2001 4D Summit Most Vital Design Environment Improvements Survey

Total Responses: 244

Survey Question No opinion Very important Somewhat important I can live without it Not at all necessary Avg.*
Ability to edit constants directly in 4D without going into ResEdit24131632512.23
Object Properties Window and Property List Palette should contain the same features26127711642.19
Window or project groups: the ability to collect methods, forms, object methods, etc. in a named group and to open at one time17121723042.18
Remove 80 character text string limit/comment limit17122643652.15
Option to sort items by name, creation date or modification date and show dates15103903152.11
Version control24123553842.1
'Comment start' and 'comment end' markers, so that comments could be as long as the developer wants1698784481.99
Wrap long lines and/or provide for a line continuation character2195774291.93
Entry Order that includes everything displayed on a page (Current page, Page 0, inherited forms)4095812351.91
Multiple levels of Undo operations2381983571.91
Full implementation of mice with scroll wheels in the method editor, form editor, etc.26966743121.86
Alphabetical listing of methods and tables in panes at the bottom of the method editor (enabled by option in Database Properties dialog)2681854571.85
When using Command-L on a name to open a form, open the form, don't just show it in the Explorer25671123191.83
Breakpoint settings (red bullet) should respect edits. The breakpoint should move if lines above it are added/deleted2372905181.8
Ability to print the list of items found, the ability to select this window from the "Design" menu, and add a keyboard shortcut for invoking Find3771983441.8
Property List Palette - filter invalid or invisible characters5582693441.7
Components and Insider groups should be listed in the method editor hierarchically or under the component tab4766883851.67
Horizontal scrolling of window when using arrow keys to move the cursor past the edge of the window3249956441.63
All scrollable windows should support "live-scrolling"4762814861.6
Resizable Object Properties window or make all tabs fit5556903761.55
The ability to resize the left Explorer pane2539967681.55
Ability to scroll the right pane of the Explorer, both horizontal and vertical2931987881.47
Properties List Palette - allow cursor to horizontally scroll enterable areas and use tool tips to show full content of enterable area6147844841.45
Ability to independently set the tab order and the front-to-back order of objects58448349101.38
Group items in Design menu by type (possibly hierarchically)47359453151.36
Property List Palette - option to auto-copy field or variable name to object name50339554121.36
Enable complete keyboard navigation, particularly the ability to move from tab to tab using the keyboard36357192101.35
The Enter key should not only tokenize the line but also move the cursor to the end of the line like it did in version 6.0.639526857281.32
Enable Command-W key to close the Find results window38396983151.32
Recent Items menu46319257181.3
Improve the user-interface of the "Object List" at the bottom of the Property List Palette: an option to sort this Object List by Object Name, and provide a companion list showing the Field/Variable Name of each object71427942101.3
When closing 4D or 4D Client, remember the order in which open Methods and Forms are listed in the Design menu, so that they appear in the same order when 4D is re-launched36287381261.17
When using Command-P on a name to open a method, close current window if Option key is down (as in Finder windows)381965106161.14
The New Form Wizard window should have a zoom button and it should remember its last size and position56235988181.05

* Denotes weighted average on a scale of 0 - 3 (lowest to highest)

Response Weightings

Response Weight
No opinion0
Very important3
Somewhat important2
I can live without it1
Not at all necessary-1