120 likes | 231 Vues
Strategies for GUI Migration. Strategies for GUI Migration. Have a plan! Appx allows pull down menus, toolbars, buttons, pictures, sound, animations (limited), colours, fonts, how will you use all these new features?
E N D
Strategies for GUI Migration • Have a plan! • Appx allows pull down menus, toolbars, buttons, pictures, sound, animations (limited), colours, fonts, how will you use all these new features? • Designers have many more decisions to make: What colour should I use? What font? What style? What rollover colour, if any?
Strategies for GUI Migration • Menus can now have > 200 options instead of the 20-30 we were limited to. • Inputs can have toolbar & pulldown menus, how will you use them? It’s not necessary to put everything as an x) Option on the screen.
Strategies for GUI Migration • Larger screens. It's easy to run at a larger screen size, i.e., 28 x 110. Gives a lot more screen space, but how will unmodified screens look? • PDF Printing can improve the look of a report, what reports should be changed, if any? Consider changing external reports first, i.e., Customer Invoices/Statements, etc.
Strategies for GUI Migration • What Icons will you use? • Is it necessary to maintain compatibility with character mode? Restricts your choices. • Finally, how much time do you want to spend on it? Remember, there is no finish line...
Case Study – Our Approach • Menus • Redesigned menu from several down to one, via pull downs. • Old menus still exist. Changed startup process to run GUI menu, which checks to see if GUI or not, and if not, runs old menus.
Case Study – Our Approach • Inputs • Auto GUI did most of the heavy lifting. • Had to review some screens where spacing was incorrect for auto GUI. • Found all date fields, changed them to date/time control.
Case Study – Our Approach • Attached listings to inputs, and as a toolbar item. Eliminated need to put as options somewhere else. • On certain 'more important' inputs, used fonts/colour to emphasize certain info. • This app used opt 99 to show audit info, made that into a toolbar item.
Case Study – Our Approach • Also had to manually add buttons where auto GUI doesn't i.e. work field painted on screen with 'x) Option' syntax. Ensure your manually added widget is not at same row/col as auto GUI widget. • Note that GUI overlays text, so you can add GUI elements over the character/text. Character users will not see the GUI, and the GUI will cover the character data
Case Study – Our Approach • Outputs • Auto GUI for outputs will improve look of headings, subheadings, subtotals. • Consider putting in a hook process to put company logo on each page. • Consider improving external reports, i.e., confirmation. Used logo, use Arial bold font to separate headings from data.
Case Study – Our Approach • Preferences • Allows the user to set background image and button colours (for now) • Implemented via subroutine called in Pre-Display. Reads --- WIDGET, sets wallpaper & buttons according to user preferences.
Case Study – Our Approach • Demonstrate!