Classical UI suddenly disappeared  SOLVED

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Clairvaux
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Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by Clairvaux »

...And there does not seem to be a way to make it come back.

I'm always set to the Classical UI, with a custom toolbar arrangement. Last time I launched PDF X-Change Editor, it reverted to the Ribbon UI, and lost all settings (or at least some of them).

I restored settings from a backup. However, when I try to switch from Ribbon UI to Classical UI, the top menu bar does appear, but the ribbon stays underneath, and my classical toolbars are nowhere to be seen.
PDF X-Change Editor.png
v.8.0, build 330.0.
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello Clarivaux,

if you recently updated from Version 6 than I am sorry to say that V6 and older UI customizations are not compatible with the newer (V7 and up) UI implementation. This may be the cause of the issue.
Otherwise, If Importiong your settings does not work in the current version, you can try importing the settings to a previous version of the Editor portable, to see if it works in a specific version. You can download the portable versions of previous builds here: https://www.pdf-xchange.com/versio ... nge-editor

Once you know which version the Import does work in, please let us know here and I will try and see if I can find a way to migrate it to the latest build for you. I will need you to upload a copy of the .xces file to investigate that as well.

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

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Clairvaux
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by Clairvaux »

Hello Daniel,

My main issue is that the installed version cannot switch anymore between Ribbon UI and Classical UI. It has switched to Ribbon all by itself, and selecting Classical does nothing.

As for the settings, I made them in v.7, so I'm past the compatibility hurdle now.

Incidentally, I also have a portable "install" of the program, that I only used while transitioning from v.6 to v.7. It's still on v.7, and there, the Classical UI sticks all right.

P.S. : how do I arrange to receive an email when there's an answer to my post ?
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello Clairvaux,

Actually the screenshot from your initla post is with the Classic UI layout.

With Ribbon you have the Home, View, Comment - work as tabs:
ribbon.png

And in the Classic UI - they are buttons which when clicked will show drop down menus:
classic.png
classic.png (17.56 KiB) Viewed 5906 times
You should be able to switch between the two from here:
switch.png
switch.png (6.82 KiB) Viewed 5906 times
Best,
Stefan
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Clairvaux
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by Clairvaux »

Hello Stefan,

Now I'm completely lost. Here is the interface I still have in my portable version :
pdf classical.png
That's what I had in my working, installed version (with a few toolbar variations). How is that called ? How do I return to that ?

Thank you.
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello Clairvaux,

That looks like ahighly customized Classic UI. If you have it in the portable version you should be able to export it from that version via Edit > Export settings, then import those same settings to the installed version of the editor.

Does this also not work? If it does not, please send us a copy of the .xces file that was created to take a look at.

Kind regards,

PS. to arrange to see email notifications when there is a reply here on the forums, you need to check the "Notify me when a reply is posted" tickbox in the options, just below the submit button while writing a reply.
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

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Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
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Clairvaux
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by Clairvaux »

Hello Daniel,

I exported successfully the settings from the portable to the installed version. Now, I'll have to customise again all my toolbars, because those were not the settings I had before.

Nevertheless, something is not right there. How is that view called ? The one that is good for me ? How do I set it ? Not just import it ?

I don't want that so-called Classic with the big blocky childish images underneath. I want the small, professional one all the time.

When I reset the settings, I have the big images again, and then, when I do Switch Ribbon / Switch Classic, I cannot get again this good thin interface. I spent hours understanding it, and now it seems it can be broken like that by itself.

Why are there 2 types of files, some called .xcs, and some called .xcs.xces ? And it seems the one turns into the other ?

I try to upload the file, but it says invalid file extension. With .xcs or .xcs.xces.
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared  SOLVED

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello Clairvaux,

There is no name for that UI you had setup beyond "Custom" the only two UI modes we offer with the Editor are the Classic UI, which is stylized towards the earlier builds versions of the Editor, with updated Icons and such, and the new Ribbon UI.

During customization, you can reduce the size of the toolbar by dragging the bottom of it upwards, but again this is a customization, not a preset.

.xcs files are the old format and are not compatible with any version of the Editor from 7 and up. .xces are the new style of customization, which are compatible with V7 and up, but are not compatible with V6 and below.

Kind regards
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

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Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
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Clairvaux
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by Clairvaux »

Hello Daniel,

Great info. Thank you. Now I understand.

Now do you have any idea my interface might have suddenly changed from one state to another ? Is there something to be aware of ? Something to avoid doing ?

And also a suggestion for adjustments, possibly in future versions. That customization you describe, by dragging the bottom of the interface bar up or down, and which bears no name, is what makes the difference between what is the "good" interface to me, and the others.

I knew about it, indeed I spent hours learning about it and practising it, and yet I had forgotten about it.

