Hi devs,
I'm working on https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-1660 (I need it for
https://jira.xwiki.org/browse/XWIKI-13352) and I'd like to change the page
rename job (from refactoring module) to update the existing objects when a
class is renamed *if the "Update links" options is checked*.
Of course, we could add a new option (e.g. "Update objects") but:
* it complicates the rename UI (too many options)
* I think most of the users understand the current "Update links" option as
"update the places where this page is *used*". I don't think it makes sense
to have separate options (at least at the UI level) for things like "Update
macro calls" or "Update image includes".
* I don't see why you would want to update the back-links but not the
objects (or the other way around).
If we agree on using a single option ("Update links") then the next
questions are:
* Is there a better name? I think "Update links" is a good name for simple
users so I would keep it. Another option is "Update references" but it has
a special meaning for XWiki developers.
* Should we update the hint for the "Update links" option? I think we
should, but only for advanced users, since they should be aware of the
implications of renaming a class. Simple users are not aware of the
existence of objects, most probably, so I wouldn't complicate their lives.
The final question is whether we should keep the rename job question about
classes. I think we should. The reason we added it is because renaming a
class is currently dangerous. Updating the objects makes it a bit less
dangerous because the data is preserved, but classes are often used in
scripts (e.g. a live table) and those scripts are not updated so there's a
high chance that something will not work correctly after the class rename.
WDYT?
Thanks,
Marius
