Hey, really cool idea! Would love to see this fleshed out more.
Some UI feedback:
* On Windows, the tab and ctrl-enter shortcuts seem to be "captured" by the node input, like you have to push them twice if you're in the middle of typing something. You can't just type "test" and tab to the next node, you have to tab-tab.
* Box-selection (drag a rectangle around one or more nodes) would be super helpful.
* When you drag a node to move it, it's not immediately obvious what will happen to it. A move "preview", like a shadow where it's going to end up, along with how the lines will change, would be awesome.
* It would be REALLY cool to be able to import/export UML (https://plantuml.com/sequence-diagram). I love the semantics of UML, but darned if it isn't hard to edit quickly. Being able to use a keyboard interface, along with maybe a quick dropdown-selection to select node type, to quickly prototype a diagram and then export it to UML when done would be something I'd be VERY willing to pay for.
* It isn't super clear to me, in this system, how the connections between nodes work. Are there different arrows, strokes, etc.? Are there different node shapes (rectangles, diamonds, circles) like traditional flowcharts that represent different types?
Overall, really cool to see this happen. Thanks for making this and looking forward to future changes!
> On Windows, the tab and ctrl-enter shortcuts seem to be "captured"
It's like this on alls systems at the moment. For example you can't use Tab to add a new node while you're currently editing the text of another node. I'm working on this but its a bit complicated because some shortcuts interfere with system shortcuts for text editing.
> * Box-selection
I agree!
> * When you drag a node to move it, it's not immediately obvious what will happen to it.
This is a really good idea. I was just a little lazy and didn't add any ux niceness here. I could probably add some phantom connection lines showing what edges would get aded.
> import/export UML
I'll take a look on exporting to UML. I'd like to support as much import/export formats as is feasible.
> how the connections between nodes work
The connections are simply an edge in the graph. There isn't any styling or way to convey meaning to an edge. One of the big differences with knotend and other diagramming systems, however, is that knotend isn't geared towards making particularly pretty diagrams. It's very much designed around speed. So for example it supports colors, but doesn't support any manual layout or custom shapes. To be honest I'm not sure if/when it will. But I'm happy to export to those systems. If you email me with any example diagrams that you've made using UML (or other systems) I can see how those may work in knotend now or in the future.
Thank you for all the great feedback, it really is super helpful!
Some UI feedback:
* On Windows, the tab and ctrl-enter shortcuts seem to be "captured" by the node input, like you have to push them twice if you're in the middle of typing something. You can't just type "test" and tab to the next node, you have to tab-tab.
* Box-selection (drag a rectangle around one or more nodes) would be super helpful.
* When you drag a node to move it, it's not immediately obvious what will happen to it. A move "preview", like a shadow where it's going to end up, along with how the lines will change, would be awesome.
* It would be REALLY cool to be able to import/export UML (https://plantuml.com/sequence-diagram). I love the semantics of UML, but darned if it isn't hard to edit quickly. Being able to use a keyboard interface, along with maybe a quick dropdown-selection to select node type, to quickly prototype a diagram and then export it to UML when done would be something I'd be VERY willing to pay for.
* It isn't super clear to me, in this system, how the connections between nodes work. Are there different arrows, strokes, etc.? Are there different node shapes (rectangles, diamonds, circles) like traditional flowcharts that represent different types?
Overall, really cool to see this happen. Thanks for making this and looking forward to future changes!