Making Fichero: A Diary of App Making (1/31)

Posted on by Daniel Tubb

Spent yesterday refactoring Fichero to get it to build on iOS. Some issues. Toga does not support Commands on iOS. Removed the Document management code, that never worked. iOS doesn’t support multiple Windows. I’ll refactor the windows, so that the views can be used in the Main Window.

This is a screen shot of it running on iOS. Not bad, for what began (and remains) a Typer CLI app.

IOS Screen Shot.

This morning, I did some design thinking with ChatGPT about the Library structure, and then the user interface on Mobile versus Desktop. I’ve been resisting doing this as an a Library app. But, I think it will make it more used.

For the library structure, this makes sense:

Library > Collection > Folder > Folder > … > File > Page |

Something like this:

Library
├── Chocó Mining Reports (Collection)
│
├── 1930s (Folder)
│ ├── Labor Disputes (Folder)
│ │ ├── Ibargüen v. Bonilla (File)
│ │ │ ├── Fiches (File-level, auto):
│ │ │ │ - auto catalogue
│ │ │ │ - auto translation
│ │ │ │ - auto keywords
│ │ │ │ - auto named entities
│ │ │ ├── Page 1
│ │ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ │ - original image
│ │ │ │ - enhanced image
│ │ │ ├── Page 2
│ │ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ │ - original image
│ │ │ │ - enhanced image
│ │ │ └── Page 3
│ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ - original image
│ │ │ - enhanced image
│
│ ├── Mining Rights (Folder)
│ │ ├── Domínguez v. Garrido (File)
│ │ │ ├── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - auto catalogue
│ │ │ │ - auto named entities
│ │ │ │ - auto keywords
│ │ │ ├── Page 1
│ │ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ │ - enhanced image
│ │ │ └── Page 2
│ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ - original image
│
│ ├── Criminal Proceedings (Folder)
│ │ ├── Ibargüen v. Bonilla (Criminal) (File)
│ │ │ ├── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - auto catalogue
│ │ │ │ - auto translation
│ │ │ │ - auto named entities
│ │ │ ├── Page 1
│ │ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ │ - original image
│ │ │ ├── Page 2
│ │ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ │ - enhanced image
│ │ │ └── Page 3
│ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ - original image
│
├── 1910s (Folder)
│ ├── Mining Rights (Folder)
│ │ ├── Anglo-Colombian Dev. Co. v. Ismael Rodríguez (File)
│ │ │ ├── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - auto catalogue
│ │ │ │ - auto translation
│ │ │ │ - auto named entities
│ │ │ ├── Page 1
│ │ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ │ - original image
│ │ │ ├── Page 2
│ │ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ │ - enhanced image
│ │ │ └── Page 3
│ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ - original image
│
├── 1940s (Folder)
│ ├── Labor Disputes (Folder)
│ │ ├── Mosquera v. Chocó Pacífico (File)
│ │ │ ├── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - auto catalogue
│ │ │ │ - auto keywords
│ │ │ │ - auto named entities
│ │ │ ├── Page 1
│ │ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ │ - original image
│ │ │ ├── Page 2
│ │ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ │ - enhanced image
│ │ │ └── Page 3
│ │ │ └── Fiches:
│ │ │ - OCR text (auto)
│ │ │ - original image

I also wire framed the user interface, on Desktop and Mobile, and did some notes.

Desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux)

  • Main Window = Library View
    • 3-column layout:
    • Collections (left, 20%)
    • Folder Tree (middle, 20%)
    • File and Content Viewer (right, 60%) (25%/75% vertical split)
  • Utility Windows:
    • Settings, Prompt Library, Plan Library, Activity, About, Help
    • Each is a **separate Window or View opened via menu or toolbar commands

Mobile (iOS / Android)

Structure

  • No separate windows — use stacked navigation
  • Navigation handled via:
    • Hamburger menu
    • Tab bar
    • Back navigation

Example Navigation Flow

  • Home screen = Library
    • Tap through:
    • Collection → Folder Tree → File Fiches (auto catalogues etc.) and Pages (images, etc.) > Viewer/Editor
  • Tap menu or tab for:
    • Settings
    • Prompt Library
    • Plan Library
    • Activity
    • Help
    • About