialog.

Cheers,
Vil.
--
Vilya Harvey, Consultant
vilya.harvey@digitalsteps.com / digital steps /
(W) +44 (0)1483 469 480
(M) +44 (0)7816 678 457 http://www.digitalsteps.com/

Disclaimer

This e-mail and any attachments may be confidential and/or legally
privileged. If you have received this email and you are not a named
addressee, please inform the sender at Digital Steps Ltd by phone on
+44 (0)1483 469 480 or by reply email and then delete the email from
your system. If you are not a named addressee you must not use,
disclose, distribute, copy, print or rely on this email. Although
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Completely agree with Stephen

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Stephen Kelvin wrote:

The new (build 813) borders around the tool window buttons (Project, Structure, CVS, ...) make the buttons much too big, esp. in the bottom area.
Screen estate is a rare resource, please don't waste it like that! How about using only separators between the buttons instead of borders all around them?!
The lines above and below the text are completely superfluous as there are already borders on the outer sides of the window as well as on the inner sides of the tool window bars.

Stephen


I agree too.
I must say that overall, I'm not too happy with screen estate usage in
IDEA. I feel that pixels are really eaten away here and there and the
borders are one very obvious place ...

Edo

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Well yes, they look nicer. If the bottom buttons only weren't that tall. The bottoms at each side have two pixel above and below the text (i.e. to the left and right) while the bottoms at the bottoms have 5 to top and 4 to bottom, which makes them look bulky. (Also there could be only 2 pixels around the border rather than 3.
I admit that I am getting a little picky, ...)

Still I'd prefer separators rather than borders or at least an option to hide them.

Speeking of stylish looks, wouldn't it be nicer to have only the button's inside in dark grey when the tool window is selected rather than the whole rectangular area containing the button? That way they would like like toggle buttons which they in fact are.

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See issue 11625.

Tom

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I actually don't agree. I usually work with IDEA in the full screen mode and
the new boders outlook is much better than previous one. At least it is
easier to find the panel I what to work with.

/kesh

"Stephen Kelvin" <mail@gremlin.info> wrote in message
news:12406349.1051013686805.JavaMail.jrun@is.intellij.net...

The new (build 813) borders around the tool window buttons (Project,

Structure, CVS, ...) make the buttons much too big, esp. in the bottom area.

Screen estate is a rare resource, please don't waste it like that! How

about using only separators between the buttons instead of borders all
around them?!

The lines above and below the text are completely superfluous as there are

already borders on the outer sides of the window as well as on the inner
sides of the tool window bars.
>

Stephen



0

Speeking of stylish looks, wouldn't it be nicer to
have only the button's inside in dark grey when the
tool window is selected rather than the whole
rectangular area containing the button? That way they
would like like toggle buttons which they in fact
are.


Good idea, I think this would be be great.

Tobin

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I'm with Kesh. I like the new borders, it helps "define" them.

As far as the other debate goes (wasted screen space in places), I personally don't agree. I haven't ever had an issue with lack of screen space. I'm been lucky enough to have decently sized monitors (17" and 19") at both computers I use IDEA on, and I tend to keep my workspace relatively clean, so it's never something that has affected me.

Looking at the issue now, I can see how others would like to have more screen real estate, and to a point, I think I would be fine with small changes. However, I do "worry" about losing too much border/empty space. It it my belief that from a design standpoint, you need empty space to help organize your environment; getting rid of borders/space can lead to cluttered looking UI's, which I'm sure is something we all want to avoid. I'm not trying to say don't push for changes, I just think IntelliJ/we should carefully consider dropping empty space just because it's there... I think it does have a place.

That's my $.02 at least...

Tobin

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Thanks for your feedback. This is a work in progress and UI polishing is
going through a lot of phases usually. The vertical button stripe is
different in size because it's a bug, because the CVS icons is larger than
anything else and will be fixed.


--
Eugene Belyaev, CTO
JetBrains, Inc
http://www.intellij.com
"Develop with pleasure!"