There a two reasons for that : first, the two different states are radically different, they have a completely different look, and yet they have no name.

Indeed, they are two variants of the Classic UI (that customization does not work in the Ribbon UI), and yet one of them (the higher one) looks strikingly like the Ribbon UI. At first sight. Though I'm aware of the differences. That's why I confused it with the Ribbon UI.

And to make the matters worse, there is absolutely no visible signal, on the UI, that you can make that adjustement.

There are many (too many ?) exceedingly tiny arrow heads, on the UI, indicating that you can click on them to change the appearance of the interface, but that customization, which changes dramatically the aspect of the whole thing, is completely hidden. You need to remember, or guess, that if you hover over the right dividing line (of which there are many), then a double-headed arrow will appear, and you'll be able to pull the bar up of down.

And in fact, the visual difference between Classic High and Classic Narrow (my wording) is way more dramatic than between Classic and Ribbon. That's why I got confused.

And to make things worse, on top of Ribbon / Classic (advertized) , Classic High / Classic Narrow (hidden), there's also Touch Optimized / Mouse Optimized (advertized). Not that I dislike all those possibilities of customization, indeed that's one of the things that makes PDF X-Change Editor a great program. But all of them need to be made explicit, in my opinion.

Thank you and best regards,

Clairvaux
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello Clairvaux,

The most likely cause of issues like this (if it seems completely random) is some form of registry cleaner. We store UI settings in the system registry, so If changes are made there, it is possible to affect the Editor, and in some cases cause a reset like this.
If you have any registry cleaners, I would advise making an exception for the Tracker Software keys located here:
- Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Tracker Software
- Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Tracker Software

Unfortunately we currently do not have any plans to modify the existing "Classic UI" as it stands. This is because it is stylized to reflect the previous versions of the Editor. Resizing the toolbar to be the thin bar you like, is more akin to the now discontinued Viewer, which we are not trying to emulate at this point in time. We did however anticipate this desire, which is why we included that as an option as well.

The toggle between touch and mouse optimized is something that users will often be switching back and forth on the fly, as many devices these days can jump between touch and mouse capabilities, and evidently, the touch optimized version is a bit easier to use with your finger.
Conversely, resizing the toolbar, is not the kind of change that many users are going to be needing with any great frequency, as you yourself have done, it is more so a "set and forget" kind of option, thus we do not need to have a visible notice at all times cluttering the UI.

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

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Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
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Support@pdf-xchange.com
Clairvaux
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by Clairvaux »

Hello Daniel,

Thank you for the information. I don't use any registry cleaner, but I will keep this handy just in case.

The "set and forget" side of that particular setting is what got me in. I just completely forgot how to set it that way again... and there was no hint towards it.

The reason I prefer this arrangement (apart from purely aesthetic reasons) is vertical space. Always at a premium on modern screens. And a pdf document is always set the "wrong" way. That's why I suppose I might not be alone in my preference.

Best regards,

Clairvaux
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello Clairvaux,

I can assure you that you are not alone in your preferences to conserve vertical space, I usually use the editor with the toolbars collapsed (a feature the Ribbon UI offers) for this exact reason. This however, is the same reason that we do not offer any indication of this, the size of each of those bars would have to increase as well if we were to provide some indication, and were we to do that with any function that works in a similar fashion, the UI would be neigh unusable.
We have to draw a line somewhere (pardon the pun) and these often unused customization functions are a part of that. These are the kinds of things that are a pleasant surprise when you unexpectedly discovered them as you are first making changes, correct?

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
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Support@pdf-xchange.com
Clairvaux
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by Clairvaux »

TrackerSupp-Daniel wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 8:39 pm These are the kinds of things that are a pleasant surprise when you unexpectedly discovered them as you are first making changes, correct?
Actually, no. It's exactly the opposite. When I discovered v.7, coming from v.6 and many others before (not installing it, just researching it on your site), I recoiled in horror in front of this apparent choice between Ribbon 1 and Ribbon 2. Both ruining the superb UI experience of PDF X-Change Viewer, then Editor, as I knew it.

So I stopped upgrading for ever. And I decided to abandon PDF X-Change. I began to install and research your competitors.

Then at some point, I don't remember how, I realized there was, indeed, a way to keep a thin toolbar interface. Then I dug deeper in the help pages, knowledge base, etc.

And only then, did I decide to stick with PDF X-Change after all (despite some aspects of ease of use for commenting, which are better in some competing products).

So you had very nearly me ranting mistakenly for ever, on various forums and blogs, about how Tracker Software ruined a formerly superb product. :D

Best regards,

Clairvaux
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Re: Classical UI suddenly disappeared

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello Clairvaux,

Glad to hear the ranting was avoided and you found out a way to get the UI layout you wanted!

Cheers,
Stefan
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