Combining the Draw and Template Tools

Development Design & Interface
1

With the discussion at Template Tool Key Shortcuts, I got to thinking – what about merging the functionality of the Template Tool into the Draw Tool?

This would help discoverability and would make it quicker to use the templates without having to switch tools.

As side benefits, it would also free up a tool shortcut (we have maxed out the range) and reduce toolbar visual clutter.

Basically in my head this would mean that the Draw Tool would take the tabbed interface from the Template Tool, and add the controls from its pane (automatic bond order and hydrogen adjustment). The Centers tab would then be the default way to draw new atoms. It’d look something like:

suggestion3
suggestion3337×500 13.5 KB

There would need to be a new Coordination option called “Automatic”. Adding an atom in this mode would then behave exactly like the Draw Tool currently does (and could presumably reuse the code).

We’d also want to think about what the default elements in the drop-down should be. A combination of the two current sets of defaults would be appropriate, I imagine.

This would also be a way to let the user specify the formal charge when adding atoms with the Draw Tool.

2

I’d rather not. If anything, I think we have too few tools. (And the auto-optimize tool isn’t there yet.) Compare Avogadro currently with 10 tools to ChemDraw, Photoshop / GIMP, Inkscale / Illustrator, Blender, etc.

Now the problem is that many of these programs are famously high barrier to new users.

The point of the current separation is that Draw is just a freehand sketch tool. Limited options - just go sketch the thing if you want an unusual geometry or whatnot. Tweaking the bond lengths is going to be very helpful for new users – but I’ve seen plenty of new students worry about “doing something wrong” even with the current draw tool.

You can discover the template tool because it’s another icon on the toolbar. It’s the “stamp” tool in a graphics program.

Do I want 20 tools? Probably not. But I think it’s useful to compare to CAD or graphics programs (or ChemDraw) and realize they have 3-4 different selection tools, etc. So we should be careful trying to jam everything into one tool.