Confluences watches WAS: Implementing Saved Searches

[Scott Gray <sc...@hotwaxmedia.com>]

Hi Jacques

Please feel free to change the subject line when you go off topic, I'd  
rather not dilute this thread with discussions about confluence.

Thanks
Scott

On 2/12/2009, at 10:49 AM, Jacques Le Roux wrote:

> Note: when you watch OFBiz spaces, ie
>
> OFBiz (Open For Business) Project Open Wiki
> http://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/spaces/browsespace.action?key=OFBIZ
>
> OFBiz End-User Documentation
> http://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/spaces/browsespace.action?key=OFBENDUSER
>
> OFBiz Project Administration Workspace
> http://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/spaces/browsespace.action?key=OFBADMIN
>
> OFBiz Requirements and Designs
> http://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/spaces/browsespace.action?key=OFBREQDES
>
> OFBiz Technical Documentation
> http://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/spaces/browsespace.action?key=OFBTECH
>
> You are alerted about any changes just after they have been done  
> (with links)
>
> Jacques
>
> From: "Jacques Le Roux" <ja...@les7arts.com>
>> I did not thought about it because I have subscribed to change in  
>> cwiki and I saw Scott's proposition.
>> Actually for now I have both subscribed to email (every changes in  
>> each all spaces everyday) and OFBiz spaces changes.
>> Maybe we could require that all commiters subscribe to OFBiz spaces  
>> changes in order to be able to follow what is happenning there.
>> If nobody see a problem with that I will add it to http://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/x/IoB2
>>
>> Thanks for sharing opininons
>>
>> Jacques
>>
>> From: "Bruno Busco" <br...@gmail.com>
>>> Wow!
>>> Much better then inlining comments.
>>> I like it!
>>>
>>> -Bruno
>>>
>>> 2009/12/1 Scott Gray <sc...@hotwaxmedia.com>:
>>>> Sure thing, I'll share the code as soon as I have some written.
>>>>
>>>> Also I only just realized that I completely missed linking to my  
>>>> actual
>>>> implementation proposal:
>>>> http://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/Saved+Searches
>>>> Sending that link out was the entire purpose of my original  
>>>> email :-/ and
>>>> this whole time I assumed you had read it and we were discussing  
>>>> it, wow.
>>>>
>>>> Regards
>>>> Scott
>>>>
>>>> On 1/12/2009, at 11:31 PM, Bruno Busco wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Sure,
>>>>> I will follow and review this the best I can.
>>>>> Just send the pointer to patches or wherever I can see the code.
>>>>>
>>>>> -Bruno
>>>>>
>>>>> 2009/12/1 Scott Gray <sc...@hotwaxmedia.com>:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Inline, thanks again for your comments Bruno.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 1/12/2009, at 10:21 PM, Bruno Busco wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi Scott,
>>>>>>> inline
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> 2009/12/1 Scott Gray <sc...@hotwaxmedia.com>:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi Bruno,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Thanks for sharing your thoughts, comments inline.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 1/12/2009, at 7:30 PM, Bruno Busco wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Hi Scott,
>>>>>>>>> this is on my list also.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> This is how I did imagine it:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> **UI:
>>>>>>>>> In the search options screenlet of the FindScreenDecorator:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> This is interesting, how do you plan on presenting the drop- 
>>>>>>>> down to the
>>>>>>>> user? I placed it in the form widget itself for a couple of  
>>>>>>>> reasons:
>>>>>>>> * So that it can be positioned within the form according to the
>>>>>>>> developers
>>>>>>>> preference and styled on a per form basis
>>>>>>>> * Because of the dual behavior I had envisaged for the form,  
>>>>>>>> i.e. it is
>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>> drop down initially but if a new search is performed then it  
>>>>>>>> switches
>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>> text box to allow a name to be entered and saved.
>>>>>>>> * The list of saved searches to populate the drop-down list is
>>>>>>>> dependent
>>>>>>>> on
>>>>>>>> the form target
>>>>>>>> * The new form element could also be used in the future to  
>>>>>>>> save a draft
>>>>>>>> of a
>>>>>>>> partially completed form
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Agreed. Having it in the form widget sounds good to me.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> - a drop-down apperars if one or more saved search are  
>>>>>>>>> available for
>>>>>>>>> that search. If the user selects one of the options all the  
>>>>>>>>> search
>>>>>>>>> fields get populated automatically.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> And the search results are presented at the same time right?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Shouldn't the user be able to change some of the values in the  
>>>>>>> fields
>>>>>>> before running the search?
>>>>>>> In this case it would be better to only fill the fields and  
>>>>>>> then press
>>>>>>> "search".
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I guess that could be possible but it would be more difficult to
>>>>>> implement
>>>>>> we'd either need to send all of the parameters out for each  
>>>>>> saved search
>>>>>> when we render the form or do an ajax call to get the  
>>>>>> parameters plus
>>>>>> we'd
>>>>>> need javascript to populate the form fields. I had planned on  
>>>>>> just
>>>>>> triggering a submit when the selection in the drop-down changes  
>>>>>> (this is
>>>>>> what SugarCRM do, not that I consider that a justification). I  
>>>>>> had been
>>>>>> considering that in the majority of cases the saved search will  
>>>>>> meet the
>>>>>> users needs without modification. Either way this will be  
>>>>>> possible
>>>>>> regardless of the implementation but if I am doing the  
>>>>>> implementation I
>>>>>> would prefer to leave it out and then we can add it later and  
>>>>>> perhaps
>>>>>> even
