board.org/
What version are you running?
1.0.1rc3
What's the URL of the page this enhancement relates to, if any?
New Review Request (step 1)/Upload Diff UIs
Describe the enhancement and the motivation for it.
I'm not sure if this enhancement is already planned for 1.5. I apologize if
this is a duplicate.
Stories:
1. As a user I want the order of the fields arranged in the DIFF upload
interface so the priority is presented as A) upload file, B) choose repo,
C) enter base path; so the priority of the fields reflects the priority of
the majority of use-cases (see motivation).
2. As a user I want the DIFF upload interface to be show me a list
(summary) of the file-paths in the patch as soon as enter a file for upload
so I can see if I'm choosing the right patch file and help me to calculate
the base path.
3. As a user I want the summary list in #2 to update dynamically as I make
choices from the Repository dropdown and enter text into the base path
field so I can see what the final calculated base path will be.
Motivation:
For a ReviewBoard user (who creates a new review request, or modifies the
DIFF of an existing one) - my first concern is choosing the patch file I
just created manually (e.g. 'what did I name it', 'where did I save
it'...). My next concern is choosing the repository from the dropdown, and
then entering the "Base Path" for my DIFF.
What operating system are you using? What browser?
Mac/Windows, Firefox 3.5+/Safari 3+
Please provide any additional information below.
I'm not sure how to do provide the file summary feature with AJAX (I'm not
considering Flash/Silverlight here). I think the file could be posted to
the server and expect a response that supports the functionality stated
above (i.e. a summary of the files in the patch).
This would have a positive impact on user experience regardless of what
technologies were used to build the UI. For example, the user will wait
for the upload/summary process to complete, see if the file-path list looks
correct, choose the repo & enter the base path, and submit the form. If
the base path is incorrect or files are not present in the repo (or another
error occurs trying to validate/generate the side-by-side) - the server
response can be much quicker and the summary of what may have caused the
error is in front of them. As another example of improvement - if the
server dies before the user can submit their DIFF they'll know before even
trying to calculate or enter any other fields. I believe more error
handling improvements could be realized but perhaps the repository value
must be known first...
