Release PNDManager

[bzar]

Scrolling to the button has the aforementioned problem of having controls out of sight but activatable through game controls/keyboard. Showing the number of comments has the aforementioned problem of doing API calls for each package view


I'll do a quick and dirty implementation this at first, then we'll see how to make it better.

 

[Christoph.Krn]

I think what milkshake meant was a situation where buttons cannot be activated unless they are currently visible.


It could make sense to have a focus that jumps from button to button via D-Pad (e.g. D-Pad scrolls in small steps, and when controls appear, it scrolls through moving focus). Since it makes sense to use 'B' as a generic 'Confirm' button, the game-b guihint could jump from button to button with focus. But that's just an idea that would need to be tested.


By the way, I think it would probably also make sense to allow scrolling with the left nub too, so that scrolling can be done either quickly or slowly using physical controls.


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As for the problem of having too many API calls: PNDManager is not a software that's made to please repository servers, but the people who use it to manage, and to get information about, PNDs. That's why I think the repository API should allow for progressive updating, e.g. a last-updated date for every entry (in this context: entry == a PND and its meta-content), and then in case that date has changed, last-updated dates for comments, uploaders's content, and whatever else there might be in the future.

 

[bzar]

I think what milkshake meant was a situation where buttons cannot be activated unless they are currently visible.


It could make sense to have a focus that jumps from button to button via D-Pad (e.g. D-Pad scrolls in small steps, and when controls appear, it scrolls through moving focus). Since it makes sense to use 'B' as a generic 'Confirm' button, the game-b guihint could jump from button to button with focus. But that's just an idea that would need to be tested.

I've conciously tried to avoid the concept of button focus. In my opinion, it makes the UI slow and confusing to use especially since there are other elements being controlled with the d-pad. It takes the control focus away from the content. Being able to look at a control, see the guihint, and press it is in my experience quite a bit less tedious than trying to navigate a non-menu style interface with a button focus.

By the way, I think it would probably also make sense to allow scrolling with the left nub too, so that scrolling can be done either quickly or slowly using physical controls.

I'd have to add nub support to panorama's pandora-plugin first. Maybe at some point, but not a priority.

As for the problem of having too many API calls: PNDManager is not a software that's made to please repository servers, but the people who use it to manage, and to get information about, PNDs. That's why I think the repository API should allow for progressive updating, e.g. a last-updated date for every entry (in this context: entry == a PND and its meta-content), and then in case that date has changed, last-updated dates for comments, uploaders's content, and whatever else there might be in the future.

I'm not trying to please the servers. I'm trying to keep the extra background fluff to a minimum to keep the UI responsive. I haven't actually tested how much it would affect, but as a general rule I try to avoid using extra resources unless instructed to do so by the user.

 

[ShleeDragon]

*deleted*

 

[bzar]

Regarding the API calls to get the number of comments and so forth: I'll test how it works on a pandora and add it if it doesn't hurt the user experience in general.

 

[milkshake]

you should be able to get the number of comments by counting the number of comments returned, doesn't Cloudefs API interface do this?


That shouldn't be too resource intensive.

 

[bzar]

Yes, I can

 

[milkshake]

so this wasn't an issue?

 

[bzar]

Getting the number of comments by downloading all the comments and counting them is not an issue in the context of getting the number of comments per se, but downloading all the comments for every package visited could potentially cause other issues.

 

[_wb_]

Can't the repo made so that for every PND it keeps a comment counter, which is included in the PND listing that gets transferred when you sync from PNDManager? That means the count might be too low when you are browsing PNDs without syncing first, but at least it avoids having to download comments just to browse PNDs.

 

[milkshake]

well I could return the comment count in the json then you can just take that figure.

 

[spiralofhope]

Random ideas, I only used some old version of the manager and just once, so they could be invalid.


Perhaps only fetch recent comments?


(If there are many comments - I can see old comments mattering if there's not much activity.)


Perhaps separate the comments out so that only comments on the current version are automatically synced, and the user has an option to manually get older comments for earlier version with some sort of version browser?

 

[ekianjo]

Perhaps separate the comments out so that only comments on the current version are automatically synced, and the user has an option to manually get older comments for earlier version with some sort of version browser?

yeah, version-related comments would be a big plus. Don't know if it's feasible, though.

 

[bzar]

I can section the comments by version. The information is already available to the UI. Actually thought about doing this after reading spiralofhope's post.

 

[ekianjo]

By the way, are you going to release an intermediate version, before doing all the changes you plan to do ? An update would be great in the meantime.

 

[bzar]

I'm planning a release after I get the comment stuff done. Then I'll release after each repo client api feature.

 

[ekianjo]

Burning question: Can PNDManager update itself from the PNDManager interface ?

 

[bzar]

Yes, but you need to restart it to get the changes.

 

[ekianjo]

Yes, but you need to restart it to get the changes.

That goes without saying - Cool to see it's possible ! How about automatic updates in the future?

 

[bzar]

Comments and rating work. New version coming soon.