"Stephen Kelvin" <mail@gremlin.info> wrote in message
news:12406349.1051013686805.JavaMail.jrun@is.intellij.net...

The new (build 813) borders around the tool window buttons (Project,

Structure, CVS, ...) make the buttons much too big, esp. in the bottom area.

Screen estate is a rare resource, please don't waste it like that! How

about using only separators between the buttons instead of borders all
around them?!

The lines above and below the text are completely superfluous as there are

already borders on the outer sides of the window as well as on the inner
sides of the tool window bars.
>

Stephen



0
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Permanently deleted user

Strongly concur. I work on a from laptop, and anything which takes pixels away from the main working windows (editor+project view) is pretty much unacceptable to me. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm going to submit tracker items to toggle the display of that more or less useless status bar, and possibly even the tool bar (useful to an expert only for the run/debug menus, as near as I can tell).

--Dave "Free the bound widgets!" Griffith

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IDEA already has the functionality to disable the status bar and the
tool bar. However the setting can't be edited from within IDEA. To
disable you have to edit the config/options/ui.lnf.xml file in your IDEA
settings directory. Change the value of the following options:
]]>
Obviously IDEA should not be running while you edit that file (and keep
a back up).

Bas

Dave Griffith wrote:

Strongly concur. I work on a from laptop, and anything which takes pixels away from the main working windows (editor+project view) is pretty much unacceptable to me. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm going to submit tracker items to toggle the display of that more or less useless status bar, and possibly even the tool bar (useful to an expert only for the run/debug menus, as near as I can tell).

--Dave "Free the bound widgets!" Griffith


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You edit this settings from View|Toolbar and View|Status Bar actions

Best regards,
Vladimir Kondratyev
_____________________
JetBrains

Bas Leijdekkers wrote:

IDEA already has the functionality to disable the status bar and the
tool bar. However the setting can't be edited from within IDEA. To
disable you have to edit the config/options/ui.lnf.xml file in your IDEA
settings directory. Change the value of the following options:
<option name="SHOW_MAIN_TOOLBAR" value="true" />
<option name="SHOW_STATUS_BAR" value="true" />
Obviously IDEA should not be running while you edit that file (and keep
a back up).

Bas

Dave Griffith wrote:

>> Strongly concur. I work on a from laptop, and anything which takes
>> pixels away from the main working windows (editor+project view) is
>> pretty much unacceptable to me. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm
>> going to submit tracker items to toggle the display of that more or
>> less useless status bar, and possibly even the tool bar (useful to an
>> expert only for the run/debug menus, as near as I can tell).
>>
>> --Dave "Free the bound widgets!" Griffith



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Oops silly me, I hadn't seen that. I found the setting in the
configuration files but not in the UI, how strange:-)
I was looking in the Appearance tab of the IDE settings for this
setting, as it is also possible to enable or disable the tool buttons
from there. I filed a cometics bug:
http://www.intellij.net/tracker/idea/viewSCR?publicId=11730

Best regards,
Bas

Vladimir Kondratyev wrote:

You edit this settings from View|Toolbar and View|Status Bar actions

Best regards,
Vladimir Kondratyev
_____________________
JetBrains

Bas Leijdekkers wrote:

>> IDEA already has the functionality to disable the status bar and the
>> tool bar. However the setting can't be edited from within IDEA. To
>> disable you have to edit the config/options/ui.lnf.xml file in your
>> IDEA settings directory. Change the value of the following options:
>> >> >> Obviously IDEA should not be running while you edit that file (and >> keep a back up). >> >> Bas >> >> Dave Griffith wrote: >> >>> Strongly concur. I work on a from laptop, and anything which takes >>> pixels away from the main working windows (editor+project view) is >>> pretty much unacceptable to me. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm >>> going to submit tracker items to toggle the display of that more or >>> less useless status bar, and possibly even the tool bar (useful to an >>> expert only for the run/debug menus, as near as I can tell). >>> >>> --Dave "Free the bound widgets!" Griffith >> >> >>]]>


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