[GRASS-dev] [GRASS GIS] #1978: module GUIs: "or enter values interactively" should be opt-in

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1

#1978: module GUIs: "or enter values interactively" should be opt-in
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------
Reporter: hamish | Owner: grass-dev@…
     Type: defect | Status: new
Priority: normal | Milestone: 6.4.4
Component: wxGUI | Version: svn-trunk
Keywords: parser | Platform: All
      Cpu: All |
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------
Hi,

for the G_standard_input for input files, the auto-generated wx module
GUIs are always asking "or enter values interactively" whenever
G_define_standard_option(G_OPT_F_INPUT) is present.

Since that makes no sense for binary input files, and anything automatic
should err on the side of not being weird, the interactive version should
be opt-in -- the programmer should have to use a special gisprompt in
those cases. (e.g. r.in.gdal, v.in.ogr, r.in.bin (G6.x), r.in.mat, ...)

fwiw section 12.16.5.2.4 of the grass5 programmer's manual has a full
description of what the a,b,c options of gisprompt were originally
designed to be,
{{{
12.16.5.2.4 gisprompt Member

The gisprompt Option structure item requires a bit more description. The
three comma-separated (no spaces allowed) sub-arguments are defned as
follows:

First argument:
"old" results in a call to the GRASS library subroutine G_ask_old, "new"
to G_ask_new, "any" to G_ask_any, and "mapset" to G_ask_in_mapset.

Second argument:
This is identical to the "element" argument in the above subroutine
calls. It specifes a directory inside the mapset that may contain the
user's response.

Third argument:
Identical to the "prompt" argument in the above subroutine calls. This is
a string presented to the user that describes the type of data element
being requested.
}}}

see lib/gis/ask.c for the "above subroutine calls".

I first considered to mangling all the gisprompts by hand to stop the
"interactive" text box but keep the Browse button, but then it occurs to
me that the gui parser is the problem, not the modules. (also it seems the
above a,b,c have been continually redefined since the tcltk gui days, so
we should better sort out what it means now if gisprompt is to be
different in grass7)

thanks,
Hamish

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/ticket/1978&gt;
GRASS GIS <http://grass.osgeo.org>

2

#1978: module GUIs: "or enter values interactively" should be opt-in
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------
Reporter: hamish | Owner: grass-dev@…
     Type: defect | Status: new
Priority: normal | Milestone: 6.4.4
Component: wxGUI | Version: svn-trunk
Keywords: parser | Platform: All
      Cpu: All |
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------

Comment(by glynn):

Replying to [ticket:1978 hamish]:

> (also it seems the above a,b,c have been continually redefined since the
tcltk gui days, so we should better sort out what it means now if
gisprompt is to be different in grass7)

GRASS 7 no longer has any of the "ask" functions.

The first component (age) is used within the parser in relation to
overwrite checks. If the age component is "new" and overwrite isn't
enabled, then the second component (element) is used to determine whether
the specified entity already exists.

Also, `G__uses_new_gisprompt()` returns true if any option has an age of
"new"; this causes the the --overwrite option to be listed as a recognised
flag in the output for --help etc.

The third component (prompt) is no longer used directly by libgis,
although it may be used by the GUI.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/ticket/1978#comment:1&gt;
GRASS GIS <http://grass.osgeo.org>

3

#1978: module GUIs: "or enter values interactively" should be opt-in
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------
Reporter: hamish | Owner: grass-dev@…
     Type: defect | Status: new
Priority: normal | Milestone: 6.4.4
Component: wxGUI | Version: svn-trunk
Keywords: parser | Platform: All
      Cpu: All |
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------

Comment(by hamish):

If term 2 (element) is "file", trunk's libgis checks to see if the file
already exists & insists on --overwrite. So for file input= and output=
term 2 should probably stay as "file". This also means that the GUI
should use term 2 (element) to decide if there should be a file [Browse]
button present, instead of term 3 (prompt/description) as it does now.

term 1 remains "old", "new"; the value of "any" doesn't seem to be used
any more in g6.4+ or g7.

so that leaves the switch for deciding on a text input box to be based on
the third term (prompt/description). (as far as
gui/wxpython/gui_core/forms.py is concerned)

so e.g. for r.in.mat we have this info from --interface-description
  <gisprompt age="old" element="mat" prompt="file" />

`element` would go back to "file", and term 3, `prompt` (aka description),
would change from "file" to "text" (or "bin" or generic "file").

