Why can't I resize a Smartshape?

[Boy]

Well, I'm stumped. But did you notice that PhilM, one of the Xara devs, jumped in (post #4) and came with a suggestion and some questions? He may be your best bet to sort things out....

[PhilM]

Another possible reason for the problem is that the JavaScript that runs the SmartShape is not working properly for some reason.

Unfortunately, at the moment, I can't think of a reason why the JavaScript might not work (assuming that your installation worked properly and that you haven't changed anything inside the program folder).

Best suggestion at the moment is to re-install.

Phil

[JohnHind]

Another possible reason for the problem is that the JavaScript that runs the SmartShape is not working properly for some reason.

Unfortunately, at the moment, I can't think of a reason why the JavaScript might not work (assuming that your installation worked properly and that you haven't changed anything inside the program folder).

Best suggestion at the moment is to re-install.

Phil

Just to give some closure, I solved it, but it opened a whole other can of worms!

You will remember I was also having problems accessing the online content? Well I found that problem occurring with some other web sites including my ISP and The Independant, but excluding The Guardian as examples. I phoned my ISPs excellent customer support (Zen to give credit where it is due) and they talked me through some things eventually leading to the MTU setting in my router. Oddly, I'd not touched the router settings for months, so how it suddenly went wrong is a bit of a mystery. Once that was fixed everything is OK - the smartshape now resizes as expected, double-clicking gives the round blue handles etc.

But really guys, it is a poor show when a bad internet connection stops a locally installed program working and an even worse show when it just loses some random features without any kind of diagnostic message! I have a real love-hate relationship with Xara - conceptually it is great, but a serious lack of attention to usability and some, let us say, "eccentric" UI choices make it very hard to recommend!

[Boy]

Thanks for the follow-up. I learned something new and perhaps Xara did too but to blame them for not giving you messages when there is something wrong with your computer/router settings seems a bit of stretch.

[JohnHind]

to blame them for not giving you messages when there is something wrong with your computer/router settings seems a bit of stretch.

I disagree - if a program cannot do what it is supposed to do for any reason it should alert the user, not just sit there doing nothing like a truculent teanager! This is doubly true when the problem is getting no reply to a network request - this happens frequently enough for it to be something you should specifically expect to handle.

This is a recurring problem with the Xara UI - last time I got into a head-banging session with it, it had recoloured a block of text to alert me that it was overflowing its frame. Trouble was there was no other clue to this, so I kept trying to put the colour back the way I wanted it , the UI giving no indication that this was not possible. Bizarrely for something that was supposed to be a UI cue, this locked recolouring was actually even printed out!

I'm sorry, but these things are just bad design and carelessness about usability!

[Boy]

Of course you disagree, you made that clear in your earlier post, and it's your good right. Possibly you have a point and Xara may take it but it seems to me that in an imperfect world it doesn't make sense to expect everything to work perfectly, certainly when it concerns an issue that involves various parties and shows in some cases and not in others. The whole thing seems, albeit frustrating, more like a learning moment.

[Acorn]

John

To set the context.

Disconnect your Internet connection.
Open your Xara application and try to access the on-line content.
Your Local Designs gallery should open and be flagged as offline.

Reconnect your Internet connection.
Open an item in Local Designs gallery.
Xara tries to set up a link to its on-line content site.
If it succeeds, the offline flag disappears.

If a user's Internet is broken in a way that the application is getting partial responses, the application has no real way other than asking again and again.
A stack of connections and requests are probably building up and overwhelming your PC. MS didn't then pop up and say it had problems so why should your Xara application?

There possibly could be a better interrogation of HTML responses that could be trapped through a transaction service, or try & catch routines.
For Xara to think of a test case of "Incorrect MTU Setting" is a little beyond the pale.
They might do so now that they have a real scenario to play to.

Acorn

[JohnHind]

John
For Xara to think of a test case of "Incorrect MTU Setting" is a little beyond the pale.
Acorn

I did not mean to suggest it should have popped a message saying "Your router MTU setting is wrong, you idiot!", but if it requests something over the internet and does not get a reply, that is a problem for any program to handle sensibly. The UI knows that it cannot resize the object, because it is not resizing the object, so the visual cues should reflect the unavailability of that feature, not let you keep trying and doing nothing. But in any case, why does it need information from the internet for this feature? The object was clearly available locally since I was allowed to insert it. I was not able to insert "online content" which is perfectly understandable given the fault.

I never criticise software that I do not rate - life is too short! My criticism of some aspects of Xara actually reflects that I think at core it is a very good program, worth rescuing, and it benefits a lot from a passionate and very helpful community. The UI just need a bit of a conceptual re-think and a little more attention to detail.

[richinri]

I have said from that weekend we all experienced when Xara was not fully functional because someone forgot something at Xara that software that is dependent on an internet connection to fully function is way to vulnerable and problematic. It is one thing when you have signed up for a cloud program because you know the issues. But to have the "desktop" version stop working in any way due to an internet issue...sorry. NOT a good idea.

[Michael]

.... but a serious lack of attention to usability and some, let us say, "eccentric" UI choices make it very hard to recommend!

Ouch, that's so true... And my main reason not to update.