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altenbach

Make "move" the default action for the unzip window when clicking the header

Status: New

One of the more annoying features (see also here) is the unzip operation after downloading a LabVIEW distribution. As a first step, it will unzip somewhere into the "National Instruments Downloads" folder.

 

Of course it will place the progress window right in the middle of your monitor. Typically this takes a while and actually want to do something else and move that window out of the way, so we can still watch it in the corner of the eye. Easier said than done! A simple click in the window header pauses the unzip operations and asks if I want to abort... NO!!! I simply want to move that window is the same way I can move any other window from any other application!!! Why that nonstandard behavior? Just to annoy us??? Here's what happen if I click anywhere near the top edge of the window:

 

 

 

When we righ-click the window header, we see two options "(1) move" and "(2) close". Why is close the default??? If we really want to close, the [x] button is right there another inch to the right and nobody should have trouble finding that spot. If I click elsewhere in the header, I most likely want to move that window!

 

In order to actually move it, I have to right-click the window header and select "move". That seems silly!

 

IDEA: The unzip window should should be less annoying and easy to move elsewhere. Thanks!

 

5 Comments
fabric
Active Participant
Really challenges the line between "undesired behaviour" and "bug"!
Darin.K
Trusted Enthusiast
I think this is a WinZip problem. A valid solution of course could be to ditch WinZip SEAs. Maybe there is a setting that could be changed.

 

http://automatica.com.au/2009/09/user-interface-hall-of-shame/
altenbach
Knight of NI

Thanks for the link Darin. I agree with his opinion at the end. So the solution might be to abandon winzip and implement a better solution.

 

(I typically use the presence of installed winzip on a computer to judge the computer skills of the computer owner, They are inversely related. :D)

 

I am sure Darren could do something natively in LabVIEW 😄 Maybe it could even be built into the downloader?

altenbach
Knight of NI

I played around a little bit with the SFX utililities of 7zip and it seems to be easy to make a self extracting exectutable that runs an installer afterwards. All the windows seem to behave normally (what a surprise!).

 

Free, open source, and licensed under GNU LGPL.

 

From their FAQ:

Can I use the EXE or DLL files from 7-Zip in a Commercial Application?

Yes, but you are required to specify in your documentation (1) that you used parts of the 7-Zip program, (2) that 7-Zip is licensed under the GNU LGPL license and (3) you must give a link to www.7-zip.org, where the source code can be found.


jspinozzi
Member

Yes it is a WinZip problem for sure, I see it all the time.  I often wonder why NI uses it sometimes, and not always, or better yet, never.  Assumed they could easily make their own self-extracting ZIP and would get a LOT of use out of it.  That's my idea!