Add descriptions to cron jobs

[fbrnc]

This feature was suggested by Matthias Zeis:

Allow adding a description text via XML (and via records) to every cron and show that information in the list view (and maybe in the title tag of the timeline view).

<crontab>
    <jobs>
        <aoe_queue>
            <description>Processes generic queue</description>
            <schedule>
                <config_path>system/aoe_queue/cron_expr</config_path>
            </schedule>
            <run>
                <model>aoe_queue/cron::processQueue</model>
            </run>
        </aoe_queue>
    </jobs>
</crontab>

[mzeis]

Thank you for creating the issue.

I thought about how we handle crons in our current project and came the conclusion that it may be useful to expand this idea even a bit more:

• name|title: how you call the cron in day-to-day work. It might be the "Order Processor" cron or the "ERP Stock Import Trigger".
• short_description: the description displayed in the list view
• description: a longer description which you might want to add for more complex processes. There is no place yet to display it but I could well imagine a future "cron detail page" which shows information about the cron like the x last/next executions, this description etc.

Let me know what you think about the name|title (and which one you'd prefer) and short_description.

[fbrnc]

Sounds good. I don't have any preference for name or title. I also like the idea of adding a more verbose description. One of the items on my todo list is a cron single view. This would be a good place to show this information.

[mzeis]

Great. I already started implementing the new columns-

[mzeis]

Please let me know if you have suggestions for improvement.

I'm not a fan of the separated "show column x" settings in System > Configuration. It could be replaced by a multi-select where the columns to be displayed can be selected. This would provide better flexibility.

[fbrnc]

Why do you want this to be configurable at all? I'm a big fan of keeping it simple and this extra column probably doesn't hurt. I'd always show the short_description. But now that it's done you don't have to remove it :) I checked the code (reading, not running), and it looks clean and well done. Also thank you for taking care of the records. Feel free to create a pull request if you think it's ready to go...

[mzeis]

I worked on a 1280x1024 screen yesterday and realized the columns can get very narrow at that resolution, that's why. :-)

I'll remove it and create a pull request tonight, that's no problem.