Ext Designer First Impressions

[carl23934]

Overall I am very impressed with the Ext Designer! I put myself to task to see how long it would take me to duplicate the UI of a simple 1-page web app that I developed. Unfortunately it took about twice as long as I had hoped due to the backspace bug periodically erasing my iterations.

Besides that, and some minor usability issues, I think this is a great product. My only concern is if I buy it now, will I have to pay for a version without all the bugs?

I've compiled a list of all my frustrations and insights as follows:

I can't even express my frustration for the backspace bug (http://www.extjs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94979). If you're editing the text on something and tap backspace too many times your whole project is toast. GRRRRRRRRR.

Usability:
-SSSSLLLLOOOOOOOWWWW!!!! The program starts up quickly, but when I hit "continue trial", the window goes away and absolutely nothing happens for almost 30 seconds. I'm on win XP, this is a fresh OS install as of yesterday. Core2Duo w/ 2 GB ram. It seems like it would have been better to build the Ext Designer on a web-based platform like the old AIR version.
-Confirming deletion is silly if it's just a checkbox. Why not see if the item was customized to determine if a prompt needs to be shown
-Automatically anchoring form fields doesn't always make sense
-I would expect Snap-to grid size for absolute layout components to be a global preference somewhere rather than per component. This makes no sese.
-Copy and Paste for duplicating components. I'm so used to CTRL+C -> CTRL+V for duplicating things I couldn't help myself from doing it constantly.
-It would be nice if the delete key deleted components.... or the backspace key :))

Aesthetics:
-The scrollbars are very strange. It would be nice to see normal scrollbars
-Prompts are a bit strange. Typically (everywhere else) the OK is on the left and the CANCEL is on the right.
-When you select a text" item", I would like it if the blue selection indicator didn't cover the text.

[papasi]

considering that this product doesn't have a public beta before release. i assume that this is still beta quality so i wouldn't expect much.

but i think everyone would prefer a working beta than waiting for another month...


yeah the backspace key bug is pretty bad.


and delete key should probably delete the current selected objects, we want the designer to save us time, not to neg us with all these confirmation dialog boxes...

if the dev insists that confirmation is needed by default to prevent idiots from deleting components accidentally, it's probably better to have it as a preference like:

edit -> preference -> confirm delete objects [checkbox]


just some suggestions

[aconran]

Thanks for the feedback.

[grgur]

Overall I am very impressed with the Ext Designer!
I totally agree. Thumbs up guys!


-SSSSLLLLOOOOOOOWWWW!!!! The program starts up quickly, but when I hit "continue trial", the window goes away and absolutely nothing happens for almost 30 seconds. I'm on win XP, this is a fresh OS install as of yesterday. Core2Duo w/ 2 GB ram. It seems like it would have been better to build the Ext Designer on a web-based platform like the old AIR version.
I'm on a similar configuration but I haven't seen a single glitch or a "pause" starting up Designer. It's as fast as any application. Much much faster than MS Word or OO Writer AFAIK.


-Copy and Paste for duplicating components. I'm so used to CTRL+C -> CTRL+V for duplicating things I couldn't help myself from doing it constantly.
I agree.


-It would be nice if the delete key deleted components.... or the backspace key :))
Again I agree

- I have seen certain errors on a debian box. I'm sure I'm missing something I will soon see in the documentation.


bin/ExtDesigner.bin: /lib/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.9' not found (required by /var/tmp/ExtDesigner/lib/libQtGuiExt.so.4)
bin/ExtDesigner.bin: /lib/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.10' not found (required by /var/tmp/ExtDesigner/lib/libQtNetworkExt.so.4)
bin/ExtDesigner.bin: /lib/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.9' not found (required by /var/tmp/ExtDesigner/lib/libQtCoreExt.so.4)


- I'm also a fan of undo/redo, cant wait to see that in Ext Designer
- and of course, cant wait till you link my purchase to forum account so that I no longer have to look at that trial note :)


Great work Ext!