[BitPim-devel] DB Checkpoint/Rollback?

[Joe Pham]

Does anyone think it's a useful feature to add to BitPim? I'm thinking of the ability to "mark" and restore your data to any of the previously "marked" points (wallpapers & ringtones data not included).

-Joe Pham

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[Roger Binns]

Post by Joe Pham
Does anyone think it's a useful feature to add to BitPim? I'm thinking of the
ability to "mark" and restore your data to any of the previously "marked" points
(wallpapers & ringtones data not included).

There is no need to "mark" the data as the database schema lets you view what it
was at any point in time. Here are some useful things I think could be done:

- A timeline showing changes over time
- Being able to make any old record become current
- Being able to view the state of things at any point in time

One use case is people like me who don't delete obsolete records because they
may come in handy at some point. Kinda like how you don't delete stuff off
your hard disk unless it becomes full.

It would be nice to be able to remove some of the entries knowing full well
I could see them again and/or revive them.

Roger

[Joe Pham]

Post by Roger Binns
There is no need to "mark" the data as the database schema lets you
view what it was at any point in time.

I was thinking of associating or assigning a name to a snapshot of the data at any point in time (to be easily recalled later).

Post by Roger Binns
- A timeline showing changes over time

Visually, how would you show/display the changes of, for example Contacts data?

Post by Roger Binns
- Being able to make any old record become current

Straight forward based on the solution to the previous question.

Post by Roger Binns
- Being able to view the state of things at any point in time

What do you have in mind for "state of things"?

-Joe Pham



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[Roger Binns]

Post by Joe Pham
I was thinking of associating or assigning a name to a snapshot of the
data at any point in time (to be easily recalled later).

The problem is that requires perfect foresight! It is way friendlier
to make it easy to find stuff in hindsight.

Post by Joe Pham

Post by Roger Binns
- A timeline showing changes over time

Visually, how would you show/display the changes of, for example Contacts data?

You can use the aggregatedisplay widget that is used for the wallpaper
and ringtones. Each section could be a week/month/year as appropriate.
The items can be a simple icon (red X for delete, green plus for add
etc) and text ("Deleted Joe Bloggs", "Modified Jane Doe"). You can use
code from the phonebook merge thingy to show how an entry changed if
you want to show detail (eg on a double click).

Post by Joe Pham

Post by Roger Binns
- Being able to view the state of things at any point in time

What do you have in mind for "state of things"?

Some calendar type control hooked into the phonebook tab. Usually
it is set to "current", but if you change it to Jan 1 2003 then you
see the phonebook as it was then.

Roger

[Joe Pham]

Post by Roger Binns
Some calendar type control hooked into the phonebook tab. Usually
it is set to "current", but if you change it to Jan 1 2003 then you
see the phonebook as it was then.

Is this something close to what you have in mind? Let's assume that you're viewing data from a past date, (1) should you be able to edit/save those contacts data, and if so (2) would the timestamp of the edited data remain unchanged (old date) or be set to the current date, which would essentially wipe out your current data?

-Joe Pham

[Roger Binns]

Post by Joe Pham
Is this something close to what you have in mind?

In terms of functionality, yes. It does look quite ugly. Instead of
the date control, you could make a custom widget like wx.slider that
takes up all the horizontal space and has little blobs of green, red
and whatever colour signifies a modification. Tooltips could include
more details of the change.

Post by Joe Pham
Let's assume that you're viewing data from a past date, (1) should
you be able to edit/save those contacts data,

No modifications should be allowed. The context menu should have things
like "copy to current"

Roger

[Joe Pham]

Instead of the date control, you could make a custom widget like
wx.slider that takes up all the horizontal space and has little blobs
of green, red and whatever colour signifies a modification. Tooltips
could include more details of the change.

I like the idea & I'd like to try that. But I'd also like to start quickly with the Calendar Picker to evaluate the data, and then either add or replace it with the slider.

-Joe Pham



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[Joe Pham]

Post by Roger Binns
- Being able to view the state of things at any point in time

I just committed an initial implementation of that feature for the Phonebook data. Please try it out and let me know what you think.

-Joe Pham



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