And the "or enter text interactively" box would be made to only show up if
`prompt` was "text".

In GRASS 6 with GRASS_UI_TERM set, the `prompt` term 3 is used in the
"Enter the name of" line, as is term 1's "new". e.g. for r.in.bin it is
{input}:
{{{
OPTION: Binary raster file to be imported
      key: input
required: YES

Enter the name of an existing {input} file
Hit RETURN to cancel request
>
}}}

so having that be "text" or "binary" would still read well (although still
locked to English).

thoughts?

Hamish

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/ticket/1978#comment:2&gt;
GRASS GIS <http://grass.osgeo.org>

4

#1978: module GUIs: "or enter values interactively" should be opt-in
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------
Reporter: hamish | Owner: grass-dev@…
     Type: defect | Status: new
Priority: normal | Milestone: 6.4.4
Component: wxGUI | Version: svn-trunk
Keywords: parser | Platform: All
      Cpu: All |
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------

Comment(by annakrat):

Replying to [comment:2 hamish]:
> If term 2 (element) is "file", trunk's libgis checks to see if the file
already exists & insists on --overwrite. So for file input= and output=
term 2 should probably stay as "file". This also means that the GUI
should use term 2 (element) to decide if there should be a file [Browse]
button present, instead of term 3 (prompt/description) as it does now.

> so that leaves the switch for deciding on a text input box to be based
on the third term (prompt/description). (as far as
gui/wxpython/gui_core/forms.py is concerned)
>
> so e.g. for r.in.mat we have this info from --interface-description
> <gisprompt age="old" element="mat" prompt="file" />
>
> `element` would go back to "file", and term 3, `prompt` (aka
description), would change from "file" to "text" (or "bin" or generic
"file").
>
> And the "or enter text interactively" box would be made to only show up
if `prompt` was "text".

I agree. "file" as element and "text" or "bin" as prompt (this is what you
mean, is it?). Currently it's the opposite way. Apart from "bin", grep
shows also "camera" or "font" - is there any reason to keep them?

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/ticket/1978#comment:3&gt;
GRASS GIS <http://grass.osgeo.org>

5

#1978: module GUIs: "or enter values interactively" should be opt-in
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------
Reporter: hamish | Owner: grass-dev@…
     Type: defect | Status: new
Priority: normal | Milestone: 6.4.4
Component: wxGUI | Version: svn-trunk
Keywords: parser | Platform: All
      Cpu: All |
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------

Comment(by mmetz):

Replying to [comment:3 annakrat]:
Apart from "bin", grep shows also "camera" or "font" - is there any reason
to keep them?

Regarding "camera", please keep it as an element (as in g.findfile
element=camera), it is used by the orthorectification modules.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/ticket/1978#comment:4&gt;
GRASS GIS <http://grass.osgeo.org>

6

#1978: module GUIs: "or enter values interactively" should be opt-in
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------
Reporter: hamish | Owner: grass-dev@…
     Type: defect | Status: new
Priority: normal | Milestone: 6.4.4
Component: wxGUI | Version: svn-trunk
Keywords: parser | Platform: All
      Cpu: All |
--------------------+-------------------------------------------------------

Comment(by hamish):

(just to clarify for anyone reading along at home, "element" here
typically refers to a subdirectory of the MAPSET dir)

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.osgeo.org/grass/ticket/1978#comment:5&gt;
GRASS GIS <http://grass.osgeo.org>