New Eagle 7.3 UI features ??

Wait! I found the conditional menu on the library editor. We finally got a delete item! I count that as progress.

What about a duplicate function or copy and paste? So one could just duplicate a part and rename?

Is there some trick to copy the part, and then the part could be renamed it could be renamed?

I have to say (in the way of bug fixes) that however Eagle7.2 addressed the trackpad was superior to the new code.

It's very tricky to get the contextual menus to stay open now - one has to drag one's thumb to the bottom of the trackpad.

Should be an easy fix on the next go round.

hbridge99

> 2) The arrow keys still have absolutely no function that I can see. Is

> this true? Or am I just missing some kind of modifier key command?

> Someone at CadSoft USA had said that you were finally getting around

>to making the arrow keys work?  Maybe it didn't happen?

Didn't make it into 7.3, still high on the todo list.

>

> 3) There still appears to be absolutely no way to align things

> automatically. (I'm not talking about snap to grid - I'm talking about

> aligning multiple objects at

> once, the ability that virtually every other graphics package has.

> (Users can use my AlignD ULP) for some basic functionality. Is this

> correct or anything hidden I didn't find?

Correct, ULPs need to be used for this.

>

> 4) There is still no way to distribute objects in a nice grid, also in

> contrast to virtually all graphic packages. Again I'm talking about a

> nice easy way,

> that distributes multiple objects all at once. Is this correct or is

> there anything hidden I didn't find?

Correct, ULPs need to be used for this.

>

> 5) It appears we got a library table of contents editor - but not a

>menu item to remove parts in a library or copy and paste parts in a

>library right from the menu.

> Some of this you can do in the command line (after enough trial and

> error) but the menu items still seem to be missing?

> If one can do it from the command line, then it's trivial to add the

> proper menu items right.

> Is this correct or is there anything hidden I didn't find?

You already discovered this, but the context menu reveals this option.

Still needs some work though but definitely a step in the right direction.

>

> 6) No changes I can see in color management - no load and save

>dialogs, no live editing of colors. Is this correct or is there

>anything hidden I didn't find?

See Options > Set. Select the background color you're working with. This

allows live editing of your palette. You can "load" a color palette by

running a script that describes your palette. See the defaultcolors.scr

that comes with EAGLE for an example.

>

> 7) You seem to have added some 3D stuff, which seems fine as a way to

> try to monetize some programming.

>

> I'll wait to get some confirmation on these features, maybe there are

>a few more fixes I didn't find. Is there a list of UI improvements

> anywhere. What I saw was a pointer

> to some videos that all appear to reference older versions.

In the doc folder of your EAGLE installation you'll find release notes

and update documentation.

>

> Preliminary conclusions:

> EagleCad management continues to add other (often questionable)

>features while ignoring the UI, which is badly broken, and much of

>which would be trivial to fix.

The assessment is not unreasonable. It basically boils down to

management establishing rigid schedules and us having to pick and choose

what can be implemented in the given time frame. Many of the GUI issues

are small, however it all adds up to form a considerable amount of work

and debate to strike a balance. From what I as a support tech can

surmise, the GUI is going to be the focus of V8.

>

> Further tentative conclusion:

> CADsoft either doesn't know or doesn't believe that at least some of

> their users think the UI is seriously broken.

We know, but the response above should clarify why it hasn't been fully

addressed yet.

hth,

Jorge Garcia