919502 - [app manager] revisit the project's controls

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 999417

(DevTools Graveyard :: WebIDE, defect, P1)

Description

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

today we have: [update][debug].

But I really think we should also have start/stop or maybe restart. Also - it's not possible to only run the manifest validation check without pushing the app to the device.

I'd prefer: [validate][push][start|stop|restart][debug].

[push] implies [validate].
[start] implies [push].
[debug] implies [start].

Maybe with [validate] a the Manifest editor level.

Comment 1

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

We should also make it clear that the user is not connected.

Comment 2

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

Current situation is:

If not connected:

> ["refresh"]

If connected:

> ["refresh"] ["debug"]

Issues:

"refresh" action is very blurry (it checks the manifest from the harddrive, and push to device if device is connected). "debug" might do too much (it starts the app and start a toolbox. Maybe the user doesn't need the toolbox). When not connected, it's not clear that you can do more once connected.

I think we can do better. More atomic actions, and better wording.

-----

I suggest:

If not connected:

> ["validate"] • ["install (not connected)" /*greyed out*/] ["debug (not connected)" /*greyed out*/]

If connected, app not running:

> ["validate"] • ["install"] ["debug"] • ["start"]

If connected, app running:

> ["validate"] • ["install"] ["debug"] • ["stop"] ["restart"]


-----


I think it's important to show the "install (not connected)" button because people might not understand that they can do more if they'd connect a device or start a simulator.

Comment 3

[Darrin Henein [:darrin]]

Paul, I think these are good suggestions. Maybe rather than including the text "(not connnected)" we can put that in a tooltip (but still grey out the button). 

I think debug is fine as the toolbox is the primary debugging tool. Could someone debug an app without the toolbox?

Comment 4

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

(In reply to Darrin Henein [:darrin] from comment #3)
> Paul, I think these are good suggestions. Maybe rather than including the
> text "(not connnected)" we can put that in a tooltip (but still grey out the
> button). 
> 
> I think debug is fine as the toolbox is the primary debugging tool. Could
> someone debug an app without the toolbox?

Yes. 2 scenarios:

1) My app has a bug. I use the the debug button to understand what's going on. Then fix the source code.
2) I'm writing an app. I write the code and restart the app to see my changes.

I think scenario 2 is pretty important. I even believe this will be the main usage.

Comment 5

[Darrin Henein [:darrin]]

For scenario 2, isn't that what the Install/Start button does?

Comment 6

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

(In reply to Darrin Henein [:darrin] from comment #5)
> For scenario 2, isn't that what the Install/Start button does?

Yes. Maybe restart could also do "stop + install + start" (not just "stop + start").

Comment 7

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

I've observed someone using the App Manager yesterday. The user didn't realized he was supposed to be connected to get more button. How can we make that clear?

Comment 8

[J. Ryan Stinnett [:jryans] (Use needinfo, replies may be slow)]

(In reply to Paul Rouget [:paul] from comment #7)
> I've observed someone using the App Manager yesterday. The user didn't
> realized he was supposed to be connected to get more button. How can we make
> that clear?

Maybe all the buttons are always present, but just disabled / grayed out.  On hover, the title / tooltip could say "Connect to device to Debug." or something.

Comment 9

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

Attachment: Patch v0.1

WIP

Comment 10

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

One of the requirement here is also to kill all the call to top.UI.

Comment 11

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

Mockups: https://moqups.com/paulrouget/8mMjWEjq

Darrin, can you look at this and tell me if that works for you?

Comment 12

[Darrin Henein [:darrin]]

My thought is that it still presents the user a lot of (potentially) unclear options (sync, install, reload, run, debug), though it is much better than what we have now. I'd say it's a step in the right direction but a deeper UX rethinking of the buttons/controls is probably needed...

Comment 13

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

Let me describe here all the operation we need to/can perform from the app panel:

- check from disk: this will read the files from the hard drive (icon and manifest file) and update the UI (update the icon, show warning/errors if any, update name, description, author… and update the content of the manifest editor). This is useful when the user changed something in the app directory.
- save manifest: if the user changed the manifest from the manifest editor, it writes the manifest on the hard drive.
- install: push the app to the device.
- uninstall
- run: start the installed app on the device
- stop
- debug: open a toolbox connected to the running app
- reload: the running app is restarted

These are operations. They can't all be directly translated to buttons:

install requires check first
run needs install if not installed
debug and reload need run if not running

We also want a multi-operation button: sync. It checks, then install, then reload.

The app panel can be in different states. Not all the operation are possible in all these states.

- device disconnected
- device connected
- app invalid
- app valid
- app not installed
- app installed
- app not running
- app running

Comment 14

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

Darrin - can you help to get this right?

Comment 15

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

A totally different UI is on its way.

Comment 16

[Nick Fitzgerald [:fitzgen] [⏰PST; UTC-8]]

Filter on 86b7095e-2bd0-499e-a704-d00f2524aeef / PAUL STOP SETTING QA CONTACT TO THE DEVTOOLS COMPONENT'S WATCHERS EMAIL FOR BUGS YOU FILE :)

Comment 17

[Paul Rouget [:paul]]

Resolved in the new app manager.