Truly awful WPF UI

If you have time, DL and have a look at the DBCenter app from https://sourceforge.net/projects/sqlceviewer

The app itself has the potential to be pretty useful, but the UI falls well within the bounds of "Just because you could doesn't mean you should..."

I just hope that people don't start thinking that all WPF apps must look like this...

All I see is a little screenshot of a login popup thingy. Are there other screenshots you're referring to?

Harlequin said:

All I see is a little screenshot of a login popup thingy. Are there other screenshots you're referring to?

Sorry u've gotta DL it and see.

I'll post some shots later when I get some time.

jh71283 said:

Harlequin said:

*snip*

Sorry u've gotta DL it and see.

I'll post some shots later when I get some time.

"WPF" is just a tool. Sometimes "tool" can kill. Is it tool's fault and guilt?

BlackTiger said:

jh71283 said:

*snip*

"WPF" is just a tool. Sometimes "tool" can kill. Is it tool's fault and guilt?

Good thing jh71283 isn't blaming the tool, then.

Here's a nice screenshot of that app:



Awful. Just awful. As much as I like those examples of curved scrollbars and textboxes on 3D cloth simulations, I cannot for the life of me imagine a scenario where stuff like that is useful beyond a "look what you can do with this stuff!" demo video.

Maybe that's a nice C9 competition for PDC tickets: make a WPF-based UI that a) is whymsical and impossible (or very hard) to do with Winforms and b) doesn't suck. Could turn up some interesting results.

Bas said:

BlackTiger said:

*snip*

Good thing jh71283 isn't blaming the tool, then.

Here's a nice screenshot of that app:



Awful. Just awful. As much as I like those examples of curved scrollbars and textboxes on 3D cloth simulations, I cannot for the life of me imagine a scenario where stuff like that is useful beyond a "look what you can do with this stuff!" demo video.

Maybe that's a nice C9 competition for PDC tickets: make a WPF-based UI that a) is whymsical and impossible (or very hard) to do with Winforms and b) doesn't suck. Could turn up some interesting results.

Oh wow, that is SO AWESOME!

ROFLMAO

Bas said:

BlackTiger said:

*snip*

Good thing jh71283 isn't blaming the tool, then.

Here's a nice screenshot of that app:



Awful. Just awful. As much as I like those examples of curved scrollbars and textboxes on 3D cloth simulations, I cannot for the life of me imagine a scenario where stuff like that is useful beyond a "look what you can do with this stuff!" demo video.

Maybe that's a nice C9 competition for PDC tickets: make a WPF-based UI that a) is whymsical and impossible (or very hard) to do with Winforms and b) doesn't suck. Could turn up some interesting results.

This is not such a disaster. In WPF your are either a designer or a developer - both if you are lucky. The most important thing is that he gets the application working correctly and the code stable.

jh71283 and Bas should be all acquainted with resource dictionaries. All the chap that developed this app needs to do is go here and choose a theme (or two). Within a flick of a switch the whole application will be looking respectable. Trying to do this with pre-WPF technologies is a lot of hard work. If you are a very good developer and lack WPF design skills the system makes it easy for you to still be effective.

I've been thinking about making a reflection based application. If you look at reflector at the moment, I hate the way you navigate. Look at this traditional tree view



Now look at it after some WPF goodness



This simple article by Josh Smith shows the power of WPF and how you can re-order traditional controls like the treeview and come up with something different.

I will probably do the reflection application in WPF because the door has opened up insofar as possibilities, and just the fact that you can buy or get resource dictionaries developed that can affect the whole application makes it something Redgate the new owners of reflector are unlikely to do. I also think that there is a "new breed" of developer that expects to be able to navigate hierarchy based applications much easier.

BlackTiger said:

jh71283 said:

*snip*

"WPF" is just a tool. Sometimes "tool" can kill. Is it tool's fault and guilt?

As Bas said, I didn't blame WPF, I personally am a big fan of WPF, but this is what happens when ppl do stuff just because it can.


Although some resource dictionaries might help, I can't understand the love of rendertransforms on here lol.


Maybe this is a case of stick to winforms - you're more limited there.

vesuvius said:

Bas said:

*snip*

This is not such a disaster. In WPF your are either a designer or a developer - both if you are lucky. The most important thing is that he gets the application working correctly and the code stable.

jh71283 and Bas should be all acquainted with resource dictionaries. All the chap that developed this app needs to do is go here and choose a theme (or two). Within a flick of a switch the whole application will be looking respectable. Trying to do this with pre-WPF technologies is a lot of hard work. If you are a very good developer and lack WPF design skills the system makes it easy for you to still be effective.

I've been thinking about making a reflection based application. If you look at reflector at the moment, I hate the way you navigate. Look at this traditional tree view



Now look at it after some WPF goodness



This simple article by Josh Smith shows the power of WPF and how you can re-order traditional controls like the treeview and come up with something different.

