Scrollbar Ergonomics

jeffaco

Howdy,

I have an application that needs to display a scrollbar.

I tried it on a Modero 8400 using commands to set the low and high ranges of the scrollbar "button" (the part that shows where, in the list, that you are). Much to my disappointment, it appeared that setting these values only served to eliminate a division in my code. More specifically, it did not adjust the "height" of the scrollbar "button" to adjust to the amount of data that exists.

I expected an ergonomic experience much like Windows, or Unix, or Macs, where the "height" of the scrollbar "button" depends on the amount of data in the list:

Full height = No scrollable data
1/2 height = One other page
1/3 height = Two other pages

You get the idea. Instead, the scrollbar "button" was always pretty small. Sure, it can move, but there's zero indication of the length of the list based on the "height" of this button, even when setting the low/high settings for the scrollbar via SEND_COMMAND commands.

Is this sort of thing just not possible on the Modero panels?

Thanks for any advice ...

Daniel

Have you considered making the scrool button a bargraph with a serie of animations that would make the button appear from big to small? This way, if your list contains 10 items, that level could be equal to 10 and show an image that is the size that you need it to be for ten items in the list...

Am I making any sense?

jeffaco

Hi Daniel,

Yes, you're making total sense. I had thought of that.

Part of the issue is that there doesn't even appear to be a property to vary the height of the scroll bar. So it's not clear to me how to design the panel so that I can have different heights for the scroll bar *AND* still have active control over it (i.e. be able to grab it and move it up and down).

I could do a background image, say, that displayed the scroll bar, but then that would be a static image (i.e. you couldn't move the scroll bar since it would just be a bitmap - and thus it couldn't be an active scrollbar).

Unless I'm missing something?

Frankie

I tried this once with no luck. I ended up using a page up/down button. Let us know if you figure it out!!!!

Chip Moody

Okay, this is totally off the top of my head - I haven't put any thought into why this might not work:

How about two bargraphs, one on top of each other? Have one of them fill from top to bottom, with the "unfilled" area being transparent, and the "filled" area matching the color of the background around the bargraph. Have the second one do the opposite - filling from the bottom going up. Have a background >under< the bargraphs be the color you would want the "slider" to be. Theoretically, as you adjust how "full" each bargraph is, you'll be controlling how much of - and at what location - the background color is revealed.

I didn't get this crazy with a project I was working on recently. I just let the position of the slider indicate how far down the "list" the user was, and in the case of a list that fit the display, I just hid the scrollbar completely.

- Chip