dagraf
commented
2 years ago Edit (16.5.2024):
Thanks @reiferschris for starting a discussion about this topic. I think there is indeed a need for a better solution for which I think we should meet and talk about. Because at the moment you can both copy or link a series with different effects:
1. When linking a series (via "Action" > "Link"): All settings of the original series and the new 'linking series' are identical. The user is NOT told so in the tab "Settings" and in the tab "Info" the existing "Repository Links" are shown under "Additional informations" (see screenshot):
2. When copying a series: Only the title, description and licence are identical in the original and the copied series. The user is told so in the tab "Settings" and in the tab "Info" it is indicated at the very top that there is a "Link" in ILIAS (see screenshots):
3. When choosing "Existing series" while creating a series: Only the title, description, and license are identical in the original and the 'new' series. The user is directly informed so after having inserted the new series when redirected to the tab content, is also told so in the tab "Settings" and in the tab "Info" it is indicated at the very top that there is a "Link" in ILIAS (see screenshots):
Some thoughts (edit 16.5.2024):
- Copying does not really holds its promise and can therefore be confusing.
- After having copied a series it is more obvious that there are several links in ILIAS to the same Opencast series than after having linked a series.
Describe the bug In ILIAS copying an object usually results in a completely independent object with the state at the time of the copy. All subsequent changes only apply to the copy and do not affect the original object. Copying an opencast object within in ILIAS has therefore very unexpected behaviour for the user. Changes to the copy of the opencast object still point to the exact same opencast-series and changes are made in both the original and the copy.
To Reproduce Steps to reproduce the behavior:
Expected behavior Usually a copy detaches the state at the time of copying which does not happen in the case of opencast-series
Environment (please complete the following information): all versions are affected
Proposition Disable or make the possibility to copy the opencast-object configurable. Linking (deutsch: Verknüpfen) is sufficient in this case and more in line with the expectation the user should have. This is something that could be prohibited somewhere in the plugin.
What do you think about this? Have you seen Issues with this behaviour? Is that something that can be disabled somewhere within ILIAS without changing code, if yes we should add documentation for that.