Re: [sequoyah-dev] Manage SDKs - UI definition

[<David.Dubrow@xxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Re: [sequoyah-dev] Manage SDKs - UI definition

I don’t think we need to change too radically from the model that Pulsar already has. Basically, the SDKs are already shown in a view with a tree viewer – the proposal is only to change the tree viewer into the p2 discovery catalog viewer since it has more support for screenshots and text and looks nicer than the tree. :)  I think it’s ok for this view to not be related to other views or editors given the nature of what we are showing in this view.

The screenshot I sent in the other message shows what I have now, which is the original Pulsar SDK view hosting the p2 discovery catalog viewer. The catalog viewer has some restrictions:
(1) It only has categories and items – no 2-level nesting like in the current tree viewer
(2) It does not have support for uninstalling items that are already installed (it does have support for updating installed eclipse features, but this may not be applicable to SDKs)

Due to these restrictions, if we use the discovery catalog viewer, we can no longer support any real functionality for the already installed SDKs like before. Before, these were shown as installed and could be selected to uninstall and show details. Since this is not possible in the catalog viewer, my proposal is that we do this through a separate dialog. Like in your screenshot, we could have both functions (uninstall and details) in one dialog with two buttons named “Manage Installed SDKs” and there can be a single action in the pulsar view. Or uninstall and details can each be separate actions using the same kinds of dialog. I’m not sure if we need a tree for this dialog. I was thinking that typical users would only have at most a few SDKs installed and so a simple list to choose from would be enough.

As far as the question about the filter support, the catalog viewer does have a filter, so if Pulsar ends up with a lot of SDKs, users can use the filter to easily narrow their search. However, currently, I think there’s only a small number of SDKs from all the vendors.

--David
 


On 4/8/10 2:08 PM, "ext Daniel Barboza Franco" <nkvg64@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I was not sure if it is possible to put the p2 piece inside of a view when I sent the previous message. The benefit of using a view is that it can be hidden or moved along the workbench. Also it can be associated to a perspective.
>
> I really don't mind if it will be a window (not a wizard) or a view. In fact, my first choice was a view, but then we started looking for examples and every time that we have a install/new something/import something in Eclipse it is done by means of a window, then an action inside this window can trigger the wizard.
>
> On the other hand, the view deals with visual representation of something (SDKs) in this case, and has a hierarchy as recommended by the Eclipse UI guidelines. The problem is that it does not relate to other views nor editors.
>
> So, I think that both approaches are ok since it's difficult to classify this feature. The decision is up to you ;)
>
> Our concern was that if there is a huge amount of SDKs and versions this view could get overloaded and confusing. Is this possible? If so, could it be solved by using filters in this view (does p2 viewer support this?)
>
>
> Daniel.
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 12:31 PM,  <David.Dubrow@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Hi guys,
> >
> > I am looking at your screenshot and I think the only thing that I don’t agree with is that “Install SDKs...” button at the bottom. It seems that this makes the uninstalling and details of installed SDKs the primary thing and relegates the installation to a secondary user action.
> >
> > On the other hand, I can definitely see the benefit of using the combined dialog (uninstall and details) as a “Manage Installed SDKs...” action. But I still prefer keeping the pulsar view as a view (not a wizard) and using the discovery viewer in it instead of the old pulsar tree viewer.
> >
> > --David
> >
> >
> >
> > On 4/8/10 10:01 AM, "David Dubrow" <david.dubrow@xxxxxxxxx <http://david.dubrow@xxxxxxxxx> > wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Daniel F. and Daniel P., :)
> > >
> > > My idea was similar to (1) but I don’t think it was exactly like you are describing. My thought was to replace the tree in the Pulsar view with the discovery view (see attached screenshot) - not use the discovery wizard. For the uninstall and details actions, they would now just bring up a separate list dialog, listing installed SDKs to allow uninstalling or getting details. The idea behind this is that installing is the most important aspect of Pulsar. We still support the uninstall and getting details, but these are less important use cases.
> > >
> > > --David
> > >
> > >
> > > On 4/8/10 9:11 AM, "ext Daniel Barboza Franco" <nkvg64@xxxxxxxxxxxx <http://nkvg64@xxxxxxxxxxxx> > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hi guys,
> > > >
> > > > Concerning the workflow for install/uninstall SDKs, I talked to Daniel Pastore and we came up with some options:
> > > >
> > > > 1) Separate menu items
> > > > In this case, we would have 2 different windows. One for installing (p2 discovery). Another for uninstalling. I think that this is what we have agreed so far.
> > > >
> > > > 2) Centralized information (sketch attached)
> > > > Instead of having 2 menu items, we could have a "Manage SDKs" item in the Pulsar Admin menu. 
> > > > The idea is to have a window listing all the installed SDKs. This is more visual and maybe it has a better flow for the user. There is a sketch of it attached.
> > > >
> > > > The user then can select SDKs to uninstall or get information. The information could be shown like the current view does, in the right side of the tree. We could have a button instead (this is the option that we used in our attached sketch).
> > > >
> > > > For installing new SDKs, we can have another button. This button will raise the p2 discovery wizard that you are implementing. The user follow the steps of installation and once the install is successfully finished, the user can see the SDK highlighted (or selected) in the tree, as visual feedback.
> > > >
> > > > 3) 1 + 2
> > > > This solution is hybrid. We could separate install and uninstall into different tabs in the same window.
> > > >
> > > > What do you think about it?
> > > >
> > > > Regards,
> > > > Daniel.
> >
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