[indiana-discuss] 2008.11 rc1b Package Manager question/confusion

[Jenya Gestrin]

Josh Simons wrote:
>
>
> On Nov 14, 2008, at 11:55 AM, Jenya Gestrin <Jenya.Gestrin at Sun.COM 
> <mailto:Jenya.Gestrin at Sun.COM>> wrote:
>
>> Frank Ludolph wrote:
>>> Josh Simons wrote:
>>>> On Nov 13, 2008, at 6:51 PM, Michal Pryc wrote:
>>>>
>>>>   
>>>>> Michal Pryc wrote:
>>>>>     
>>>>>> Josh Simons wrote:
>>>>>>       
>>>>>>> Why is the Add button on the Manage Repositories pane is greyed out,
>>>>>>> implying I cannot add a new package source? Is this a permissions
>>>>>>> issue or something else?
>>>>>>>         
>>>>>> There two possibilities:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - You didn't selected (check box in the list) any package that can be
>>>>>> installed/updated.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - You are running packagemanager without sufficient permissions (run
>>>>>> with gksu or pfexec on opensolaris) the Package Manager icon is  
>>>>>> starting
>>>>>> application correctly.
>>>>>>       
>>>>> Hi Josh,
>>>>> Reply to myself.
>>>>> The question was about Manage Repositories not Add/Update, so the  
>>>>> possibilities are as follows:
>>>>>
>>>>> - You already have the same name for the repository
>>>>>
>>>>> - You didn't specify correct URL address
>>>>>
>>>>> - Your name for the repository contains incorrect values (spaces for  
>>>>> example)
>>>>>
>>>>> best
>>>>> Michal Pryc
>>>>>     
>>>> Michal,
>>>>
>>>> My issue is one of usability from a UI design perspective. Since the Add
>>>> button was greyed out, I assumed the companion fields were not active.
>>>>
>>>> It is counterintuitive to me that filling in the fields would then  
>>>> cause the
>>>> Add button to un-grey. (And only if I specified a correctly formatted  
>>>> response.)
>>>>
>>>> I asked a professional UI expert outside of Sun if this type of UI  
>>>> behavior
>>>> was appropriate and she agreed that it would be confusing to users.
>>>>   
>>> Not enabling an add/submit button until the 'form' is completed is a 
>>> common UI pattern. However, requiring valid field entries before 
>>> enabling the button is not. There must be more feedback to the user 
>>> about error conditions than just not enabling the button.
>>>
>>> I would suggest that the Add button be enabled as soon as both 
>>> fields have non-blank content and that clicking Add will report, via 
>>> and alert, both the invalid field and what constitutes a vaild entry.
>> this is pretty much what it says in my annotations:
>> http://xdesign.sfbay.sun.com/projects/solaris/subprojects/package_mngt/UI_specs/ui_spec_phase2/html-mockup/43_repositories_dialog_2.htm
>> but I will rephrase the annotations according to your suggestions, Frank.
>>
>> jenya
>>
>>
>>
> It still is not clear to me how a user is supposed to know the fields 
> are usable if Add is greyed out by default. When I looked at the 
> dialogue I assumed I did not have privs to add a repository. I didn't 
> even think to try typing in those fields.
it says right above the fields:
"Type the repository name and URL you want to add as a new package source."

disabling buttons is a very typical UI approach nowadays, both in rich 
client and web application world. by disaling/enabling buttons we avoid 
having excessive number of error dialogs.
Also, we try to design Package Manager GUI the way that if user does get 
to open a dialog window, he automatically has all privileges to take 
action on this dialog. It is a very sad think that you are used to 'not 
having privs' while using GUIs - it doesn't speak very well of the 
software you are using.
>
> Josh

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