Progress & health graphics

[Premberg]

As an Azureus user i find the Progress Bar plugin a good addition.

I know that this info is shown already in different ways but a 3D graphical image filling up behind the % info, gives a better quality look to each torrent. Its true that a graphical representation is quicker to understand.

Also the traffic light health info is a nice touch that is missing/changed. If you aren't connected to the tracker anymore its nice to have the info on the front page without needing to select the torrent.

The traffic lights are a universal language

[oxymoron]

Um, both of these ideas where discussed here in length, and I dare say the consensus was, that they are not needed.

[Premberg]

I agree that they are not needed.

i have said they are already present but represented in a different way.

Leather and wood on a cars dash isn't needed but just using plastic looks so cheap and nasty. understand?

If the consensus was that they are not needed, its funny that they exist already in a simple form. What i am saying is that its the small bits of quality that makes a difference.

What do other people think?

I understand that uTorrent is a small program but surely adding some graphics won't increase the size or memory usage that much. Its not needed, but just looks better quality. Some people are fickle you know? If it looks special people will believe it is special.

[boo]

well your idea takes extra cpu and memory resources. ludde tries to make µTorrent as small and effective as it can be, not getting bloated like Azureus or BitComet.

[Premberg]

I understand that uTorrent is a small program but surely adding some graphics won't increase the size or memory usage that much.

[boo]

you would be surprised how much it can take, especially if you have many torrent running.

[Moody]

The traffic lights are a universal language

Although not necessary, I do agree the traffic lights system is a nice touch and IMO should be incorporated. It has more or less been adopted by the Bittorrent community and is an instantly recognisable way of seeing if you're connectable or not.

If this has not been suggested before then perhaps a moderator could move this to Feature Requests.

[Premberg]

It could be an idea, if this was an optional extra. If the download of the program is 200k rather than 100k nobody will really care.

If when the options are selected the CPU/memory load is too much it can be switched off.

A poll could then be run after the new release to see if people have it on of off. If nobody has it on then my hands a up that it wasn't needed. My guess is that people will choose to use it, unless their computer is old.

[Keloran]

discussed and already said its not "likelly" to happen

[Smoovious]

right now, the focus is on the program's substance...

when the dev is satisfied that his client is complete, and heavy on substance, with not much else to add anymore, then that will be the time to start thinking about adding flash...

it isn't that the idea was a bad idea, but it is quite premature in the evolution of µTorrent...

-- Smoovious

[Miffo]

Get real people, there are already several progress bars in the app. THe code is there.

And the most useful one would be % complete, strange..

[chaosblade]

You would be suprised how much CPU and RAM constantly drawing graphics, especially 3D ones, takes. Ever wondered why AZ uses so damn much of those ? Thats partially to blame (plus SWT is incredibly bad on resource usage).

[Miffo]

I wasnt really promoting 3d, just the bar

Its more like a 2d image..

And as he said AZ doesnt have a grapical progressbar for every dl, by default. So it must be something else. *hint* java..

[niRRity]

I don't understand why people try to change uTorrent to Azureus... If you are looking for a million un-necessary features and an eye-candy client just use Azureus. The whole reason uTorrent was created is to be a light-weight client that has all-and-only essential features.

Every users has an idea for "just a little" feature that "won't increase the size or memory usage that much" the problem is that all these features together will.

[vixenfinder]

yeah the best feat i think needs to be imported from azerus is the autospeed feat (am i wrong)

[splintax]

You would be suprised how much CPU and RAM constantly drawing graphics, especially 3D ones, takes.

That's why the option for redraw speed is there. Also the option should be togglable. And while we're on the subject of drawing graphics, what about the speed graph? :|

I'm personally for the inclusion of a progress bar, if it's not too much work - and I don't expect it is, since I'm not anywhere near as experienced a programmer as ludde obviously is and I'm pretty sure I could do it.

[chaosblade]

The speed graph is 2D and is rather a smaller operation to draw. Im not saying drawing at all is bad, im saying too many bars drawing on the screen in the same time is very bad

[boo]

as I said in different thread =

what would be better was if the percentage was in bold instead,

then it would be easy to see how much a torrent is completed.

EDIT: came to think of an addition to this idea, when it becomes 100% for a torrent

the precentage should become normal again (not bold).

[z00z0]

hiyya boo, it seems, that if there is "progress bar" in the topic name, we run into each other

Besides the graphical implementation, we had a text progress bar idea at Graphical Completion Progress Bar in Main Torrent View.

original idea by Animorc: |||------- = 30% done

and mine: ████░░░░░░ -> 40%.

What do you think about it?

[anoxan]

let's do a little test here..

42.1%

10.7%

25.0%

06.2%

now, how long did it take you to read, and comprehend that list?

if you knew how to read percentages, you would have known to ignore the decimals and read them as such:

42

10

25

06

is it really so hard to understand that?

I'll agree to boo's idea of making the percentages bold, and changing them to normal after completion. it's the best idea yet take the following example:

42.1%

10.7%

100.0%

25.0%

06.2%

99.9%

now, how long did that list take you to read?

sorry if I seem like a jerk, but there are better, more accurate ways to judge a torrent's progress than a pointless image

[Miffo]

I dont think anyone of you get it. An analog meter is superior to your digital crap. Its not about accuracy, its about speed (reading)!

Theres a reason its one in E V E R Y sane browser/ download manager ive seen to date..

And cpu/memory usage is a joke, just make it optional.

[Thorz]

How do you actually see the health at the moment? I have been an Az and BC user and I love µ, but I am wondering how does you know when your torrent is in an Azuureus "yellow" state in µ? I know that if my torrents are in yellow in Az I have a NAT problem, or something is not right, they are downloading but my speed is surely suffering. I have seen the status indicators in µ and so far I can not distinguish between a torrent with problems and a totally healthy one. I am a fan of the traffic light system and support the idea.

Can someone tell me how can I see if my torrents are in a "yellow" or "green" state?

Thanks a lot.

EDIT: I found it. The general "NAT error" message. I was so used to a per torrent health indicator that didn't think in a global health state.

Thanks anyway.

[Frostmourne]

I dont think anyone of you get it. An analog meter is superior to your digital crap. Its not about accuracy, its about speed (reading)!

Theres a reason its one in E V E R Y sane browser/ download manager ive seen to date..

And cpu/memory usage is a joke, just make it optional.

I agree completely. Every application that I have used that downloads from the Internet uses a progress bar, why not µTorrent?

I love this program and plan to donate soon, but I am not sure of where the development is going; why is stuff like boss keys and search bars being implemented before something such as a progress graphic?

[boo]

progress bar is a active process, but boss key and search box isn't a active processes.

Plus you have some uses of boss key and search bar,

progress bar just makes it easier but doesn't have a real use for it.

[hofshi]

to quote myself:

in case that a graphical/ASCII progress bar column gets implemented, I would love to see the "done" column superimposed on the graphical progress bar, and thus iliminating the need for the "done" column: |||||||||||----50%----

although I do agree that this feature is just a "nice to have" and not a "must".