Xcode always modifying my project's interface. Stop the insanity.
Xcode always modifying my project's interface. Stop the insanity.
- Subject: Xcode always modifying my project's interface. Stop the insanity.
- From: Alex Zavatone <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:05:08 -0400
Before I go about turning off all behaviours and/or creating new workspaces and possibly messing up how the interface displays, is there a way so simply stop Xcode from always modifying my interface?
After I take the time to set up my windows and placement of tabs, it's terribly annoying when Xcode changes the content of my current window which is a set to display a specific class.
Is there a way to display the debugger in a new tab, or a special tab, or even new window, without messing with my current window?
All this "Xcode seems to want to override what the developer set up", with auto zooming in the storyboard, automatically changing the content of the currently displayed window/tab when running or when a condition happened" makes for an infuriating user experience, since the tool does not respect how the user has set up their interface.
Even trying to learn how to open a window that is only the console is one of the most obscure and pain inducing tasks known to mankind.
Watching the WWDC 2011 video on Maximizing Productivity in Xcode 4, when the lecturer says "the most frequent question I get is 'how do I open a message/console window'", this shows that the basic design of the Xcode GUI is pretty broken. This should NEVER EVER be a problem with a non-obvious solution to a developer. Likewise, the way you open new windows is be creating tabs? How a user to know this unless they had watched that video that tells them.
There really needs to be a guided tour video that ships with the Xcode, or is downloaded after the app is installed, explaining the philosophy of how people are supposed to use this thing. Too much time is wasted trying to get Xcode's GUI to actually be useful and not try to outthink what I want. What I want is "do not mess with how I set things up". This is an easy use case that is terribly easy to understand.
So, back to my original question, I have two modes where I would be using Xcode, with external monitor and without. Does this mean that I have to set up a different workspace for both setups? Would that even help?
Is there a way to show the debug navigator in a new empty window? If behaviours allow you to show tabs, how do you create a stand alone window and name it? Really, this is one of the most convoluted, flawed and user hostile interfaces I've ever used and Apple expects it to help us be productive?
It should not be this hard and obtuse to simply set up your interface the way you want and not have the tool start replacing the content of a window or tab without your permission.
So, in Xcode 4, how does a user
- tell Xcode to NEVER change my window content to another class while the project is running.
- open a new window that is just the console and nothing else
- apply a command key to open that window
- open a new window that is just the debugger
- apply a command key to open that window
I'm just trying to create a usable interface that doesn't change underneath me. Command ` and command shift ` work wonders when switching through windows. Command shift } and Command shift { work wonders when switching tabs. Let me open my own windows Xcode. Stop changing my current window/tab's content. BRING ME to a window or tab that has a debugger or a console in it and let me assign a command key to open it.
Really, a modern dev tool's interface should simply not be this cumbersome and nonintuitive to use.
- Alex Zavatone
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