>>>>>> make it configurable in the form widget xsd.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Not yet defined how to let the user delete a saved search.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Yeah I haven't done that either, I was thinking perhaps a  
>>>>>>>> delete link
>>>>>>>> could
>>>>>>>> be presented once the user performs the search to be deleted.  
>>>>>>>> So the
>>>>>>>> user
>>>>>>>> would select a search from the drop-down, the search is  
>>>>>>>> performed, a
>>>>>>>> delete
>>>>>>>> link is now present next to the drop down.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> May be we could think to a "My saved searches" screen where  
>>>>>>> the user
>>>>>>> sees all his saved searches and can edit their names, delete  
>>>>>>> (or even
>>>>>>> share them at a later stage).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> That sounds like a good idea to me.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> - "Save this search" button is shown to let the user save  
>>>>>>>>> the actual
>>>>>>>>> content of the search fileds.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Agreed
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> - A name field allows to set a name for the search the user  
>>>>>>>>> is going
>>>>>>>>> to save. This is what will be displayed on the drop-down to  
>>>>>>>>> select the
>>>>>>>>> search.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Agreed, the plan for me was to switch the drop-down out for a  
>>>>>>>> text box
>>>>>>>> if
>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>> new search is performed.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Agreed. This is great!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> - There should be the possibility to share saved search in  
>>>>>>>>> same way
>>>>>>>>> letting them being visible by all users.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I think this is nice to have but a little complicated because  
>>>>>>>> who are
>>>>>>>> we
>>>>>>>> sharing it with? I doubt we'd want to share them organization  
>>>>>>>> wide
>>>>>>>> because
>>>>>>>> the list would quickly become too long for a drop-down to be  
>>>>>>>> useful.
>>>>>>>> Because of the complications I had planned on leaving this  
>>>>>>>> until
>>>>>>>> someone
>>>>>>>> actually needed the functionality or someone else felt like  
>>>>>>>> working on
>>>>>>>> it.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Agreed. Lets start simple for now.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> - All this is only available if the user is logged in. No  
>>>>>>>>> search save
>>>>>>>>> is possible for not logger users.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Agreed
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> **Code:
>>>>>>>>> Adrian suggested to use userPreferences for this and I think  
>>>>>>>>> it is a
>>>>>>>>> good
>>>>>>>>> idea.
>>>>>>>>> Every search screen should have a unique key that will be  
>>>>>>>>> used to
>>>>>>>>> store a preference.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I did read this suggestion but I didn't feel that a single  
>>>>>>>> key-value
>>>>>>>> pair
>>>>>>>> was a good fit for the amount of information that needs to be  
>>>>>>>> stored.
>>>>>>>> What
>>>>>>>> would the name and value consist of?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Agreed. This seems to complex to fit in there...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Great, if you have time please do review the entities, I'd like  
>>>>>> to get as
>>>>>> many eyes on them as possible since they tend to be difficult to
>>>>>> re-factor
>>>>>> down the road.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I am using the userPreferences to store the screenlet  
>>>>>>>>> collapsed status
>>>>>>>>> also, I did not commit yet but I will do soon. In this case  
>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>> screenlet-id is used as key.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> This makes sense for a UserPreference record because it is  
>>>>>>>> naturally a
>>>>>>>> unique key and a single value.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Additionally, I would like to use a saved search to  
>>>>>>>>> automatically run
>>>>>>>>> a report periodically. To do this I need to pass the saved  
>>>>>>>>> search as a
>>>>>>>>> parameter to a service.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> +1 I see a few potential uses for persisted forms/requests,  
>>>>>>>> saving
>>>>>>>> drafts,
>>>>>>>> creating reports, possibly even the most recently viewed  
>>>>>>>> items feature
>>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>>> we've talked about before. I tried to create the data model  
>>>>>>>> with these
>>>>>>>> things in mind.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Thank you very much for sharing all this!
>>>>>>>>> -Bruno
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> 2009/12/1 Scott Gray <sc...@hotwaxmedia.com>:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> We've discussed in passing a couple of times now the  
>>>>>>>>>> possibility of
>>>>>>>>>> allowing
>>>>>>>>>> users to save their searches/finds in order to allow them  
>>>>>>>>>> to quickly
>>>>>>>>>> perform
>>>>>>>>>> the search again in the future. I'd like to get this  
>>>>>>>>>> implemented in
>>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>> very near future and since there have been a few different  
>>>>>>>>>> ideas
>>>>>>>>>> thrown
>>>>>>>>>> around about how that might be achieved, I've gone ahead  
>>>>>>>>>> and put
>>>>>>>>>> together
>>>>>>>>>> some implementation notes for feedback from the community.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> No code has been written and opinions of any nature would  
>>>>>>>>>> be greatly
>>>>>>>>>> appreciated, since it's not a major feature I'd rather only  
>>>>>>>>>> wait a
>>>>>>>>>> day
>>>>>>>>>> or
>>>>>>>>>> two before getting stuck in (unless of any conversations  
>>>>>>>>>> take longer
>>>>>>>>>> than
>>>>>>>>>> that).
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>>>>>> Scott
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> HotWax Media
>>>>>>>>>> http://www.hotwaxmedia.com
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
>