Default sketch names sort out of order

drf5n commented 1 year ago

Describe the problem

The default sketch name template of 'sketch_MMMDDx.ino' produces names that do not sort in a sane order.

sketch_apr03a   sketch_apr24a   sketch_dec20b   sketch_feb09a   sketch_feb23b   sketch_jan21a   sketch_mar08b   sketch_mar27b   sketch_nov18a
sketch_apr06a   sketch_apr25a   sketch_dec21a   sketch_feb09b   sketch_feb23c   sketch_jan22a   sketch_mar09a   sketch_mar27c   sketch_nov24a
sketch_apr07a   sketch_apr27a   sketch_dec28a   sketch_feb10a   sketch_feb24a   sketch_jan23a   sketch_mar12a   sketch_mar28b   sketch_nov24b
sketch_apr12a   sketch_dec05a   sketch_dec29a   sketch_feb14a   sketch_feb26a   sketch_jan23c   sketch_mar12b   sketch_mar28c   sketch_nov25a
sketch_apr13a   sketch_dec07a   sketch_feb01a   sketch_feb16a   sketch_feb28b   sketch_jan23d   sketch_mar16a   sketch_mar29a   sketch_oct22a
sketch_apr14a   sketch_dec10a   sketch_feb01b   sketch_feb16b   sketch_feb28c   sketch_jan24a   sketch_mar18a   sketch_mar30a   sketch_sep12b
sketch_apr15a   sketch_dec17a   sketch_feb01c   sketch_feb19a   sketch_jan02a   sketch_jan29a   sketch_mar18b   sketch_may02a   sketch_sep12c
sketch_apr16a   sketch_dec18a   sketch_feb01d   sketch_feb21a   sketch_jan03a   sketch_jan31a   sketch_mar20a   sketch_may02b
sketch_apr19a   sketch_dec18b   sketch_feb03a   sketch_feb21b   sketch_jan09a   sketch_mar05a   sketch_mar21a   sketch_may02c
sketch_apr21a   sketch_dec18c   sketch_feb03b   sketch_feb22a   sketch_jan11b   sketch_mar05b   sketch_mar25a   sketch_may03a
sketch_apr23a   sketch_dec20a   sketch_feb07a   sketch_feb23a   sketch_jan13a   sketch_mar08a   sketch_mar26a   sketch_nov07a

January sorts after February, April comes first, and December comes second.

Using a pattern like sketch_YYYYMMDDx would produce names which sort in a sane order.

To reproduce

Produce sketches with default names over the course of a year or multiple years.

Expected behavior

I would expect auto-generated sketch names to be created with an ISO-9660-ish name and sort in a sane, chronological order.

Either include the year and numeric month, or if awkward names that encourage renaming are the goal, use a simpler scheme like sketch_xxxx.

Arduino IDE version

2.1.0

Operating system

macOS

Operating system version

13.2.1

Additional context

Per @ptillisch, the code is here:

https://github.com/arduino/arduino-ide/blob/31deeebb4970b4de9925161c291084d8d5f8273d/arduino-ide-extension/src/node/sketches-service-impl.ts#L372-L415

I'm not sure how that code pads the day numbers with zeros, but maybe something like this would work as I expect it should:

const sketchBaseName =`sketch_${today.getYear()}${today.getMonth()+1}${today.getDate()}`;

Issue checklist

[X] I searched for previous reports in the issue tracker
[X] I verified the problem still occurs when using the latest nightly build
[X] My report contains all necessary details

ubidefeo commented 1 year ago

thank you, @drf5n this is some of that good old legacy coming from the Processing days.

Your proposal is interesting, especially from the point of view of someone who only accepts YYYYMMDDHHMMss formats for their files 🤣

kittaakos commented 1 year ago

I would expect auto-generated sketch names to be created with an ISO-9660-ish name and sort in a sane, chronological order.

Hi, thanks for sharing your idea. Nice one!

@drf5n, would you be interested in contributing to this feature to IDE2? I am happy to guide you, or you can reference a very much related external contribution to change the default .ino file content with an advanced setting: https://github.com/arduino/arduino-ide/pull/1559/

A few remarks:

I would expect that the users can specify a valid date format as an advanced setting.
If no custom format is defined, IDE2 uses the current one.
IDE2 should fall back to the default behavior if an invalid date format is specified.
Custom date formats must not conflict with the sketch naming spec.

Alternatively, IDE2 can provide a set of predefined date formats (as an enum preference type) if such flexibility is not required.

drf5n commented 1 year ago

@kittaakos -- I'm uncomfortable programming in .ts or how to modify the UI for advanced settings. Advanced settings seems impenetrable.

Regarding the example of the default.ino file, on my Mac, discovering the default sketch setting doesn't seem accessible through either "Arduino IDE/Preferences" or "Arduino IDE/Advanced":

I can't grab a screenshot of it, but normal Mac apps use the option key to expose the more advanced alternative options. In this case, the option key changes the "Arduino IDE" menu to add an alternate Quit option: Option-Command-Q offers to "Quit and Keep Windows" I'd expect that Option-Command-, should be an enhancements of the Command-, Preferences/settings command to show the enhanced/advanced settings.

kittaakos commented 1 year ago

Thanks for looking at the code, @drf5n. We will handle it later, then.

comfortable programming in .ts or how to modify the UI for advanced settings.

You don't need to change the UI at all. That's why I have referenced the other PR. Please see this comment:

I don't feel comfortable making change to the UI.

You do not have to. Checking your changeset, I am positive you can do it. Here are a few pointers:

arduino / arduino-ide