Why does reflow do so much guess work?

This is actually a pretty good example of the problem we're trying to solve. If the first case when you are using the PI or moving things around on the canvas we are updating the positioning styles of many elements to try and keep the design visually the same as you had it before.

In the case of the Elements panels we actually don't change any styles, only the dom order and the results are again not as you expected.

The current behavior is not perfect, but it's also not as easy as having a switch because people expectations are different in each case. We're definitely looking at it and your feedback is helpful so we'll see what we can come up with.

Thanks for using Reflow,

Chris

I've also experienced similar issues. If I punch a value in to a field I want to see a result. I certainly don't want any of the other values in other fields to change, possibly unbeknownst to me, as a result. If I drag something around, I'm happy to accept that those values will be changing to allow me to do so, but entering a value manually assumes a sort of precision.

An rough analogy would be using Illustrator's Transform panel. If I drag an item into a different position and shape, Illustrator automatically resets the values in the Transform field to suit. If I enter a single value into a single field, it changes only that field. The big difference between Illustrator and Reflow is in the relationship between elements. Changes are relatively isolated in Illustrator, there are spacial relationships between elements in Reflow. You guys have really got your work cut out for you figuring that one out! I guess I'd still be expecting that other elements are affected when dragging, but not affected when entering values.

Thanks for building Reflow,

Luke

First of all i would to say thank you, i know how hard it is to develope a complex software in beloved javascript. I am a little sad, that its closed code, because i am a Js-Developer with great commitment and i love to absorb everything what has to do with Js, Node.js, Node-Webkit and stuff. And also im fascinated, which great stuff is possible with this "tools".

I think the main problem is that youre trying to do a balancing act between wysiwyg devs an those who are hard code. In my opinion, reflow is a tool, which presumes a comparatively deep understanding of css and its behaviors.

When i transport the design to code, first i try to get an clean DOM and a base CSS structure. But then, i always went to Firebug and do some finetune stuff. I dont know how many do it this way, but what i can say is that the result is alway the same:

if i switch between positions or floats or displays, you get always an expectable behavior (ok, sometimes not, sometimes after a cup of coffee ). We could call the behavior "naturally"!

Thats what i expected in a Software like Reflow. But when you also try to serve the wysiwyg-devs, it will be hard to get a clean behavior!!!

By the way, what i expected for wysiwyg-devs is muse ?!?

I would try to imitate the behavior of the Browser-Dev-Tabs, a system what works. i would also try to split the json structure into different pages or blocks to speed up the editor! Because, if you copy one container to another, much more complex container or page, its like to wait for hours (5-10 sec.).

My actually Project has at the moment roundabout 920kb, but when im finished, it think it would have 2Mb - 4 Mb or more. From my last bigger js-project, i know that at a big json file is not always the best sollution, but i also dont know how your handle the json.

I am looking very forward for the final product, actually its a little slow in some areas, but i LOVE this clean DOM, (okay, own classes and ids would be nice ^^) and i have a very great respect for your work, because i know how hard it is to create an editor!!!!

Thanks for building reflow!!

Raphael