[kepler-dev] [Bug 2446] New: - ICONS: Handle missing thumbnails elegantly

[bugzilla-daemon@ecoinformatics.org]

http://bugzilla.ecoinformatics.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2446

           Summary: ICONS: Handle missing thumbnails elegantly
           Product: Kepler
           Version: 1.0.0beta2
          Platform: Other
        OS/Version: All
            Status: NEW
          Severity: normal
          Priority: P2
         Component: interface
        AssignedTo: brooke at nceas.ucsb.edu
        ReportedBy: brooke at nceas.ucsb.edu
         QAContact: kepler-dev at ecoinformatics.org


If an actor's SVG icon does not have a corresponding 16x16 raster thumbnail
icon in kepler/lib/images/actorthunbs, or if the SVG and raster base-names do
not match exactly (mayeb a typo or case difference), then the actor
library/ontology tree will have a blank icon for that actor. The problem is
that this causes the tree to behave oddly - first time the user opens it, it
springs back closed again. The second and subsequent times, it opens OK and
shows the actor with no thumbnail icon.

There are 2 possible fixes:

1) Look at the code in kepler/src/exp/ptolemy/vergil/icon/XMLIcon.java, and
change the code to assign a default blank icon if the thumbnail does not
successfully get read from disk (start by looking at the createIcon() method),
or

2) change the tree code so it doesn't spring closed the first time such a blank
icon is displayed (mayeb start by looking at
kepler/src/org/kepler/gui/AnnotatedPTree.java)

My recommendation would be to implement option (2), since that would
immediately show that there is a problem (missing or mis-spelled icon), whilst
not affecting the software. Option (1) would fix the odd tree behavior, but
might mean that the missing/mis-spelled icon goes undetected.

A hybrid option might be to do (1), but assign a custom "error" icon if the
regular icon cannot be found - a transparent one (so it appears blank, but
doesn't mess up the tree), or maybe a red one that will be immediately
noticeable.