Python Embedded for Avogadro

[Noel_O_Boyle]

On 31/10/2007, Geoffrey Hutchison geoff.hutchison@gmail.com wrote:

On Oct 31, 2007, at 5:21 AM, Noel O’Boyle wrote:

No - I’m really out of the Linux scene right now. Whatever you think
about Windows, try to get it out on that platform, as you’d be missing
a lot of potential users.

It’s cross-platform. Trust me, we want Mac and Windows users:
Avogadro - Browse Files at SourceForge.net

It’s fantastic. But enough with the praise…

(1) Why was I not aware that this was already available for Windows
with a three-click installer…?? You’ve got some marketing to
do…I’ll do a blog post for my 40 readers.

(2) Where is avogadro-discuss, the users’ mailing list?

(3) To me, it should be middle-mouse button to translate, right-button
to zoom. Check out GaussView, Mercury and other programs.

(4) When I started the program it was not on rotate mode. It should
be. I spent a few minutes adding random carbon atoms to a protein.
(Remember, no-one reads the manual, and everyone expects to be able to
rotate the molecule)

(5) I went to File, Open, looking for an example file but found none.
Throw in a couple of diverse molecules, a protein and so on.

(6) The big bubble on zoom is not useful. Why not add a scale along
the side of the window
with some measurements in Angstrom or something?

(7) I closed the document and discarded changes. Clicking on “Close”
again, it asked me whether I wanted to discard the changes again.
Clicking on “Quit” then, it asked me again whether I wanted to discard
the changes.

(8) The Windows install is missing an icon for the release notes.

Um, and well done. Let me know when the scripting support is in place.

Noel

[ghutchis]

On Oct 31, 2007, at 10:04 AM, Noel O’Boyle wrote:

(1) Why was I not aware that this was already available for Windows
with a three-click installer…?? You’ve got some marketing to
do…I’ll do a blog post for my 40 readers.

(sobbing). Now you’ve done it now, you announced it to CCL.net.

We’ve been doing something of a staged release. I announced to Blue
Obelisk, and blogged about it too. We wanted to have a few more bits
implemented before making CCL.net aware: scripting, protein ribbons,
and surfaces.

I think people judge based on a first impression. Our wiki isn’t
really ready for public consumption, and we have some “missing pieces”
based on typical expectation of a molecular editor and viewer. So we
wanted to get close to a 1.0 release and then make a marketing push.

So I admit that I’m hoping 40 readers might be interested but that it
doesn’t make a splash on CCL. Sorry. I just don’t think the projects
ready for 100s of rabid users.

(2) Where is avogadro-discuss, the users’ mailing list?

I just created one.

(3) To me, it should be middle-mouse button to translate, right-button
to zoom. Check out GaussView, Mercury and other programs.

Please file that as a feature request. We might add it as an option,
but I’ve always had middle mouse (and scroll wheel) to zoom on
programs I’ve used.

We’re generally trying to pick what seems “intuitive.” For example,
the manipulate tool uses the left mouse for translate because that
seemed to make the most sense, rather than rotating a bunch of atoms.

(4) When I started the program it was not on rotate mode. It should
be. I spent a few minutes adding random carbon atoms to a protein.

I just added that as a good bug report. We should change to the rotate
tool when you open a file, but draw tool when you create a new file –
because you’ll then want to add random carbon atoms.

(5) I went to File, Open, looking for an example file but found none.
Throw in a couple of diverse molecules, a protein and so on.

As I said, these releases are more like developer previews. We also
want to have a library for drawing, to insert fragments. There’s
definitely more to come.

(6) The big bubble on zoom is not useful. Why not add a scale along
the side of the window with some measurements in Angstrom or
something?

I’m not sure what you mean by “the big bubble on zoom.” A picture
might help. The idea of a scale is a good one, and if you can
elaborate in a feature request, I think we can add that. We’ve tried
to add helpful “eyecandy” like that to the tools.

(7) I closed the document and discarded changes. Clicking on “Close”
again, it asked me whether I wanted to discard the changes again.
Clicking on “Quit” then, it asked me again whether I wanted to discard
the changes.

That dialog box is profoundly broken on both Mac and Windows. I’m
working on it. PR#1807252.

(8) The Windows install is missing an icon for the release notes.

Patches (particularly to release notes or documentation) are most
welcome. As I said, we’re still in the middle of the development
phase, so there are some rough edges. We don’t have any tutorials
either, although we’ve discussed screencasts. (e.g., how to use the
tools)

Cheers,
-Geoff