setup buttons (was: Re: Really dumb setup question)

[Andy Koppe <andy dot koppe at gmail dot com>]

2009/7/7 Dave Korn:
> |-------+---------+-+-----+----------------------------------+----+---------|
> |Search | Â Â Â Â | |Clear| Â Â Â o Keep o Prev o Curr o Exp |View| Category|
> |-------+---------+-+-----+----------------------------------+----+---------|
>
> Â"Keep" sets all the selections so that the currently-installed version is
> selected. ÂAfter doing this, if you clicked "Next" straight away, nothing
> would need to be installed.
>
> Â"Prev" sets all packages to their one-step-back versions. ÂI'm not sure how
> useful it would ever be to downgrade every package at once, rather than just a
> specific one you were having problems with, but there it is if you want it.
>
> Â"Curr" sets all packages to the current release versions available on the
> servers. ÂThis is the normal mode: any packages you're already up-to-date with
> will be left alone, any packages that newer versions are available on the
> server will get upgraded.
>
> Â"Exp" sets any packages that have experimental versions available to those
> versions. ÂEverything else gets left alone, i.e. it's as if the default was
> "Keep" (not "Curr") for everything without an experimental version.
>
> ÂI'm not entirely sure why these are modal radio buttons, as they seem to me
> more like one-shot effects of the kind you'd expect a pushbutton to have, you
> click it and it sets a bunch of package versions, but I think it's because the
> mode you've selected affects how dependency interactions have to be handled if
> you go and start altering individual selections after choosing the mode.

I think this this could be turned into a cyclic push button like the
"View" button, which would go Curr->Keep->Exp->Curr. I can't see the
use for "Prev" either.

This would make space for turning the "View" button into a set of
radio buttons instead. I think those merit direct access more,
especially now with the search, for which the default "Category" view
is not ideal.

Speaking of the views, "Partial" isn't terribly meaningful, perhaps
"Changing" would be more a appropriate name? Also, I'd find an
"Installed" view more useful than "Up to Date".

Finally, I can't see much value in having the "Not Installed" view. If
you pick and choose your packages, it's much the same as "Full", and
if you install everything, it's empty. Getting rid of it would keep
the number of radio buttons at four.

I know, I know, PTC and all that, but I'm afraid an unfounded opinion
is all I can offer on this.

Btw, saving setup's window state for the selection screen does work
rather well actually. As does the search; users will love that.

Andy

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