tool inconsistency

[anonymous]

Extract from an email:

I've been bitten several times by the fact that two of the
tools in the toolbar behave differently from the rest. "delete nodes,
streets", and "Add a new way to the data" both apply their action
immediately to any currently-selected object. This has caused me to
delete objects which I did not mean to (because I expect it to put JOSM
in "delete mode" where any objects I click next would be deleted -- and
it's not possible to deselect an object in all modes. So for example,
if I'm editing a way, and then want to delete some object other than
that way, I need to switch to the "select objects by dragging or
clicking" tool, select a blank area of the map to deselect the current
way, switch to the delete tool, and then click the objects I want to
delete. My suggestion is to make it so that instead of deleting the
currently selected object, the delete button would simply put JOSM into
delete mode so that any subsequently clicked objects would be deleted.

As to the "way" tool, there is not a method to start a "new way", or to
end the current one, aside from switching to a different tool,
deselecting all objects, and then switching back to the "way" tool. My
suggestion for improving this is to make the way tool behave similarly
to the selection tool: clicking the tool icon would simply put JOSM in
"way" mode, clicking a segment would start a new way, and adding
segments to a way would be accomplished by holding shift or control and
clicking the segments appropriately.

Related to this, and I'm not sure how hard this is to do, it would help
to have the mouse pointer change when shift or control is held, similar
to how the GIMP does it, i.e. adding a little + to show when something
would be added to the current selection as opposed to replacing it.

[johnw]

I would thoroughly endorse the above comments. The user interface needs a rethink.

I was bitten in the same way, expecting delete to enter a delete mode. This is only because of the placement of the button -- the user imagines all the buttons in that group are mode buttons (think of delete as an 'eraser' tool in a drawing program). But the current behaviour of delete is logical if you compare it to a word processor (select something, press delete).

So either the button needs to be moved (and the short cut should be the delete key) or delete needs to be modal, like the buttons above it.

User interface design is very very hard, but getting it right is a big win! :)

[anonymous]

see #11 for a summary of all changes in the "new UI" thingie