Too much screen space wasted in BC3

[Markbe22]

All,

I have been using BC since the late 90's. While this new version presents a more current windows look we are loosing about 30% of the screen to 3 features; the left-to-right drop down, the filters drop down, and the huge "Start Sync" button.

Come on guys, let's move all these up to one line under the left and right folders and give the space back to seeing the comparison windows. The "Start Sync" button is way too big and there is too much empty space in the top half of the screen.

Okay, I read a bunch of other posts and went back to look at BC3. I started in the "Folder Sync" view, with all the excess space in the upper section, and selected a new folder compare in a new tab. I then ended up in a view which closely resembles the BC2 presentation with multiple toolbars. Actually, you can select "Toggles" by right clicking and you get the prior "component" view in the lower toolbar which I what I always used. Right click again and select "Customize View" and you can add commands to the upper tool bar, such as "Full Refresh" to it.

I then selected "Save Workspace As" and named it "Default" and set that to load on startup by using the "Load Workspace" > "Manage Workspaces" under the "Session" menu.

So now I'm back to what I have been using for years to sync between my NAS drive, external USB drive, and other folders. Will this be worth $30 for the upgrade fro BC2 to BC3? The BC application has always impressed others I have shown including techies, Sys Admins, etc. I have been using it for almost 10 years on the same original license and I think I can afford $30 to upgrade to BC3. I'm sure that I probably only use 50% of the capabilities but will explore more. The multiple tabs my be good to load my favorites syncs and have them up automatically when BC3 loads.

Hope this little commentary helps.
Mark

Mark

[Michael Bulgrien]

While this new version presents a more current windows look we are loosing about 30% of the screen to 3 features; the left-to-right drop down, the filters drop down, and the huge "Start Sync" button.

Hi Mark,

When the sync session was first introduced, I complained about the use of real estate in this post. Unfortunately, I never did get a reply from the Scooter team on my ideas.

[Tim]

Sorry guys, I like the extra "white space". The idea is to present a clear, uncluttered, graphical view of what the Sync will do. Perhaps I'll add an option to compress the layout.

[sjn]

Add another vote for an optional more compact layout!

Having a clear indication of the overall task is not a bad thing, but not having any way to shrink that operation overview (via preferences or a toggle on the form) is not ideal for experienced users.

[muhqu]

I really liked BC2 because of it's compact layout. And I definitely agree that especially the "Folder Sync" view wastes too much space. Why has the Filter Dropdown moved out of the Toolbar? doesn't make sense to me.

just to illustrate the issue....

[salvo]

I agree with the observation that the layout is inefficient. Scooter isn't by chance expanding into the display monitor market, is it? :^) The underlying message I get from BC3 is that the Scooter development camp is at odds with their approach to screen efficiency, or lack thereof. On the one hand you have space saving session tabs with the option to be torn off into separate screens. On the other hand you are lucky to have half of your window devoted to the result set, as well illustrated by Muhqu. Also, you have limited, rigid toolbars that accept a substantially small subset of functionality.

My conclusion is that, with BC3, you took a step backwards in layout. <oXygen> (http://www.oxygenxml.com/) and SlickEdit (http://www.slickedit.com/) set fine examples for you to consider.