ICPrototype1 - “The Expanding Canvas”
For some time now I’ve been playing around with the idea of an application based on the infinite canvas concept, but designed for collecting, grouping and storing different kind of data (images, movies, text, websites, …). Think of it as a mashup of the Finder and the IC.app.
I never started developing this application, because I’m not sure if this concept really works. Well there is only one way to test a concept: try it out in a prototype. So here is the first prototype in a series of prototypes. In this prototype I demonstrate a canvas that automatically expands itself if the users needs more space. This way the users is able to enjoy all the benefits of an infinite canvas, but the usability is greatly improved due to the fact that it is nearly impossible to get lost. While developing this prototype I tried to write very clean and expandable code. So hopefully I’ll be able to further improve it and turn it in something useful some day.
You can download ICPrototype1 on the new Prototype page (Development -> Prototype) The app requires 10.4, but it should work on 10.3 too. To test the app, drag an imagefile from the Finder onto the canvas and move it around to expand the canvas.
June 9th, 2006 at 3:48 pm
Works fine for me, Markus! I used it for a few images and the canvas expanded just fine.
When you drop a file into the IC app, does it make an alias of the file, or copy the file into the program?
In terms of this project, I’m wondering of the proposed use? I could see some usefulness as a program to help you organize your thoughts, ideas and source material for projects, similar to Tinderbox, but with the IC interface. I tried Tinderbox and couldn’t make heads or tails out of it. With the IC interface, including the ablility to draw “Trails” between connected content, this could end up being much more inuitive.
As usual, I’m just thinking out loud.
June 9th, 2006 at 8:09 pm
When you import an image into the InfiniteCanvas application it remembers the location of the file on disk, but it doesn’t copy it anywhere. When saving it accesses this path and copies it into the bundle (the *.ic file). -> You shouldn’t move the file on disk before saving the project. I know this is a design flaw. The app should create a copy of the original file in a temporary directory when importing it into the app.
I first started thinking of this application when I started writing my final thesis. I had so much material and it was very difficult to put everything into context. VoodooPad was a great help, but I wished I could put every thing on a canvas and sort it this way. This is when I started to think about creating such an application.
As I stated in my entry, I’m not very sure if this really works, so I’m very curious how my experiment with the prototypes will turn out.
June 10th, 2006 at 4:36 pm
The canvas expands allright but it distorts most of the images I dragged in.
June 10th, 2006 at 4:53 pm
I know. All objects receive a fixed size of 300×200.
Do you thing this concept would improve handling the canvas in the IC.app?