Version: 1.3.0_devel (using KDE 3.4.0, compiled sources) Compiler: gcc version 3.4.3 OS: SunOS (sun4u) release 5.8 Bug #91685 implemented a nice new feature: the ability to set curve color based on filename. This is very convenient when comparing data from two different files. However, the tool has to be called time and again as the settings are applied in one shot, and newly created curves do not inherit the settings. I think a "Apply to new curves" checkbox should be added, and checked by default. When it is checked, newly created curves should obey the settings.
A few concerns come to mind: 1) the user may call this once (leaving the "Apply to new curves" checked) and then be unaware of how to disable this functionality. 2) if the user sets a color for a file with the x-vector and a different color for a file with the y-vector then for some curves it is not well defined which of the two colors you will get.
> 1) the user may call this once (leaving the "Apply to new curves" checked) > and then be unaware of how to disable this functionality. If the user calls this dialog (which is quite simple) there are good chances that he will remember the presence of this option. Furthermore, there is little point in using this tool and continuing to create new curves that don't respect this later on. For me, the benefits of a sticky option outweigh this risk by a few orders of magnitude ! > 2) if the user sets a color for a file with the x-vector and a different > color for a file with the y-vector then for some curves it is not well > defined which of the two colors you will get. The "based on X" or "based on Y" option should also be honored, but there is only one, not one for each file. For each curve, the color is fully determined by the datasource for X (or Y) <-> color correspondence table. I don't understand your concern here.
Nicolas, your response to 2) implies that if I select a file and color with X selected (and the "Apply to new curves" checked) and then later select another file with Y selected I've effectively changed from X to Y on the first file also. This doesn't seem very intuitive, though the alternative is the problem originally described in 2).
I'm looking at this again after at least 3 people asked for its status... and I realize we had not concluded the discussion. Reading it again with some distance, I have the feeling that the misunderstanding comes from the fact that I imagine only one "based on X/Y" vector radiobutton for all files (i.e. you decide what the rule is for ALL files), while you seem to think that there should be one such radiobutton for each file. If that is the case, then I say: keep only one radiobutton ! In most cases, I believe users will plot curves where X and Y come from the same source for obvious consistency reasons, unless they can (or need to) share a common X vector which could be a time reference for instance. But in all cases, determining color based on Y should work quite well...
Any chance that this gets implemented in a 1.x branch in the near future ? I keep getting requests for this on a daily basis... If anything is unclear from a technical standpoint, be sure to ask me and I'll try to explain it better. Basically, the suggestion here is to add a checkbox like "remember this setting for newly created curves", and when new curves are created allocate the color based on the choices shown in the dialog it it is set.
It is on the list, but I want to fix the significant gaps in functionality first. It will likely make it into 1.6 which I hope to release early next year.
SVN commit 723854 by arwalker: BUG:124558 Allow the user to fix the color associated with the curves generated from a particular data file M +42 -33 choosecolordialog.ui M +17 -24 kst.h M +183 -121 kstchoosecolordialog_i.cpp M +32 -23 kstchoosecolordialog_i.h M +6 -2 kstcurvedialog_i.cpp M +19 -11 kstdatawizard_i.cpp M +6 -1 ksteqdialog_i.cpp M +6 -1 kstfilterdialog_i.cpp M +6 -2 kstfitdialog_i.cpp M +9 -5 ksthsdialog_i.cpp M +6 -1 kstpsddialog_i.cpp M +6 -1 kstvvdialog_i.cpp WebSVN link: http://websvn.kde.org/?view=rev&revision=723854