Usability

From: Paul Rogers <progers(at)technologyimaging(dot)com>
To: pgadmin-support(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Usability
Date: 2006-02-02 15:31:04
Message-ID: 5D79A3D6-8241-46FF-9271-88EA257A7446@technologyimaging.com
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Pgadmin is a very solid tool but it requires a lot of clicking for
the most common tasks. Please consider the following ideas.

Edit Grid:
* An option to hide the data-type from the column headings would save
screen space. It seems to add very little.
* An option to left justify the column name. When the column is too
narrow its difficult to recognize the name using only the middle
letters.
* Adding an 'X' button to column headings, to hide a column or filter
it out, would really make the grid more useful when trying to examine
and compare certain columns.
* A filter input box along the top of the grid, similar to
CocoaMySQL's filter options, would make finding specific data faster
and easier. I prefer the power of pgAdmin's current filter system
over CocaMySQL, its just difficult to find the pgAdmin filter and
getting there involves so many extra steps.
* One-click sorting by clicking a column heading and perhaps a right-
click option to 'sort 1st', 'sort 2nd', 'sort 3rd', 'move up sort
order', 'move down sort order', 'sort next', 'sort previous', etc.
* A visual indicator to show which columns are involved in sorting.
An arrow pointing up or down would help. Perhaps the indicator could
be more translucent or a different shade when as the column moves
down the sorting order.
* I've always wanted a grid view which preserves the widths of
columns after they've been changed (like a spreadsheet document).
Perhaps the preferences could be added as a column comment or stored
in the application preferences. In most cases it would be most useful
if the setting was associated with a specific column name and not one
instance of a column. For example, I manage many databases and
different tables that all store e-mail addresses. And while the
columns may not all have identical definitions they all require more
then the standard width.
* Saved 'views': some way to save and restore collections of the
above mentioned settings for a table: preferred sort order, filter
(s), and column widths. I realize PostgreSQL has explicit view
objects for this purpose so perhaps associating the preferred-column
width with a view is enough.

Server Connection Properties:
* An option to automatically expand and open a certain database,
schema, and table/view after connecting to a server. Currently,
getting to the data involves many clicks after the connection is
made. Perhaps one could choose to open a certain cast, domain,
function, operator or other resource. Tables and views are far and
away the most commonly accessed resource for me.

Paul Rogers

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