I will probably do the reflection application in WPF because the door has opened up insofar as possibilities, and just the fact that you can buy or get resource dictionaries developed that can affect the whole application makes it something Redgate the new owners of reflector are unlikely to do. I also think that there is a "new breed" of developer that expects to be able to navigate hierarchy based applications much easier.

And don't get me wrong - I'm not saying the dev is crap or anything like that, I personally was guilty of some really hideous UI work when WPF came out, but it's all about moderation and self control with a tool like WPF.

I LIKE IT. ALL APPS SHOULD LOOK LIKE THIS.

jh71283 said:

BlackTiger said:

*snip*

As Bas said, I didn't blame WPF, I personally am a big fan of WPF, but this is what happens when ppl do stuff just because it can.


Although some resource dictionaries might help, I can't understand the love of rendertransforms on here lol.


Maybe this is a case of stick to winforms - you're more limited there.

I guess that's sort of what I'm wondering about too. Rendertransforms on traditional controls. What good are they? I'd love to see an example of them applied in a way that makes sense.

Bas said:

jh71283 said:

*snip*

I guess that's sort of what I'm wondering about too. Rendertransforms on traditional controls. What good are they? I'd love to see an example of them applied in a way that makes sense.

I use them in one of my apps for resolution independence - that particular screen will render the same whether on 800*600 or 1600*1200

vesuvius said:

Bas said:

*snip*

This is not such a disaster. In WPF your are either a designer or a developer - both if you are lucky. The most important thing is that he gets the application working correctly and the code stable.

jh71283 and Bas should be all acquainted with resource dictionaries. All the chap that developed this app needs to do is go here and choose a theme (or two). Within a flick of a switch the whole application will be looking respectable. Trying to do this with pre-WPF technologies is a lot of hard work. If you are a very good developer and lack WPF design skills the system makes it easy for you to still be effective.

I've been thinking about making a reflection based application. If you look at reflector at the moment, I hate the way you navigate. Look at this traditional tree view



Now look at it after some WPF goodness



This simple article by Josh Smith shows the power of WPF and how you can re-order traditional controls like the treeview and come up with something different.

I will probably do the reflection application in WPF because the door has opened up insofar as possibilities, and just the fact that you can buy or get resource dictionaries developed that can affect the whole application makes it something Redgate the new owners of reflector are unlikely to do. I also think that there is a "new breed" of developer that expects to be able to navigate hierarchy based applications much easier.

This is not such a disaster. In WPF your are either a designer or a developer - both if you are lucky.

Well vesuvius, I must say that WPF is really flexible and powerful, but some people shouldn't be UI developers.  Yeah, it is a bit easier to clean up the mess but having extra stuff on a screen that isn't used is just extra bloat (not in this example, but could happen).  Why fix something that shouldn't have been broken in the first place?

Bas said:

BlackTiger said:

*snip*

Good thing jh71283 isn't blaming the tool, then.

Here's a nice screenshot of that app:



Awful. Just awful. As much as I like those examples of curved scrollbars and textboxes on 3D cloth simulations, I cannot for the life of me imagine a scenario where stuff like that is useful beyond a "look what you can do with this stuff!" demo video.

Maybe that's a nice C9 competition for PDC tickets: make a WPF-based UI that a) is whymsical and impossible (or very hard) to do with Winforms and b) doesn't suck. Could turn up some interesting results.

That is pretty awful UI, but you know what? The guy who made it knows it's an awful UI. I bet he doesn't claim that's it's good he made it that way.

Contrast that w/ the guy who makes awful UI (like leaving subject line out of a post), and thinks it's a good UI. Who's worse?

Minh said:

Bas said:

*snip*

That is pretty awful UI, but you know what? The guy who made it knows it's an awful UI. I bet he doesn't claim that's it's good he made it that way.

Contrast that w/ the guy who makes awful UI (like leaving subject line out of a post), and thinks it's a good UI. Who's worse?

I'd reply, but eventually you'd just dodge the discussion with a humor joke again and leave.

Minh said:

Bas said:

*snip*

That is pretty awful UI, but you know what? The guy who made it knows it's an awful UI. I bet he doesn't claim that's it's good he made it that way.

Contrast that w/ the guy who makes awful UI (like leaving subject line out of a post), and thinks it's a good UI. Who's worse?

Anyone remember this guy?

Bas said:

jh71283 said:

*snip*

I guess that's sort of what I'm wondering about too. Rendertransforms on traditional controls. What good are they? I'd love to see an example of them applied in a way that makes sense.

How about moving your tabs along the sides instead of the top.  You'd want them to be rotated 90 degrees in that case, and a render transform is your answer.

Bas said:

Minh said:

*snip*

I'd reply, but eventually you'd just dodge the discussion with a humor joke again and leave.

I guess we'll never know.