Improved Help Prompt Coverage - [merged]

[benloh]

In GitLab by @daveseah on Jul 29, 2022, 23:43

Merges dev-sri/slot-editor-fixes -> dev-next

This merge request expands the help system as well as fixes some bugs

WHAT'S NEW

• Missing parameter names in the edit box have been fixed in directives PROGRAM and TAG, and booleans now properly validate
• All types now have a more descriptive 'name' other than their base type (e.g. 'propType' now can be displayed as 'property type')
• All keywords have their own help text that appears when selecting the first element of a line
• All types have an 'input' string that explains how to enter it; they have been rewritten to be more like "active entry help"
• All types input fields now display a prompt like ENTER PROPERTY TYPE which can be expanded to show an 'info' string that describes concepts of that type.
• All keyword validation tokens created in symbol-interpreter make use of a new help dictionary called codex-gsargs.yaml so they can be customized without editing this very finicky piece of code.
• Improved method dict name insertion, so no need to add name to methodSig structures that are defined inside a method dict

There has been some significant cleanup and commenting of the various *_Block React components while inserting these new help strings.

WHAT'S MISSING

We do not yet have the following help:

• proptype method argument help strings
• feature method help strings
• feature property help string

These features might be better documented in the Wiki. New GUI is required to be able to display this strings as rollovers or in a pop-up window. Or possibly reusing the DEVELOPER SYMBOL window at the bottom right.

TESTING

This should not break any script runtimes, though it is possible that there are still some validation errors. Please note that the help system does not try to trap system or syntax errors; it is just a way to report better context-sensitive text. It may be used by a future error management solution, of course, to display the appropriate help strings.

DICTIONARY FILES

These are the dictionary files that are currently in use. They're all under src/app/help/:

• codex-gsargs.yaml - used to set gsArg in validation tokens in class-symbol-interpreter
• codex-keywords.yaml - input help for a given keyword
• codex-types.yaml - input, name, and info for a given gsType
• codex-features.yaml - (currently unused) for expansion of feature context help

Researchers may change the text in these files to experiment with wording. You can ensure that the YAML validates using the Prettier extension in Visual Studio Code if you have installed the recommended files in our workspace settings.

[benloh]

In GitLab by @daveseah on Jul 30, 2022, 24:13

added 1 commit

• f6b93b6e - sri/slot-editor-fixes: fix crash bug when selecting line number

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[benloh]

In GitLab by @daveseah on Jul 30, 2022, 18:59

added 1 commit

• 91e53d0a - sri/slot-editor-fixes: fix 'phantom name:method' added to methods dicts in some cases

Compare with previous version

[benloh]

added 3 commits

• 9258f1c1 - dev-bl/slot-editor-fixes: Only show helpDict if helpDict is defined. Fixes...
• c1998bcb - dev-bl/slot-editor-fixes: Open HelpLabel by default to better support novices....
• cd0f6bbe - dev-bl/slot-editor-fixes: Replace temporary "prop" help in SlotEditor with a...

Compare with previous version

[benloh]

QA Notes

Things To Fix

This probably should be fixed in a new merge request.

• untitled is showing up as a blueprint -- If a ScriptEditor is already open to a script, and Main changes projects, ScriptEditor remains on the old character. If you then edit an objref on the script, untitled will show up as a blueprint. Solution is probably to force ScriptEditor reload when Main reloads? CharController needs to reload too.

Additions / Fixes

I've added / fixed a few things:

• 1) select empty line, then 2) select line number results in Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'gsType') at SlotEditor_Block.render (SlotEditor_Block.jsx:214:42) -- fix was to check for helpDict before trying to reference helpDict.gsType.

• Expand help text by default -- assume novice use, rather than expert user

• Replaced placeholder "prop" keyword help being displayed in Slot Editor with a generic Slot Editor help.

[benloh]

marked this merge request as ready

[benloh]

mentioned in commit 778f320a393870d24b979d8f2ddcb808d9f9a1d4