[etoys-dev] Copying Graphing tools and Speech Bubbles to Inbox

[kharness at illinois.edu]

Hi Steve,
Would it help with the problem of lining up text to use this tool? 
http://www.etoysillinois.org/library.php?sl=1345
Regards,
Kathleen

---- Original message ----
>Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 08:17:34 -0400
>From: Steve Thomas <sthomas1 at gosargon.com>  
>Subject: Re: [etoys-dev] Copying Graphing tools and Speech Bubbles to Inbox  
>To: Ricardo Moran <richi.moran at gmail.com>
>Cc: etoys dev <etoys-dev at squeakland.org>, Randy Caton <rcaton at cnu.edu>
>
>   On Sat, Aug 14, 2010 at 6:37 PM, Ricardo Moran
>   <richi.moran at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>     On Sat, Aug 14, 2010 at 4:15 PM, Bert Freudenberg
>     <bert at freudenbergs.de> wrote:
>
>       Ideally, the graph would just *be* a
>       holder/playfield. E.g. in a bar graph, the user
>       might just put plain rectangles or sketches or
>       whatever. Instead of extra labels, use the
>       rectangle's name. The value would simply be
>       calculated from the object's width and the bar
>       scale factor (just like you did for points,
>       which can be moved freely - cool). Same for xy
>       graphs - the points could be *any* object in a
>       playfield. And possibly even points and vectors
>       could be unified - a point would just be a
>       vector of length 0? That might be not the best
>       idea, I don't know. How much more time do you
>       have in your project?
>
>     So adding a bar/point/vector would be just
>     dropping an object (any object) into the graph...
>     I like it, I think it's possibly a good idea (if
>     we manage to figure out a nice way of unifying
>     vectors and points... maybe different graphs for
>     each?), but it's quite different from what I
>     currently have and I'm not sure I'll be able to
>     make it in time for this release. Since this seems
>     like a big change I think adding these tools to
>     the Etoys release may not be such a good idea.
>     Maybe we should wait to hear the opinion of the
>     educators about this change and if they like it,
>     work on this for the next release.
>
>   I really like the idea of a graph as a
>   holder/playfield.  It makes sense and it fits
>   existing mental models used in working with Etoys.
>   To my overly simplistic way of thinking a graph is
>   basically:
>     * a playfield with the grid visible (but not
>       turned on)
>     * A pair of number lines (hint, hint, nudge,
>       nudge, wink, wink ;)
>     * and scaling of X and Y
>   I think the point table and spreadsheet should also
>   "be" a holder/playfield.
>   There are issues with holder, is the way it does
>   auto-line-layout and "resize to
>   fit" SQ-731 and SQ-628 which if corrected along
>   the lines of SQ-730 would in my opinion make it a
>   lot easier to use a holder for spreadsheets, tables,
>   rows and columns.  Basically providing the ability
>   to specify a fixed row and column width's and the
>   ability to add/delete a row and column I think would
>   do it.
>   As much as I would love having the graph in the next
>   release I think it would be better to wait until it
>   is more like a playfield/holder. Until then, I can
>   do my own graph the only challenge I have is making
>   the number line, in particular lining up labels is a
>   pain, as the x,y position of text varies and is not
>   in the center of the text.
>    
>
>     The GSoC deadline is this monday and I didn't even
>     finish the seven items in my proposal. I will
>     still work on this after gsoc is over but I worked
>     very little in the PaintBox and I haven't even
>     touched the EtoyMaker. That's a bummer...
>
>   In the Northern Hemisphere (where everything is
>   right side up ;) we have a thing called "Indian
>   Summer" which is an expression given to a period of
>   sunny, warm weather in autumn in the Northern
>   Hemisphere, typically in late October or early
>   November.  So you should have plenty of time ;)
>   Thanks for all your efforts they are appreciated and
>   will be used.
>   Stephen
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