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Posts tagged User experience
Add SyntaxHighlight to Windows Live Writer in Preview mode
Feb 7th
Windows Live Writer (shorter: WLW) is one of the most popular blog authoring tool that I also happen to like and use. And I say this because of its features – I especially enjoy the Preview tab. But what it really lacks is previewing the ENTIRE page – it will get only the html and some css. So no Syntax Highlighting of my code? Let me tell you how I solved this issue.
As a blog writer I searched for something that could allow me to write the articles offline and then upload them in Wordpress. I also tried Wordpress built-in editor, but the editing box is so small that I couldn’t use it too much.
The most important feature for me is that it retrieves the blog theme and has a preview function that provide you the same look on editor window. So you will be able to write a post with a preview. But when having a more complex theme, using JQuery or Prototype, you will discover that you don’t get any more the same look and feel as in the blog. This is partially ok for editing, but sometimes it is really bad – especially if you’re a programmer and add a lot of code in your page. On blogs there is a solution to show the code with syntax color, but in the Windows Live Writer I couldn’t find one suitable plug-in that does this.
Adding events to LINQtoCSV library
Feb 6th
The User Experience that a library provides must be at least equal with is quality and speed. And frankly, CSVtoLINQ rocks on latest two, as I presented in previous articles Import CSV file and query it with LINQ and continuing in LINQ wonder world, but lacks a little on the User Experience(in our case Developer Experience) by not having some events of starting, progress and ending of the parsing.
Especially important, while parsing huge files, is a confirmation for the user that something happens and (ideally) the point in which the processing is. That is why, thanks to Matt Perdeck for sharing the entire source of the library, I was able to improve it by adding events.
So, let’s see some code!
Modifications into LINQtoCSV library – CSVContext.cs
Important: All modifications will be made in the CsvContext class from LINQtoCSV namespace – the CSVContext.cs file.
First we’ll add the ReadStarted event to the library – it will fire when the reading of the CSV file has started.
// defining the delegate
public delegate void ReadStartedHandler(object sender, EventArgs e);
// here we define the event
public event ReadStartedHandler ReadStarted;
// the call of the event processing
protected virtual void OnReadStarted() {
if (ReadStarted != null) {
// we use empty eventargs because nothing is needed on readstarted event, just the confirmation of parsing started
ReadStarted(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
Mergus Product Manager
Jan 16th
Uses: Borland Delphi 7 VCL, Microsoft Access Database, User Accessibility
This application was developed by me for Softwise Development to accomplish the needs of a client in administering its furniture chain of shops.
So, as Project manager, I have designed a solution, keeping in mind the possible evolution of this enterprise. I was using a system of managing clients and suppliers, the available furniture, the accounting in/out documents. This application was designed to be simple, to be used efficiently, fast and reliable by people who didn’t had any programmatically skills, in a fast and reliable application.
Forestry
Jan 15th
Uses: Borland Delphi 7 VCL, Microsoft Access Database, User Accessibility
Very technical project, using numerous tables from a database to estimate the average growth of a number of forests. I had developed it in Softwise Development company, having given by the client the tree characteristics (maximum age, average growth per year, indexes of growth etc) and the activities that must be done periodically to ensure the best efficiency. The user of this kind of application will have a general idea of what is to do in the next period of time to the forests that he administers.
Using defined site (forest), created from different species of trees, and estimating their growth, a modern manager can exploit his resources better, but not loose from mind the ecological part of this enterprise.Based on scientific calculations, the bases of a rationality and profitability of owning forest and administering them are now available to the science and business people.
Change screen orientation of a Microsoft Surface application
Nov 3rd
Microsoft Surface is designed to allow MultiUser and MultiTouch interaction.While MultiTouch is easy to acknowledge, the MultiUser and designing a smart changing of Surface’s screen orientation is a little difficult coming from desktop computing, where the monitor’s down will be the same always.
In order to understand the need of changing the screen orientation on a Microsoft Surface, you might want to think about it’s normal usage: Collaboration and User experience. In the implementation for a group of 4-8 people, sitting around the Surface, their need for rotating the environment is almost zero or otherwise they will experience dizziness and losing their focus while rotating the environment for one of them.
While for the situation in which you have casual visitors(as in BMW implementation in their showrooms), who sit in pairs working on one Surface, you might considering rotating the window such that the ’Down’ of the application would be the nearest edge to them.
Objective-C: UIAlert or asking for confirmation
Jun 29th
While start XCoding, I faced a new challenge : how to create modal, single use confirmation dialogs? So after some digging in the internet, I found out that this can be actually done pretty simple and elegant. This will be very useful if you want to display some deletion confirmation or ask for user permission to use the camera or GPS sensor. All you have to do is just create a UIAlert and the IBAction hooked up to your “Nuclear launch” button, and then have its delegate decide whether to destroy the world or not.
In the header file you have to add this declaration of the action performed when the fatal button is clicked:
- (IBAction) btnLaunchNuclearStrikeClicked:(id)sender - (IBAction) deleteButtonClicked:(id)sender; Read the rest of this entry »
Change Browser’s UserAgent
May 12th
The question of What’s that user agent string used for? should has been duly answered in the previous post. The next question is about How to change or spoof user agent string?
The structure of Internet Explorer user agent string.
The template of user agent string used by Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Why there is a need to change or spoof user agent string?
Well, this question should have been answered in the previous post too. In short, changing or spoofing user agent string is needed when online security is a concern or to bypass web services access restriction for certain type of web browser.
For example, Adobe Reader download site will display different download page according to the web browser that visiting the site, limit or auto pick up Adobe Reader version for the OS type in the user agent string, force Adobe Updater to manage Adobe Reader download progress. So, by changing the user agent string, one can directly download any Adobe Reader version of any platforms or languages with Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, without using the Adobe Updater or Opera web browser!
How to change User Agent String of Internet Explorer?
For Internet Explorer 6 SP2 on Windows 2000 and IE7 For Windows XP, open up Windows Registry Editor to locate this Registry key:
HKLMSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionInternet Settings5.0User Agent Read the rest of this entry »
Baby step into Apple’s iPhone programming – Cocoa Touch
May 10th
I just started the most interesting lab of my life : Programming Apple’s iPhone using a MacBook with Cocoa Touch.It is held in Frauhover FIT, under Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Prinz and Dr. Wolfgang Gräther. In this lab we will start develop an iPhone application using Usability principles, Apple’s User interface Guides.
For me it’s the best opportunity to take a peak into the neighbor’s( Apple’s 
) garden. For long time I was just curious about their technology and ways to program. But I lacked the hardware, because you can develop for Mac and iPhone only in MacBooks, Macs and obviously need an iPhone for testing.
So I want to share my experience as a newbie into Apple stuff. Read the rest of this entry »
Ruby on Rails & Agile development
May 6th
Starting from the Fall of 2002 a close collaboration begin between the RWTH Aachen University, University of Bonn, the Fraunhofer Institute Centre Birlinghoven Castle IZB and the University of Applied Sciences Bonn Rhein-Sieg . They joined forces to establish the Bonn-Aachen International Center for Information Technology (B-IT) who, as a collaboration, ranked the first university in Computer Science in Germany, above Technical University of Munich and the University of Karlsruhe.
As for now, I study in Media Informatics master held by RWTH Aachen university joint Master with University of Bonn.
I just got the confirmation that I will be enrolled into Agile lab and study the Agile development techniques along with Ruby on Rails and mobile programming. Read the rest of this entry »
