Double-click Execute Script operator to edit script

tennenrishin

Editing scripts is sometimes a very common user operation. Large scripts sometimes need to be debugged iteratively. Currently it takes up to 3 clicks in the design view to open an Execute Operator's script (select operator, <parameters tab>, 'Edit Text'), not counting selection of the design view. Replacing this with one double-click on the operator itself would save a lot of time in the long run.

(Although it is true that one of those 3 clicks can be eliminated by devoting screen-space to the Parameters tab exclusively, this is not desirable with complex processes where the user tries to maximize Process screen space. And z-order of tabs is not preserved when switching between Perspectives, which is why the parameters tab always needs to be dug out again.)

In my case I refer to the 'Execute Script (R)' operator but all of the above probably applies equally well to any form of Script operator. Perhaps this request could be generalized to all operators that have obvious default parameters that also require an extra button click to edit, such as Retrieve.

MariusHelf

Hey,

this sounds like a reasonable request. Until it is implemented, you can move the Parameters tab to the very left of the tab group. The first tab is always the one that's acitivated when switching perspectives.


Best regards,
Marius

IngoRM

Hi,

Not sure about the request:  We have actually discussed this internally a couple of times already.  The problem with using a double-click for editing the most important parameters is two-fold:

- in most cases it is unclear to the user what is going to happen before he clicks (which parameter is added) -> bad usability design

- double-click would be overloaded: it changes parameters for some operators and dives into the subprocess for others -> again bad usability design

A possible solution would be a small area / icon of the operator indicating that there is a quickly editable parameter if you click on this wi a tooltip showing the name of the parameter.  However, this would also add to the noise of the process layout.

I am open for good ideas :-)

Cheers,
Ingo

tennenrishin

Thanks Marius, that tip is helpful!

Thanks for the rationale Ingo. Though a script is technically an attribute and not a subprocess in the XML, from the GUI user's perspective, opening a script is similar to diving into a subprocess IMHO. Conceptually, they are both "contents" of their parent operator.

Best regards,
Isak