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Re: [p2-dev] GSOC Project - Power-user p2 views
Power views could also be extended to mean the management of upgrade paths.  For example, if I install Eclipse 3.6 (stable), I may want to continue on the stable upgrade path, but at some point I may wish to move to the "unstable" path (3.7M7 let's say).  If I listed both repos, check for updates would likely take the most recent one -- maybe not what I desire.  

I don't really know how to improve this, but maybe associating repositories with some sort of Stability Type, and a UI for selecting the stability you wish to use.

This gets even more interesting when you consider that you may want some components to ride on different stability trains.  For example, I may want to keep my IDE stable, but I want to use the most recent version of Mylyn.  Of course, you could hit conflicts (mylyn requires the most recent version of the IDE), but that just adds to the fun :-).

cheers,
ian



On Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 11:12 AM, Susan Franklin McCourt <susan_franklin@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi, Isuru.
Some of the differences that come to my mind when I think about a power view:
- ability to view all IU's in the repo vs. the filtered view that the current p2 UI uses (it shows only "groups", the higher level IU's that represent eclipse features)
- ability to select and install from a modeless view rather than a task-based wizard
- exploring alternate filterings/groupings like Synaptic does (things that represent updates, things that represent the installation, everything that is available, etc.)
- p2 has a new query language in 3.6 - perhaps a way to input a query that is run against the repository and shows the results

>From my point of view, many of the building blocks for these things are already in place, we are talking about rearranging things to suit a different workflow. Because so many of the pieces already exist, I thought that adding an"additional angle" will make the project more meaty.

One approach is to add features to this UI based on feedback from users. Perhaps the Buckminster guys might have ideas about "power tooling" features for p2.
If this is your area of interest, I think it's important to ensure you have users to help drive the evolution of the UI past the initial workflows.
Ian, Thomas, Pascal, etc.?...do you guys have thoughts?

Another approach is to incorporate technology from another project, such as e4. I suggested an e4 or even a web angle because it also coincides with some of the e4 work that I'm doing this summer. For example, one approach might be to implement it first as an eclipse 3.6 view and then ensure it runs in both 3.6 and the e4 compatibility layer. Then, you could refactor the code such that the bulk of the code looked more like an e4 model contribution, using dependency injection to get things like the composite parent, etc. It is possible to structure the code so that in 3.6 you would use code that subclassed the View hierarchy, etc. and then injected and called the methods on the e4-style code. This refactoring is not necessary from a p2 point of view, it's just an area of interest of mine.

I am happy to mentor you on the project regardless of the direction you take, but I think that if you want to push the envelope on power-user UI features then you'll want ensure there are real users with real needs to help drive the project, whereas I would probably not be using the tool day to day in my normal workflows....

susan

Inactive hide details for Isuru Udana ---03/31/2010 03:00:27 AM---I went through few Linux package managers. I think synaptic pIsuru Udana ---03/31/2010 03:00:27 AM---I went through few Linux package managers. I think synaptic package manager is a good example for our task. But If we implement





To: P2 developer discussions <p2-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx>, Susan Franklin McCourt/Beaverton/IBM@IBMUS
cc:
Subject: Re: [p2-dev] GSOC Project - Power-user p2 views


I went through few Linux package managers. I think synaptic package manager is a good example for our task. But If we implement something similar to that, it will be more closer to the p2 Update UI rather than to admin UI.

I read some articles on new eclipse e4 technology. I found it is very cool when it comes to UI designs. But I am not sure whether it is a good idea to implement the UI with new e4 technology.



On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 10:39 PM, Susan Franklin McCourt <susan_franklin@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
    Most of these "power users" come from Linux. A good place to start is the various package managers/installers available for Linux distributions.
    Some that have been mentioned in the past include Synaptic Package Manager, Ubuntu Installer, etc.

    The admin UI is very "p2-centric" - it directly shows the underlying p2 model so in this way it's not really appropriate. But the fact that the pieces are implemented as views vs. modal, task-based workflows is probably something to consider.

    You might also want to check the p2 bugs prefixed with [ui] for discussions in this area.

    susan


    Inactive hide details for Isuru Udana ---03/29/2010 03:19:20 AM---I am working on the above mentioned project. But I am not cleIsuru Udana ---03/29/2010 03:19:20 AM---I am working on the above mentioned project. But I am not clear about the expectation of the power users. I know that it is som



To: P2 developer discussions <p2-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx>
cc:
Subject: [p2-dev] GSOC Project - Power-user p2 views



--
Isuru Udana
Department of Computer Science & Engineering,
University of Moratuwa,

Web: http://isudana.tk/
Blog: http://mytecheye.blogspot.com/
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skype: isudana


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