beeware / beeware/toga

A more compact DateInput on GTK+ Backend

Open
#3,660 6 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
enhancement gtk linux
Dominant language
Python
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
40

Description

### What is the problem or limitation you are having?

The GTK DateInput is different from all other DateInputs because it displays a larger calendar, rather than a compact line with the date; however, in some contexts one may except a short line displaying the date, such that the layout differences are not that large between platforms.

### Describe the solution you'd like

Not clear right now. I'm not sure if any more compact solution from which the calendar displays in a dialog would feel non-native; investigation of date related apps on Linux is needed before we should make such a decision.

### Describe alternatives you've considered

Status quo, users can if-condition to switch their interface to a button with a popup calendar for GTK only if needed; however I'm feeling that there's *too* large of a layout difference when it comes to date picking for Linux compared to other platforms.

### Additional context

The latest PR adds a success story for an app which uses a TextInput to pick a date:

Image

However, one may imagine DateInput being used there. That's where I got the inspiration for this issue, which may be *totally* flawed.

This might just be a stupid thing that I can't let go of...

------

### Edit

Another use case of this would be if you have something like
```
Date: [DATEINPUT]
```
then the rather large DATEINPUT would be out of place compared to the label.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with the existing GTK DateInput implementation and investigate date-related Linux applications, as the issue suggests, to identify whether a compact native pattern is appropriate. Done means reaching agreement on a concrete compact design and its behavior; the issue currently does not name files, tests, or an implementation approach.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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