That I didn't know. So when no column mapping is provided for a
property, the project default is used (since the property is regarded as
not initialized, and not null). I also like the expression solution in
column mappings. It has an advantage over a plugin parameter because it
allows to select particular properties to apply default values to.
I like one-click fix-it buttons (one is available for inheriting
annotations if I am not mistaken), and they would definitely speed up
work with BASE removing some of the repetitive interactions. If it is
possible to include them in the roadmap for 3.1, that would be
excellent. The sooner the better:)
Pawel
On 25/10/11 16:17, Bob MacCallum wrote:
> More feedback:
>
> I've extensively used the "no column"->"use project default"
> functionality, and I think it's logical to do it that way, but the
> expression-based enhancement sounds like a good next step forward.
>
> On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 1:01 PM, Nicklas Nordborg<nick...@thep.lu.se> wrote:
>> On 2011-10-25 09:45, Pawel Sztromwasser wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I was wondering if the project defaults are used in batch importing,
>>> i.e. when a property is not specified in tab-delimited file but set as
>>> default in an active project? I did a quick test and it didn't work, so
>>> I thought I could suggest it. This way setting project properties
>>> upfront would save some work latter when editing the batch-import
>>> spreadsheets.
>>> I can imagine that in some cases it is not desired to set default
>>> properties automatically, so maybe a plugin configuration option to use
>>> project defaults would suffice. When updating with 'use defaults' option
>>> set, the plugin should overwrite existing properties.
>> The batch importers doesn't really care about "project default values".
>> It is handled entirely by the core code which has a "contract" to set
>> default values when creating new items, but only if no explicit value
>> has been set.
>>
>> The key issue here is that if a column is mapped in the batch importers
>> an empty value is considered as an explicit request to set the value to
>> null, and the core will not use the default value. In other words, when
>> using the batch importers the project default values are only used for
>> unmapped columns.
>>
>> There are also a lot of changes in this area in BASE 3. It is now for
>> example, possible to have more than one default value and the core tries
>> to match everything depending on the subtype of an item.
>>
>> So, I don't really know what is the best solution here... Maybe, instead
>> of using "hard" column mappings (eg. \Protocol\) we could add support
>> for expressions. Something like =default() would always select the
>> project default value, or =defaultIfNull('Protocol') select the mapped
>> protocol if a value is specified, but uses the default if the column is
>> empty.
>>
>>> The second suggestion is also about the project default properties. We
>>> appreciate the nice and very useful links in the experiment
>>> overview/validator that help correct the experiment, and we saw a need
>>> for a new one(s). When an item is missing a protocol/software/hardware
>>> (or similar), the link could help in setting the default value in the
>>> active project. Or even suggest doing it for all the items of the same
>>> type having the property missing. This would be an awesome option
>>> allowing to fix the experiment quickly when one forgot to set the
>>> defaults in advance.
>> The "fix it" links can currently only provide a link that opens an edit
>> dialog. The user must do the change manually. "Automatic" fixes would
>> really nice and could probably be done for several other problems as
>> well. It is not straight-forward to implement since we'll probably have
>> to keep track of a lot more information related to each suggested fix.
>>
>> Maybe we could define some kind of 'FixIt' interface and then use a
>> 'FixItFactory' to provide actual implementations. Seems like something
>> for BASE 3.1 or later...
>>
>> /Nicklas
>>
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> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> demand for specialized networking skills is growing even more rapidly.
> Take a complimentary Learning@Cisco Self-Assessment and learn
> about Cisco certifications, training, and career opportunities.
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demand for specialized networking skills is growing even more rapidly.
Take a complimentary Learning@Cisco Self-Assessment and learn
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