Howdy! Like I haven't done enough damage already, I have another one...
I noticed someone had fixed the favorites sort order in the web interface, but
they were still out of order to the on-screen GUI. I used the same sort
algorithm as the web interface and now the GUI list sorts by priority.
With that out of the way, I embarked on an odyssey to allow adjusting priority
from the GUI. I'm happy to report I have good results. I added 'Increase
Priority' and 'Decrease Priority' actions to the item submenu. The ideal case
is
use with the button bar: repeated presses of the appropriate button will shift
the favorite up and down the menu. Those not using the button bar can still use
the submenu items, but it doesn't flow quite as well as just button presses to
shift the items. Perhaps in the future, specific buttons (like Ch+/Ch-) could
be
dedicated to moving the favorites.
Normally I do all my scheduling and adjustments through the web interface but
this is one area where the GUI beats the pants off the web. No clicking and
waiting for the list to reload. Just immediate visible results.
Now, some thoughts about the favorites system in general:
First, is there anything written to handle 'holes'? If I remove my #4 favorite,
does #5 move up to take its place? If not, there will be a 'hole' in the list,
and if you increase the priority of #5, it will move into the hole and appear
not to move in the list. My favorites used to have several holes and I took the
time to fill them in by adjusting priorities, but I did this with the knowledge
of what was wrong. I wouldn't expect all users to understand the problem and
know how to fix it.
I also had a few favorites that had the same priority number (which I think the
recordserver would choke on should it need to decide on one or the other) and
even negative priority numbers (back when the web-GUI didn't sort properly and
it was possible to 'Lower' a favorite that was already at the head of the list).
I'd like to encourage some thought on how to keep this from happening. I was
thinking a simple routine that creates a sorted list of favorites, then
re-writes the list using their position as the priority number. This would
close
up any holes and resolve 'ties'. I'm just not sure where to do it. It could be
done right before the favorites were saved off to the hard drive, or it could
be
done as part of the caching cleanup. Ideally it should be done often enough to
keep holes from sticking around too long and confusing people.
Also one long-standing issue I've had with the favorites GUI are the options
regarding duplicate recording and recording all or only new. I think it's very
clever to make it an item in the menu that changes based on the status, but I
find it very confusing. When it says 'Prevent Duplicate Recording', does it
mean
it's set to prevent dupes? Or that if you click that option, it will turn on
duplicate prevention? Somehow I always end up selecting the wrong option
thinking I have it right.
Now that I look at it, I think each one is different! I have a favorite that is
set to prevent duplicates and record only new. And the on screen GUI says
'Prevent Recording of Duplicates' and 'Record All Episodes'. So the first one
is
showing the current status, but the second one will change the status to what
it
says if you press it. No wonder I'm so confused! ^_^
I love the menu-item-shows-status routine, but it should also be consistent:
The
rest of the items are all click-to-modify and the status is shown in the
top-half window. Moving the dupe and only new status readouts to that window
may
be the best way to avoid confusion in the short term. I'll roll this around in
my head and see what comes out, but suggestions and opinions are welcome.
That's all I've got this time. I did an SVN update before submitting this patch
and I like the changes I'm seeing!
James
Springfield, OR USA
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