Vertical Scrolling in Feature List

andrew_troup

Onshape's Feature List has a re-invented scrollbar. I reckon it flat sucks.
(OK, I'm too civilised to say what I REALLY think) 

The only rapid transit option is to click on the (rather small) scroll box and drag it. It's fussy: you have to watch like a hawk, and position (and reposition) the mouse with some care, to scoot up and down a long list in single screenfuls. (You don't want to overshoot the feature you're hunting for)

If you are slightly to the left of the rather narrow target zone, you will instead drag a feature to a new position, which will instantly screw your model up. This is merely irritating to power users, provided they're watching like the aforementioned hawk, but could easily throw a new user into a tailspin.

I don't know if Onshape copied this re-invention (with reduced options) from the Google Chrome OS, which is the other place I've noticed it on desktop machines.

Elsewhere, even in Onshape's Document List, it is possible to "page-down" (and up) in ALMOST whole screenfuls (cleverly adjusted to the current view so you don't miss anything) by clicking on the "elevator shaft" above or below the square representing the current viewport (elevator/ screen).

The "elevator shaft" and scroll box are more generously proportioned, and even without that width, it's much easier in the conventional interface to position the mouse arrow in the tall rectangular space. It requires positioning in only one axis, rather than in two simultaneously. 

Furthermore, the user can park the mouse on the arrow at top of bottom of the "lift shaft" and do short scrolls simply by clicking on it and holding. This is much easier and less fatiguing than dragging a very small box, the only current option (AFAIK) for those without a wheel mouse.

If a consensus emerges from discussing this post, I'll make an improvement request on that basis. If not, I'll draft one "how I see it".

I won't go into the rollbar deficiencies just yet: let's keep this on message for now?

srbh

I have also found it tricky. Recently I have been going back and forth to revise my model (150 features, 60 parts) and refine 'place-holders' left in my first attempts. I would have found it easier if I had been able to separate and float both the features list and the parts list. More control over rollup & back would have saved some aggravation caused in part by the time delay of cloud computing.

shashank_aarya

Initially I thought that my mouse is not properly configured for scrolling so getting difficult to scroll at proper position. But I should have try with different mouse to double check this scenario. But anyways by looking at this thread I think this is a common issue. @andrew_troup Thanks for highlighting this.

andrew_troup

simon_harrison94069 said:

I have also found it tricky. Recently I have been going back and forth to revise my model (150 features, 60 parts) and refine 'place-holders' left in my first attempts. I would have found it easier if I had been able to separate and float both the features list and the parts list. More control over rollup & back would have saved some aggravation caused in part by the time delay of cloud computing.

It might be worth considering opening a second Onshape CAD session

eg in Chrome: just RMB on the browser tab and choose "Duplicate", make sure the browser window is not full screen, then drag the tab down into the window to shift it to its own new window

 and resize the two windows for viewing side by side; this way you could have one window showing as much of the feature list as possible, and the other doing the same for the parts list.

It's a bit funky at present for some uses, but worth checking out - for instance, simply selecting parts in one window doesn't show up in the other (and maybe that's for the best), but hiding a part in one window does show up in the other.

juan_aviles

The feature list is one thing that really bugs me too.  I'm hoping there are some plans to revise it once the more important issues are taken care of.  

I've abandoned trying to find anything in it by scrolling, and find clicking the feature on the model to be much easier.  Click the feature you want to change, and it's highlighted in the list.

Now....about those folders :-)

andrew_troup

juan_aviles said:

The feature list is one thing that really bugs me too.  I'm hoping there are some plans to revise it once the more important issues are taken care of.....

Good point. I've been sitting on my hands on this one, too, but when I noticed it was a (disappointing) feature of the Chomebook, it occurred to me that whoever thought it was a good idea for Onshape feature lists deserved some honest feedback sooner rather than later, in case they were considering using the same idea elsewhere.

3dcad

Does anyone else have problems that mouse scroll wheel doesn't actually scroll feature nor parts list?

gonzalo_chomon

Although the box can be resized and I always resize it from the top to the bottom of the screen it is still quite difficult to navigate.

I find it as well not very user friendly, there is a suggestion somewhere else that claims for icons on the feature list, that may help but will not solve the issue.

So yes, I am experiencing problems with it as well.

Mouse scroll works ok for me.

matthew_menard

Is this a Chrome problem or am I not understanding the problem?  In Firefox I can place my mouse over the feature list and parts list and have it scroll up and down using the wheel and then move it into the work space and have it zoom in and out as intended.  Is the scroll wheel not working at all in chrome?  Anyone with both installed able to see if it is a Chrome vs. other browser problem?  I also have the Logitech Setpoint software / drivers installed, maybe that is another thing to check.

gonzalo_chomon

I use Chrome and the scroll wheel works perfectly for me.

The issue for me is that it is not easy to navigate/use.

It jumps up or down by it self when doing selections
It is very difficult to find features as it is a too plain list (maybe colors or icons can help on this)
The scroll bar is too narrow to click on it.
As well may be a hide button will be nice.

andrew_troup

My OP was not about scroll wheel not working. It was about the usual alternatives not being available.

Users do not necessarily have a scroll wheel, and even when they do, it does not support paging through a long list (ie jumping in single-page increments) which is by far the quickest way to carry out a visual search without missing anything.

don_howe

I have addressed this concern to OnShape myself and request that we be able to create folders which would help with long lists. The scroll bar is too narrow and it is difficult to navigate. I don't want to sound negative but I got the typical response and I read similarly is other post "We are aware of this, we are working on this, we will add you to the improvement list, remember we are still Beta or similar words". Boy! I do sound negative. I like OnShape and the quick responses I have received to requests I've made. I guess we just have to hang on for the ride.

shashank_aarya

Currently feature tree and part tree are connected to each other. Though it is possible to resize any one of them by dragging vertically it is not user friendly as @gonzalo_chomon mentioned. Hence, I would like to suggest that it should allow to split the part tree and feature tree into two so that user can re-position any one of them to some other location. After repositioning is done user can resize it by dragging vertically and it will show the list of maximum features which will need minimum scrolling.

andrew_troup

shashank_aarya said:

Currently feature tree and part tree are connected to each other. Though it is possible to resize any one of them by dragging vertically it is not user friendly as @gonzalo_chomon mentioned. Hence, I would like to suggest that it should allow to split the part tree and feature tree into two so that user can re-position any one of them to some other location. After repositioning is done user can resize it by dragging vertically and it will show the list of maximum features which will need minimum scrolling.

That's potentially helpful in those cases where the feature tree is not much longer than the screen is deep, but it's very little help in the case of multiple complex parts modelled in context with each other in a single Part Studio (one of Onshape's unique strengths) where the feature list will span many screen depths.

IOW, I am suggesting, in the strongest terms, that Onshape fix the user interface by reverting to conventional scrollbar capability, as invented by Xerox PARC and used by Apple Liza and Mac (and then Windows) OS and applications ever since.       It was not broken and did not need fixing.
AND it is used elsewhere within Onshape.

shashank_aarya

I would also like to suggest the provision of assigning index numbers to each feature as shown below.

 
Numbers in red are feature numbers. They could be turned on/off based on user's preference. I have seen this capability in Creo. Whenever it is required to see any feature user can refer the number, so scrolling can be considerably reduced for complex model tree. With the help of current Onshape tree filter we can filter the features by name and type. Probably it can be customized to include feature number also.