No, they haven't. Tabs are the scapegoat of UI design. It's the go-to solution for when you're dealing with finite screen real estate (one of the hardest software design problems to solve). Our workspaces give us virtually infinite real estate (and you can have multiple tabs of infinite real estate!!) - which, yes, means you can get lost... but it's very hard to do, if you're not nonsensically attempting it.
Lets agree to disagree... along with major software designers out there.
Workapces do offer infinite real estate, but nothing can maximize SCREEN real estate, you can only try to make the most of it.
Chains are not nodes. Chains are a graphical representation of a window parent-child relation. It means you can't end up with your object resource in one place, and its events in another place. Or confuse an events window with the wrong object resource.
If the two windows where joined together, then you would have the same benefit, without the lost space the extra window borders and chains have. Additionally, if they where part of a full screen ui like scripts can be, you would have even more screen realestate.
you talk of parent child relations, but given each object can have but one physics panel, and one event panel, chains are hardly the best way to represent them. collapsable sub-sections are far more sensible. (though admiteldy, less falshy looking on promotional material).
t took up way, way, way, way, way too much vertical real estate. You have a lot more horizontal screen real estate available, so it's only logical to make use of that.
You could join it horizontally, as it is now, but without the chain in the middle. DO you ever close the event window?
alternatively, a collapse sytem could be use. Take blender for example. Yes, the UI takes a long time to get used to. but once you understad it, it is by far the bes UI out there, as it minimized the number of manipulations needed to get to your information.
Editor windows open in a vertical stack. This means you can just scroll up/down to find your windows, which is very useful if you know where the window you're going to is.
That is often how i get lost: i have to scoll up and down many times before my eyes settle on what i was looking for.
The holy grail of power user tools: Go To. Just press Ctrl+T anywhere in the IDE or right-click the Workspace.
I use this already, along with the resource tree. That why i can use GMS2.
but it circumvents the workspace. If the only way to make the workspace usable is by introducing another way to navigate, then that speaks volumes about the workspace system.
Close a window when you're done using it, so it frees up room for the next thing you open. Alternatively purge the workspace once in a while by right-clicking the workspace and going Windows -> Close All.
Again, what is the point of infinite real estate if the solution is not to make use of it?
Im terribly sorry, I know a lot of work has been pu into the workspace system. But no matter how you look at it, The features either make little sense, or work to circumvent the workspace.
I would very much appreciate if you could provide a full explanation of exactly how you all manage to get lost and what you think the problems are, rather than just crying wolf. Maybe then we can take a look at solving it.
Just look ad
@Mike s developemnt videos. He never uses workspaces. He mostly navigates using the resource tree. So even within your team, you have members that (at least subconciously) have problems with the workspaces.
quick random screenshot from one of his videos:
Notice how much space he is using, compared to the amount of space the worpsace uses up? Thats right! he is working on less than 1/2 of his screen real estate.
Now yes, there are way to go around that. But they break up the flow of the program. Why have 1/2 the resources show up in workspaces, and the other in full screen settings?
I mean, even you developers do not make use of it... Seriously, there is something wrong!
I could spend time analysing this in more detail, and probably will. infact, ill probably make mockups of what it could be like (some day, busy ATM).
All the solutions you offer to clutter, or poor use of real estate all go against the workspace. They either go around it (like ctrl + t) or dont make use of it at all (full screen scripts).
At that point, we may aswell be using tabs, instead of having this clucky workspace system you only use for 1/2 the resources.
not to mention that most resources never even use the chain workflow. - its a poor fit for GM's data model where there is no ownership. (I mean, whene there is parenting with objects, you dont even use chains there?!?)
