GUI Design Studio version 3.3 is now available for download. This is a further maintenance release with some changes based on customer requests. It sees the start of some of the more interactive features we’re working on.
For customers using any prior version of GUI Design Studio, simply install the new version and your existing licenses will continue to work.
(1) Active Scroll Bars
For all those cases where it’s important for you to demonstrate the entire contents of your edit boxes, lists, tables and trees, you can now work those scroll bars when you run your prototype in the simulator!
By selecting elements first, you can also scroll them within the design editor if you want to and set default scroll positions.
(2) Expand / Contract Tree Nodes
Judging by the number of customer designs we’ve seen where tree node expansion and contraction has been simulated using overlay panels, this is clearly another important feature that sits nicely alongside scrolling.
As before, you can set up the default expansion and contraction of each node within the property editor where you create the nodes. You can now also change these within the design editor itself by selecting the tree element then clicking the expand/contract buttons.
(3) Connect From Tree and List Items
Thanks to all of the requests for this feature, you can now make navigation connections directly from tree nodes and list items instead of having to use navigation overlays.
This is especially important now that trees and lists can be scrolled. Links remain with the correct item after rearranging the content.
For trees, you can expand a node (in the editor), create a link from a child node and then collapse the node again.
All links to hidden items are shown from the nearest location that makes sense. Try it out and I’m sure it will make sense.
(4) Scrolling Regions
With version 3.3, you can now take a large design section and place it within a smaller, scrolling region. Anything from a simple bitmap image to an intricately designed, custom list, or even complex document content can now be represented with ease.
The trick is to place the large section within a component design, resize the component (you might need to change its resize options first) and then check its “Maintain Size” option.
(5) Other minor changes
We’ve fixed a couple of bugs related to infinitely nested, self-referencing component designs that occur in rare circumstances, and added a useful Alt+F4 shortcut key to toggle between normal selection mode and component item selection mode. F4 (or Shift+F4) still toggles between either selection mode and make connection mode.
