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Validation decorators in Sapphire [message #747028]

Sun, 23 October 2011 21:53

St Clair Clarke

Messages: 118
Registered: March 2010

Senior Member

Hello,
I have observed that when validation is done in Sapphire - as demonstrated by v0.3.2 examples), the error decoration is already present when the UI first displays.

Is this the best practice?

I would think that there should be no indication of error in an input field until the user makes an entry.

Please let me know what you think.

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Re: Validation decorators in Sapphire [message #747237 is a reply to message #747028]

Mon, 24 October 2011 01:13

Konstantin Komissarchik

Messages: 1077
Registered: July 2009

Senior Member

What you are referring to is a controversial technique that some at Eclipse follow. Sapphire does not follow that convention. The validation state of the property is always shown as it is regardless of whether the screen has just been shown or if it has been handled by the user for a while. The consistency tends to be less confusing for users.

- Konstantin

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Re: Validation decorators in Sapphire [message #747275 is a reply to message #747237]

Mon, 24 October 2011 01:44

St Clair Clarke

Messages: 118
Registered: March 2010

Senior Member

Thanks Konstantin,
True it is controversial but I see your best practice is not to go with that convention. I can respect that.

Just looking at application's not using eclipse, I must confess that the convention followed by some at eclipse is used. For instance, using an astrisk to reprsent a required field is quite pervasive across many application.

While we strive for excellence, we must bear in mind the familiarity of end-users of application about the UI we present to them. Because of longstanding familiarity, some things have become entrenched. For instance, an input error entry in many application generates a sound as well as display the decorator.

Is there any reasons why hovering over the decorator does not pop-up the tooltip. I literally have to click it to display it.

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Re: Validation decorators in Sapphire [message #748210 is a reply to message #747275]

Mon, 24 October 2011 15:04

Konstantin Komissarchik

Messages: 1077
Registered: July 2009

Senior Member

> For instance, using an astrisk to reprsent a required field is quite pervasive across many application.

There has been some discussion about using another badge (like an asterisk) instead of the red error badge to indicate unfilled required properties. I cannot seem to find that thread at the moment, though. I am generally supportive of exploring various ways to improve property state presentation. The only thing that I will not consider are presentations that change independently of model state (such as based on whether the user interacted with the UI).

> Is there any reasons why hovering over the decorator does not pop-up
> the tooltip. I literally have to click it to display it.

Since Sapphire information popups are larger than a typical tooltip, with more information and action links, we found that the tooltip behavior can be awkward for users to work with. Especially confusing is the manner in which one must transition focus to the tooltip (to copy text or to select links) so that that it doesn't get dismissed when the mouse moves. By making the user click to activate the pupup, we've eliminated the need for the tooltip style deactivation timer and the accompanying awkwardness.

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