indicator-multiload needs padding to avoid panel item location jitters

[Sb]

Hi everyone,

I use Unity with the indicator-multiload indicator for my network speed, with both a graph and a text readout on the panel. The problem is that when my network speed changes from 9.9 kB/s to 10.0 kB/s, or 99.9 kB/s to 100.0 kB/s, the addition of additional digits makes the location of the indicator to jump around, which in turns makes my system tray items to the left of indicator-multiload also jump around. The jitters are very distracting and unprofessional. Could some additional padding be added to indicator-multiload to prevent this?

Thanks a lot!

[Sb (sb56637)]

oops, wrong package. sorry!

[Michael Hofmann (mh21)]

Hi Sb,

the feature got removed in the current development version because of that :-(

Cheers
  Michael

[Sb (sb56637)]

Hi Michael,

You mean the text readout got removed in the development version? It doesn't seem necessary to throw out the baby with the bath water. All it needs is the user-configurable option of adding padding on either side of it.

[Michael Hofmann (mh21)]

It is not so easy and I never got any feedback that it was used.

There is no easy solution for the padding, the only way I can think of is to format everything in a way that the width of the text never changes. Digits are normally all the same width, so that means sticking to one unit per shown information (eg kB) and maybe using 'FIGURE SPACE' (U+2007) unicode characters.

[Sb (sb56637)]

I would really miss this feature if it was removed! It's extremely important for me to know what's going on with my network connection with a quick glance.

How about a simple workaround? Maybe a simple option could be added for the user to set the maximum speed, so we know how many digits will be need at most (usually 3 or 4). Then, simply pad the unused digits with leading zeros. (i.e. 005 kB/s).

[Sb (sb56637)]

Ah, and I would probably recommend removing the .0 fractional kB/s to save some space.

[Michael Hofmann (mh21)]

I think you are the first user of the feature :-) - so don't use to the devel version, and I will put it back in in the future...

[Sb (sb56637)]

Thanks a lot Michael I really appreciate you keeping it around, even if it is just for me. :-) As a matter of fact, one of the reasons I am using Ubuntu + Unity is because of the existence of indicator-multiload with graph and text readouts. I only use desktops that support this feature.

Would it be possible to implement the workaround I suggested of keeping the same number of digits with leading zeros?

If not possible, please do keep around the text readout feature, because at any rate a few jitters are better than no readout at all.