Cover flow, good for showing off, bad for workflow

[HappyCatMachine]

Yeah, I've already sent a message to Omni (just getting that out of the way, I'm only here to share my pain :)

Cover flow for browsing stencils and graphs bites. It is not only bad for workflow, it is slow, clunky, and basically unusable. I say this as a career UI designer (18 years running).

I've got a couple of stencil sets that crash when I try to scroll past them. I don't want to edit them, they were downloaded from Graffletopia (thanks for the feature in the latest version omni!). I want to edit one further down the 'list' but unfortunately every time I scroll past the crashing one, well, OG crashes!

I've tried sorting by date, rebooting my iPad, nothing works. I can't even delete the stencil in question cause OG can't handle viewing it. It works fine in my flow diagrams, just crashes the stencil browser. I suppose I should be grateful that it's not the first stencil in the list!.

I don't mind glitzy UI presentation but ONLY when it augments, rather than replaces, cleaner and more functional UI. If Omni had simply provided a nice list of stencils (and graffles) then problems like this would not even occur.

Despite this UI foible I do love OG. I use it every day and it has basically changed the way I work. It pains me to see something so basically wrong though. Had Omni provided list views then the 'problem' of organising files on the iPad would be much easier to solve.

[whpalmer4]

Which are the offending stencils?

[HappyCatMachine]

The stencil set is ux_people-guys

Perhaps OG is just sexist? ;)

It doesn't like it in the graffle editor either. As soon as I choose that stencil set OG just quits.

Kind of not the point tho it would be nice to have that fixed. A better 'list' style file manager would solve a lot of headaches. The scrubber is no substitute for good file management.

Check QuickOffice for excellent, mac-like file management. It's the only app that does it as well as it does afaik.

[whpalmer4]

Kind of not the point tho it would be nice to have that fixed.

Not knowing how to reproduce a crash is not the point? How do you propose it get fixed in an timely manner?

A better 'list' style file manager would solve a lot of headaches. The scrubber is no substitute for good file management.

It most likely wouldn't solve this problem, however. That stencil simply runs OmniGraffle out of memory, judging from the console output. The iPad really doesn't have all that much free RAM, unfortunately. Hopefully the next generation will address that.

[HappyCatMachine]

Well, there is no way to delete the offending stencil since the only way to delete a stencil is to use the cover flow interface. Would rather have a list so any of these issues could be handled easily.

Fixing the stencils won't fix a long term bug. Sigh.

[whpalmer4]

To delete the offending stencil file, cable your iPad up to your Mac. Launch iTunes, click on your iPad in the source sidebar, click the Apps tab, scroll to the bottom. Select OmniGraffle in the list of apps supporting file sharing, select the offending stencil, hit the delete key. Looks like you might have to delete the entire Stencil folder, so use the Save To... button to copy it to your Mac first to preserve any other stencils you might have loaded.

[HappyCatMachine]

Cheers, sad to rely on the iTunes docs folder really. There is no way to create a new stencil folder but it still remains functional with the stencils in the root level of og's docs.

I wish cover flow had never been invented, or would have been invented with as much behind it as traditional file systems have had in place for years.

[whpalmer4]

Cheers, sad to rely on the iTunes docs folder really.
Yeah, whatever. Do you want to get OmniGraffle working again, or do you just want someone to commiserate with you?
There is no way to create a new stencil folder but it still remains functional with the stencils in the root level of og's docs.

If you want a new stencil folder, just download another stencil from GraffleTopia and one should be created. The app doesn't have one out of the box.

[HappyCatMachine]

Now, now. No reason to get snippy. :)

Perhaps instead of the British thanks (cheers) I should have said a simple 'thanks'.

At any rate, as I've alluded to over and over, I want OG working no matter what we throw at it, even if working means failing gracefully and allowing the user a clean recovery. To that end I have emailed the ninjas.

Funny you should mention the iPad's RAM limitations. Those limitations cry out for a slicker and slimmer file management system than the hog that cover flow is.

I will say again that I'm very satisfied with OG on mac and iPad. I don't think I am out of line voicing my concern about as fundamental an issue as the file management system used by my most used app.

[dannythefool]

Funny you should mention the iPad's RAM limitations. Those limitations cry out for a slicker and slimmer file management system than the hog that cover flow is.


Coverflow is fine, if it's running out of memory then rendering the preview is the problem - and by extension, using or editing the stencil will cause similar trouble. And that's just something you'll have to come to terms with. The current generation iPad has 256 MB RAM, half as much as the current generation iPhone, half as much as certain single-purpose e-book readers, and much less than any other computer you'd run the already memory-heavy OmniGraffle on. A crash isn't good, of course, but the "fix" is more likely to be not allowing large stencils rather than displaying the preview in a different way.

[HappyCatMachine]

A mandatory rendering of the preview is one of many things that makes cover flow unusable. Cover flow has to keep three previews (at least) in memory at all times. That does not make it fine, lol. Cover flow is grossly inefficient no matter how you stack it.

I'm currently working with over a dozen universities, all with different needs. The number of wireframes and users scenario diagrams I work with borders on the extreme. One product that I've been brought in to save has over 3000 screens.

Cover flow gets in the way ALL the time. I have adopted naming conventions and a few rudimentary workarounds out of necessity. The issue is that I shouldn't have to.

Give power users a way to work with their Graffles that doesn't involve wading through the muck that is cover flow. Even iTunes offers users alternative ways of managing their music library. Cover flow is not mandatory for a good reason. It is not meant to replace better file management systems.

Again, I love having OG on the iPad. Nothing I love more than hammering out a wireframe right there with the client. It saves me a ton of time and is so much better than everyone having to crowd around a laptop or deal with projectors. The only real issue I have with the product is this lame so-called file management system.

Omni even admitted that it needed help, they said they were going to improve it and they gave us a scrubber. Sigh!