[kepler-dev] Icons in the *DataSource actors

[Jing Tao]

Hi, Dan:

I agree with you that move the data download process from attributeChange 
to initialize will speed up the opening of workflow. But I have a comment 
about this:

>    Note that we also need to consider what happens when someone loads
> an existing workflow with datasource actors for the first time.
> Currently, the data and metadata is downloaded when such an existing
> workflow is first opened, just as if it was dragged from the actor list.
> In this case, we wouldn't even need to get the metadata immediately
> since all the ports should be described in the associated MOML. So maybe
> we can put off all the downloading until workflow execution.
>

I think we still need metadata immeidately in this senario, otherwise the 
"Get Metadata" button in datasource actor will fail.

Jing





> Dan
>
> ---
>
> Matthew Brooke wrote:
>
>> Laura (also Kevin & Dan) -
>>
>> Sorry - the states that I know about are 'busy' (currently red), 'ready'
>> (currently yellow) and 'error' (currently pink). Not sure if there are
>> any more.
>>
>> I also think I recall seeing a discussion on IRC or by email about
>> having the datasources *not* get their data before the workflow is run -
>> was that conversation between Dan and Kevin? Can either of you guys
>> summarize what you decided?
>>
>> m
>>
>>
>> Laura L. Downey wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Before I make a recommendation I'd like to understand what "states" these
>>> icons have to display?
>>>
>>> And it does seem a bit unusual to me to have processes doing something when
>>> the user hasn't instructed the workflow to execute.  But I'm not familiar
>>> with these specific actors or the specific workflow you are referencing.
>>>
>>> Is it some kind of polling thing?
>>>
>>> On a general note, I pretty much agree with Matthew's suggestion of having
>>> the icons fit in with the general scheme then doing something else to
>>> indicate state changes (highlighting, superimposing, putting some symbol
>>> above or below that indicates state change etc.)  There are a variety of
>>> ways we might do this.
>>>
>>> Laura L. Downey
>>> Senior Usability Engineer
>>> LTER Network Office
>>> Department of Biology, MSC03 2020
>>> 1 University of New Mexico
>>> Albuquerque, NM  87131-0001
>>> 505.277.3157 phone
>>> 505.277-2541 fax
>>> ldowney at lternet.edu
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: kepler-dev-bounces at ecoinformatics.org
>>> [mailto:kepler-dev-bounces at ecoinformatics.org] On Behalf Of Matthew Brooke
>>> Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 2:16 PM
>>> To: Kevin Ruland; kepler-dev at ecoinformatics.org
>>> Subject: Re: [kepler-dev] Icons in the *DataSource actors
>>>
>>>
>>> Kevin -
>>>
>>> I'd noticed (and ignored ;-) the eml200datasource actor; I agree with
>>> you that it's not visually compatible with the new icon scheme, and had
>>> meant to discuss it with Laura.
>>>
>>> I'm wondering if a better way to do this would be to use an assigned
>>> icon that doesn't change, but then the actor superimpose something on
>>> top of it that gives the user some feedback on status/progress (instead
>>> of switching out the entire icon or changing its color).
>>>
>>> This way, the background icon would always "fit" with the color scheme,
>>> and if the icons change in future, we probably won't need to change
>>> anything specifically for these actors, since they are superimposing
>>> their "status message" on top of the icon.
>>>
>>> Laura - do you have any comments?
>>>
>>> m
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Kevin Ruland wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Matthew, et al
>>>>
>>>> Both Eml200DataSource and DarwinCoreDataSource actors have hard coded
>>>> icons.  They are not exactly using the same code but it looks like one
>>>> was cribbed from the other.  They set the folder shape, then make calls
>>>> to control color/text changes to indicate state.
>>>>
>>>> Since the icon system is/has gone through a major overhaul, I would like
>>>> to discuss how we can get compatible icons for these actors.  I think it
>>>> is still good for them to be able to control some indication of state
>>>> since they do perform background tasks even when the workflow is not
>>>> running.
>>>>
>>>> BTW - by "compatible" I mean in the visual sense.  These icons are very
>>>> boxy and the colors are much too vibrant -- they would look horrible
>>>> with the new icons.
>>>>
>>>> Kevin
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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