Re: [9fans] panning or scrolling, page(1)

[rog@vitanuova.com]

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i like the panning model too, but i don't tend to view very large
images.

when you've got a large image (many times the size of the area you can
see), panning can be a bit of a problem because you can only go a small
distance at once.

i.e. if i'm at the bottom left of a large image and i want to go to the top
right, it might take me 10 or so "click & pan" mouse movements to get
there.

but for images that size, maybe a different interface is called for
anyway.

my last job was writing radio propagation prediction software, which
involved the viewing of large maps (e.g. the entire of the UK with one
height sample every 100m). i once accidentally created quite a nice
viewing interface when i set the map to be always centred around the
transmitter.

normally, you could drag transmitters around with the mouse, and i
hadn't yet disabled this, so when i dragged the transmitter, it moved,
but the map kept up, giving the nice sensation of flying over the
landscape. (as long as i kept wiggling the mouse...)

maybe that kind of interface might sit better with the panning that
page uses (e.g. middle button "marks the spot", and map keeps panning
at a speed proportional to the vector from the spot to the current
mouse position).  i always find it a little disconcerting that the
middle button quits page so abruptly anyway.

  cheers,
    rog.


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To: cse.psu.edu!9fans
Subject: Re: [9fans] panning or scrolling, page(1)
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 21:49:26 -0500
Message-ID: <20010303024929.04C5E199DC@mail.cse.psu.edu>

I strongly prefer the panning model to the scrolling model. It's so much
easier to use I wish it were available everywhere.  Are you really asking for
some indication of what part of the image is visible?  Scroll bars provide
that at the cost of a crappy interface, but there's no reason at all why a
panning interface can't give you some indication of what subset of the
entire object you're viewing.

-rob