Can you put screenshots with how it does look? I don't think that it is desired change in current form as the icon size inside the tabs is tweaked in a way that it plays well with 24px icon due to additional padding associated with tabs. This is done also to differentiate it from toolbar actions as it is not a toolbar action.

If we want to have something that reacts to the icon size choice we should make it smaller by 8px.

@FreeCAD/design-working-group

Freecad-light theme, 32px large toolbar icons, tabbar wb selector in icons-only mode:

it does make the toolbar taller due to the internal padding, however I really don't want the icons to get any smaller. IMHO the WBTabBar could lose the extra borders and padding entirely and simply work with selection/background-colors instead.

it does make the toolbar taller due to the internal padding, however I really don't want the icons to get any smaller. IMHO the WBTabBar could lose the extra borders and padding entirely and simply work with selection/background-colors instead.

Yea, something needs to be done about the awkward size of the file menu as a result of the change.

Yea, something needs to be done about the awkward size of the file menu as a result of the change.

The "File" menu is not a result of this change. It's because I'm on a hi-dpi monitor (the text size is correct, it's pretty much everything else which is broken FIY).

It is IMHO no-go as it makes the toolbar heights inconsistent. Tabs also needs some padding to look like tabs so this is no good.

I see two ways around that:

• Use icon size that is 8px smaller than toolbar size - icons will scale with the size, but should leave enough space for padding.
• Make the setting independent and possible to change from the parameters editor. If there are people who want to have this behavior, sure, but it should not be the default one.

It is also possible to use both. Default should be IconSize - 8px with ability to override it with another, hidden setting.

Would it be possible to prioritize for icon size to be the same instead? I could add such an option, but IMHO the extra framing around the selector buttons provides nothing useful in terms of feedback/ui. I was using the realthunder fork where the selector was much leaner, and I preferred it. Currently it looks out of place when placed inline with other toolbars, and what I really want to see big is the icon.

The current state with icon size difference is conscious decision (not reacting at all to the size is not), and I don't think it would be a good thing to change it. It does bring something useful - it makes makes it visually distinct from other toolbar buttons as it is not a toolbar button. This is especially important when used with icon only buttons as the two actions should be easy to distinguish as they have different functions.

Firefox does something similar for tabs:

Action icon (1) is bigger (24px) and icon representing the tab (2) is smaller (16px). This way it is way harder to misinterpret tab for toolbar action.

If we want to talk about semantics, IMHO the wb selection is both an action/status action in itself. In fact, it's a pretty big mode switch. I definitely prefer the wbtabbar since it's more visual and requires less clicks to switch mode. But I'd rather use BG color, as FF does in the urlbar buttons to make it visually distinct as a block instead, instead of reducing the size of the information.

On practical terms, I've set icons sizes to the smallest size I can comfortably see without wasting too much space. Any smaller, and it's tedious to distinguish the icon features, which is much more important. This is compounded by some bad addons icons (one example right there is the workfeature one, too small already at current size).

How does it require less clicks? This solution requires one click to switch, I don't see a way how to improve on that number.

If we want to talk about semantics, IMHO the wb selection is both an action/status action in itself. In fact, it's a pretty big mode switch.

That is why it should be distinct, it is not a tool in the toolbar but a switch. Furthermore - look at create body icon and icon for part design workbench - they are the same. If we use the same style for both toolbar buttons and workbench you would have two buttons that look the same and have different meaning. This is serious usability issue.

But I'd rather use BG color, as FF does in the urlbar buttons to make it visually distinct as a block instead, instead of reducing the size of the information.

I was pointing to rightmost icon in the row with tabs, it has bigger icon on the same background. But yeah having different background for it helps - tabs do provide that.

I am open for suggestions but the proposal must ensure that toolbars height is kept at possibly consistent size (or at least should be very close so it visually feels right) and cannot introduce issues like two buttons looking the same with different functions.

The tabbar isn't a toolbar, yet we shove it between the toolbars. I think it would work better if it would be a docking window, that we then dock on top or below the 3D window.
Or we turn it back in a toolbar, make the buttons indented when specific wb is active.

The size should be configurable if anything, but not locked to toolbar icon size. For such a navigation aid, the WB icons are a poor indicator anyway, and I would wholeheartedly support disabling icon use for the WB selector by default in favor of text only for reduced cognitive loading in addition to easing the onboarding process for new users.

FreeCAD's toolbar system suffers from a dizzying array of issues, several unrelated ones seem to be getting jumbled into this discussion. This solution appears to resolve none of them, while simultaneously creating more problems in all use-cases other than the one presumably preferred by the authors of both the referenced issue and of this PR. I caution strongly against merging this.

If we want to talk about semantics, IMHO the wb selection is both an action/status action in itself. In fact, it's a pretty big mode switch.

If we want to talk about semantics, the WB Tab Bar is a UI navigation aid. A rather good one. Instead of switching between modes, it merely exposes tools.

Freecad is a rolling mechanics tool chest. Each drawer (or workbench) of that tool chest has a set of tools ideally used for a specific purpose. Some more specialized than the other. Like those of a mechanic, FreeCAD's tools can often be useful outside of their original intent, that's a form of great versatility. You are never restricted from calling functions/tools only when their respective workbench is surfaced in your interface, as workbenches aren't modes, neither logically or technically.

This solution appears to resolve none of them, while simultaneously creating more problems in all use-cases other than the one presumably preferred by the authors of both the referenced issue and of this PR. I caution strongly against merging this

I perhaps came out too polemic on this, but I was just trying to make the selector barely usable on my system. Right now the icons are so small I genuinely don't see anything besides some color blur.

I updated the change to use the toolbar icon size - 8. On the classic theme, the toolbar height is now stable.

The freecad light theme though has less padding on all toolbars, so the WB TabBar still grows the height. This is not new though: even at the original pixel size I see the same behavior, so it's not a regression.