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See the attached screen capture... Target icons with the description field filled in are noted using a red star badge (which does not appear in a prescribed netbeans "badge" location). This distinction looks like it might be an error to the user, since it is not obvious why it appears. There needs to be a better linkage between the action that causes this badge to appear (filling in the description field on the target properties sheet), and the badge that is used. The red color and star shape seem inappropriate for this message.
Created attachment 4346 [details] Red star badge looks like an error--note a target without a description (jar), and a target with one (all)
Sure... maybe Bruce can do an icon review for the module and come up with a better suggestion. The icon in this case should be based on the plain target icon, but draw user attention to it more strongly: targets with this icon have associated descriptions and are thus expected to be run more frequently; they are the "principal" targets in the script. From Ant command-line when typing "ant -projecthelp", they are displayed first, before other targets, with descriptions. When viewed in the Explorer, they should be easy to spot and look inviting to run ("Execute" command). There is a loose analogy to private vs. public methods in Java sources, but only loose. For 3.4 probably the Ant module will be integrated with the XML modules. This means that what is currently displayed under the Ant node - targets etc. - will still be there, but the user will also be able to view the structure of the file as a generic XML file. This means that whatever icons are chosen, especially the "miscellaneous XML element" icon (XML tags but no document around it, see "description" in screenshot), should look decent in the vicinity of the icons used in the XML module. If I recall correctly, I just made up the offending icon in the GIMP :-) and there has probably never been a proper icon review other than Bruce's design of the main icon - the module was originally experimental and so not checked for these things as closely as others. Among other things, the error badge (either on the script as a whole, or on an XML subelement that is out of place) is not the current official error badge (not 3-D look) and I am not sure if it is in the correct position on the icon. Can provide screenshots of both types of error icons upon request. By the way Bruce, http://jakarta.apache.org/ant/antnews.html says that at some point there will be an official Ant logo. If it is icon-friendly, it might make sense to replace the current XML-file-with-hammer with an icon based on that, as we would get visual recognition for people accustomed to that logo. Remains to be seen if the chosen logo *is* icon-friendly however.
David will probably handle this, when we get some suggested solutions back from Bruce or other UI folks. I am downgrading to P3; P2 seems a little inappropriate for a poor icon choice, when it has been in a couple of releases, and I have yet to hear a complaint on nbusers from someone who was alarmed by this. Not to say it doesn't happen, but there is no evidence (that I know of) that it is causing serious problems.
Jiri agreed that he will take care about icon.
Yes, this is on my radar. I want to look at all the icons in this area of the IDE, because on Jeff's screenshot there are lots of non-JLF icons. I want to find out where these came from and hopefully improve appearance in the whole area. Also, a new ANT icon would be great, and we could certainly integrate it if it doesn't have too many scaling issues. Sometimes icons look great at large size, and bad shrunk down to our 16 by 16 (or smaller) size.
Bruce, here is the link to new ant logo <http://jakarta.apache.org/ant/logocontest.html>. However, I'm not sure how usable it is.
Agreed, the new logo does not look like it would work in icon format at all. Too complex.
Created attachment 5219 [details] Suggested Ant Build icon
Bruce, thanx for the icon. I'm just not sure where I should use it. Please, check once more the Jeff's screenshot <http://www.netbeans.org/issues/showattachment.cgi?attach_id=4346> There is blue rectangle icon and blue rectangle with red star badge icon. This issue is about improving blue rectangle with red star badge icon, but the one you attached seems to me more suitable for ant files rather then for ant targets. So I can replace Ant file icon with this new one, but we still need badge for targets with description (see Jesse's explanation above). Thanx! David
David, The proposed icon is to replace the XML-file-with-hammer icon in the screenshot. It's based on the new ANT logo. Bruce B.
OK, so I will wait till you prepare also replacement for red star badge and then will integrate it into ant module resources at once. Thx.
Bruce Browne has designed new Ant icon and will use it to design new badge. He will post image directly to this issue.
Created attachment 5732 [details] Proposed icon to replace the Ant build icon
Created attachment 5733 [details] Proposed ANt Badge icon
Re. proposed build icon - the colors are a bit strange. Desert orange on aquamarine? :-) Also I guess the orange thing is supposed to be an "A" but it is a bit hard to make out. Re. badge - right edge looks jagged, maybe antialias. Also could we set it applied to the target icon for context?
Strange but true. :-) The base icon is the standard xml icon. The orange triangle is a scaled and simplified version of the orange ANT logo (e.g., orange triangle with an ant). Generally, the JLF guidelines don't call for antialising the outline since it may appear on light or dark background even though probably not the case for badges.
Can't you antialias in the alpha channel? I guess it is overkill though. I guess you can assign back to dkonecny@netbeans.org to put the new icons into the source tree.
David, please integrate.
Thanks for the icons, but the design "AntBuildIcon.gif" affects other icons, which uses the "xml background". Can you correct those icons too? Also we don't use badges in Ant module, so please can you create the "badging" manually on the existing icons? I'm putting the archive of all ant icons into this issue. Thanks.
Created attachment 5757 [details] Archive of all Ant icons
Created attachment 5762 [details] Archive with Ant icons affected by changes
Posted the changes to the other Ant icons that were affected.
Created attachment 5764 [details] screenshot
I attached screenshot with new icons. The icons are commited.
Verified.
Resolved for 3.3.x or earlier, no new info since then -> closing.