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Analysis

Overview

This group of tasks covers the basics of Timelines. It describes the model (internal structure) and the user interactions (external structure) related to timelines. After this iteration we should have a prototypical timeline model with a simple user interface to demonstrate it.

Task requirements

In this revision, this task should create:

• an "Open Timeline" button in the timeline palette in the timeline tab that opens the bottom flap and shows the page's timeline.

The timeline flap should consist of:

• a channel for every text frame on the page with a label.
• a subchannel for the frame's visibility property (ideally, subchannels could be hidden to save space)
• a playhead that can be moved across the timeline from 0:00 to 1:00.
• a control bar for the selected subchannel with two fields and four buttons:
  • a field where the user can enter a start point (by default 0:00)
  • a field where the user can enter a stop point (by default 0:00)
  • a "show" button: if clicked this will make the frame visible from the start point to the end point.
  • a "hide" button: if clicked this will make the frame invisible from the start point to the end point.
  • a "show all" button: if clicked this will make the frame visible for the complete duration of the timeline.
  • a "hide all" button: if clicked this will make the frame visible for the complete duration of the timeline.

By default, all frames on the page are shown all the time. If the user changes a frame's visibility, this will be reflected in the frame's channel. If the user moves the playhead, the page should reflect the visibility of the text frames at that particular point in the timeline.

If another text frame is added to the page, it is automatically added as a new channel on the timeline.

In future revisions of this task, other kinds of frames will appear on the timeline. Other frame properties (example: margin types) will appear as subchannels for each frame; each of these properties should probably have its own dedicated control bar (e.g., color & width settings for margins).

Future revisions of this task will allow starting a timeline from a link; this task only includes manipulating the timeline via the timeline interface in Author to show and hide text frames.

A wireframe:

Each text frame on the page has a channel with a triangle next to it (like Frame B, Frame C, Frame D); if these are opened (like in Frame A), the properties of the frame show up. For this revision, it's just visibility. The channels can be selected; in this wireframe, Frame A's visibility is selected. (In the future, we'll want multiple selection.)

The control bar of the timeline interface has fields for start point, end point, and four buttons. If the user enters 0:10-0:20 and clicks the "Show" button, the frame will be shown from 0:10-0:20. If the user enters 0:10-0:20 and clicks the "Hide" button, the frame will be hidden from 0:10-0:20. If the user clicks the "Show All" button, the frame will be shown from 0:00-1:00.

Below the control bar is the slider (the orange arrow); this can be dragged back and forth by the user.

Task result

Source code

Implementation idea

Related

TIMELINES
TIMELINES/OldVersion (previous version of this task)

How to demo

• Create a book
• Add 2 text frames to the page
• Open the page's timeline.
• Set one of the frames to show at a certain time; set the other to hide at the same time.
• Drag the slider back and forth to show that the timeline works.

Design

Implementation

Testing

^{Place the testing results here.}

Comments

I've moved the old version of this page here: TIMELINES/OldVersion. --danvisel, 17-06-09.