Skip to main content
Submitted by ErikT on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 09:44

I may have asked this in the past, but several versions of GalilTools have been released since and I haven't seen the change, so I thought I'd make sure it's known:

I really, really want to be able to change fonts in GalilTools.

The default font on Windows is Terminal. This is bad because:

1. Terminal is a bitmapped font - there are only certain font sizes available. I have a high-res screen (1920x1080 in 15") and need the fonts to be larger, but the available steps are "too small" and "too big".

Incidentally, the method to change font sizes - holding CTRL and rolling the mouse wheel - is extremely counter-intuitive. I understand where it comes from (Internet Explorer does it, and anything that uses Internet Explorer's text controls) but I didn't think to look for it and as a result didn't know it existed for several months!

Additionally, Windows' ClearType font smoothing does not work on bitmapped fonts - ClearType *does* show up in the rest of GalilTools (the buttons, etc). This makes the primary focus of GalilTools - the program - the hardest part to read.

2. Terminal is a [b]bad[/b] font: the "", "}" and ")", and "1" and "l" look [i]extremely[/i] similar, making debugging an expression like [code]IF ((@IN[2010]<>1)|(@IN[2011]=0))[/code] rather irritating.

Now, I'm not asking for you guys to design or pick a better font. I just would like to be able to go "Tools->Fonts" and click "Choose Font" for the editor and the terminal separately, and just get the standard Windows font selector.

My second major point is the interface itself. I have a widescreen display, and programs are vertical in nature. This means I have lots of horizontal space to play with and I want my toolbar (new, open, save, etc.) to be on the left edge of the screen, not the top. I can do this by dragging the toolbar over to the left, but every single time I restart GalilTools (which is frequently now, thanks to the bug that makes it crash upon reconnection) it goes back to the top and I have to rearrange everything.

Then, I have to find the files I was using. I'd like to see a list of recently opened DMC files at the bottom of the File menu, like in many other applications (see Microsoft Word, Paint, etc). If this can't be done, at the very least, i'd like to see the program remember the last folder the open dialogue was in - between sessions of GalilTools. The aforementioned crashing-and-restarting business is made even MORE irritating by the Open dialogue box jumping back to \Documents and Settings\Username\Galil (I have to store my code in a specific folder for backup purposes, so this folder, if intended for stored code, is useless to me).

Thank you for reading all this and your consideration of my complaints!

Comments 4

Galil_DJR on 01/23/2009 - 10:27

Erik,
Thank you very much for your feedback. You make excellent points and back them up with great technical details.

I have added the following to our requests lists:
Ability to change fonts - editor and terminal
Remember Toolbar placement
Remember recent editor files
Remember directory locations (editor, arrays, firmware)

One question for the directory locations.
You mention
"I have to store my code in a specific folder for backup purposes, so this folder, if intended for stored code, is useless to me"

Do you use source safe or subversion or some other form of version control, or is there just a directory that your backup utility hits regularly?

ErikT on 01/23/2009 - 11:01

[quote=DJ]
Do you use source safe or subversion or some other form of version control, or is there just a directory that your backup utility hits regularly?
[/quote]

Both, actually. We have an in-house backup system that runs on a regular basis that requires everything to be in a specific folder, [i]and[/i] I've configured a subfolder of that to be synchronized with a SVN server that I use personally so I can track revisions (no one else here had even heard of SVN before me, haha.)

ErikT on 02/17/2009 - 15:46

Just downloaded 1.3 - looks sharp. I am a big fan of the expanded scope functionality and plan on using it right away.

The font stuff also works great (thanks!), except a minor quibble: the line numbers are kind of wacky when you select a large font - take a look at the screenshot:

[img]http://members.shaw.ca/slipstream3d/untitled.JPG[/img]

The line numbers start to take more than one line each. Looks like that column down the left needs to resize with the font or something. I'm not really concerned as I don't refer to the line numbers much, but just thought I'd let you know.

Galil_DJR on 02/17/2009 - 17:05

Argh, I see it. Thanks for the bug report.

You can work around this by holding down the control key and zooming out a couple clicks. This will expand the line number column temporarily.

You'll have to do it every time, but hopefully this won't come up to often; only when you're editing code above line 999.

I'll post this in our bug tracking software for repair.

Thanks for the positive feedback! Do keep posting, we're listening. We added a new feedback feature in the help menu for submitting feedback directly to our team.