RFC: Resource editing and validation

[Reece Dunn]

2009/4/6 Warren Dumortier <nwarrenfl at gmail.com>:
> Yeah, why not.
>
> But that was not really hard at all, if you use a calculator to
> calculate x and y coords. I could easily change winecfg for my patch.
> IMO it is not really needed as winecfg doesn't change a lot...

The issue is not so much that winecfg changes a lot or not. All the
other dialogs are affected across other resources.

Sure, you can use a calculator. However, you still need to update all
the controls in the dialog you are editing, to move them to their new
positions.

In addition to this, the controls on the various dialogs (e.g. on
winecfg, but others such as the Browse For Network Share dialog are
affected as well) are inconsistently positioned.

The Browse For Network Share dialog does not have 50x14 sized command
buttons (OK, Cancel) -- this makes them look squashed up, especially
when using themes.

On the winecfg desktop tab, the "Color:" and related labels are
incorrectly spaced from the control below them. This causes them to
look bunched up. Also, some of the buttons are not 14 DLUs high --
causing them to look scrunched up -- and the spacing between controls
is 5 DLUs. As a result of all of this (and other layout rules), the
dialog looks inconsistent and unprofessional.

Having an editor that takes care of this means that you get a
consistent and more professional look that will also work when you
have theming turned on. It also means that you don't have to spend
hours with a calculator adjusting control positions by hand. Doing
that is very time consuming -- I know, as I have done this, but using
Visual Studio dialog guidelines. When editing a dialog, I want
something that does this for me, so I don't have to worry about
positioning and spend a long time fiddling with guidelines or (x, y)
coordinates -- especially when making several changes to the dialogs.

I also want to revive my "Usability: WineCfg Part 1 -- Desktop
Integration tab" thread, and expand this to other areas of the dialog
and to wine as a whole. Having the tools and infrastructure in place
to do this -- especially when you consider adjusting the dialogs
across the different language resources -- makes the whole thing
easier.

- Reece