Missing information in the error message when adding an invalid and missing field to classes

[Bandov]

Functionality Bug (Severity LOW) Steps to reproduce

1. Input /add-maintainer ; name : Tom Tan ; phone : 98765435 ; address :Poochie Street 24 ; email : ihelppooches@gmail.com ; lol : j

Expected Error message to be shown indicating that there is a missing field in the add person as well as the invalid field Actual Only error message showing invalid field is shown. This could confuse the user as its not written in the UG that every field must be present

[soc-se-bot]

Team's Response

This is a valid behaviour that we have decided upon careful consideration. Rather than throwing all errors at the user all at once in a single error message which might cause the user to panic, we decided to design an exception catching hierarchy to throw errors to the users step by step to not overwhelm them. Our design consideration is to throw more critical errors first, in the following sequence: unknown field, missing field, duplicate field. If you were to continue testing and resolved the issue of having an invalid field, the next error you will be thrown is an error for a missing field which is your expected outcome.

Items for the Tester to Verify

:question: Issue response

Team chose [response.Rejected]

• [x] I disagree

Reason for disagreement: Here's some reasons that I feel that it is a valid bug and would impact the users experience. Comprehensive Error Reporting: Users benefit from comprehensive feedback that informs them of all issues within their input in one go. This avoids the frustrating cycle of fixing one error only to encounter another, streamlining the error correction process. Efficiency and User Time: It’s more efficient for users to see all errors at once so they can make all necessary corrections in a single edit. This respects the user's time and reduces the back-and-forth interaction with the system. Expectation of Complete Feedback: Users typically expect to receive complete information about the mistakes they need to correct after an action fails. By providing partial feedback, the system does not align with typical user expectations and standards for error handling. Severity and Impact: Misleading the user into believing they have only one error to correct when there are multiple can lead to a poor user experience. The impact of a user taking action based on incomplete information can be significant, especially if the process of adding information is complex or time-consuming. Documentation Consistency: The User Guide (UG) should reflect the application's actual behavior. As the UG does not specify that fields must all be present, users may not realize a field is missing if the error message only indicates an unknown field. This inconsistency can be considered a bug in the documentation.

By having such an unclear error message it would increase frustration, inefficiency, and confusion resulting from not being informed about all errors at once. The error handling process should be transparent and user-centric, enabling users to correct all issues in the most efficient and informed manner possible.

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