Could the Pen Tool have a status panel please?

[William Overington]

Could the Pen Tool have a status panel please?

In the Serif Program ImpactPlus there was (is, as I still use it and it works well in Windows 10 notwithstanding that it is over a decade since it was last updated) a status panel.

When I first used ImpactPlus I found it hard to use, but once I made using the Status Panel the key part of using ImpactPlus I found ImpactPlus delightfully straightforward to use and I got good results.

So could the Pen Tool have a similar comprehensive status panel please? I know that the x and y coordinates are in the Transform panel but there does not seem to be any numerical indication of the angle of the "what's it called" or its two lengths when the point is in Smooth mode. If the Status Panel for the Pen Tool could be able to be placed near the point and be such that one can adjust the numbers in the panel and the angle and the two lengths of the "what's it called" could be automatically updated on screen, that would be good.

I found that with ImpactPlus that using the mouse unit to try to manipulate shapes and get a good result was very difficult and near impossible or even impossible, but using the status panel enabled good results to be produced straightforwardly. Though those tools were useful when trying to sort out some rotations and it was not obvious what numbers were needed and those tools did allow me to get a rough approximation that could then be refined using the Status panel. 

So based on that, I feel that a Status Panel giving full numerical control over points and their attributes would be very useful. Naturally, its use would be optional.

Also, if there could be a mathematical explanation of how it all works please that would help some users be able to calculate the settings to use for cases where precision rather than artistic impression is needed.

William