Plot Templates (RiverWare 5.3) -- David's First Review (8-12-2010) ... SEE NEXT REVIEW
Edit: 8-17-2010, Phil's revised comments after addressing requests ... See Latest Screenshots.

1 "Save Plot Page as Template": Why are there small graphs on the right hand side? Will they ever do anything? What do they have to do with the Template Description? In the design mockup, they were at least outside of the "Template Description" frame.
 

Mostly Addressed. The borders around the icons were removed, and "Graph Layout" (text header) was added above the icons. See both dialogs:

The "Graph Layout" is still on the right side of the Description box (which is hidable).
2 It is unclear what to do once you "Save as Plot Template". Can we open the template dialog? Can we improve access to the output manager at least?
 

Addressed. This operation (the "Save As Plot Page Template" button at the bottom of this dialog) was changed to show the Output Manager dialog, with the newly created Plot Page Template item selected. (Also, the "Save Plot Page as Plot Page Template" dialog is dismissed). The user can then double-click on the list item for the newly created Plot Page Template to operate the template.
3 Clicking the button "Create Plot from Template" should just go to the plot (-dialog), not the (configure-) plot page dialog. I think the user would rather see the plot first, then they can save it from there. The "Plot Page" dialog doesn't add much and seems an unnecessary step. In fact, to go from the output manager with a plot template to actually seeing the plot, you go through 3 dialogs, OutputManager->Plot Page Template->Plot Page-> plot. We should at least close some along the way. Also, when you click "Create Plot from Template" it saves the plot. Is this desired behavior? Do we really want to save the generated plots?
 

Addressed. This operation (the "Create Plot Page From Template" button at the bottom of this dialog) was changed. It now brings up the Plot dialog, and optionally also shows a "Save As" dialog (to save the new Plot Page) IF the added checkbox was checked: [X] Save new Plot Page to Output Manager.
4 BUG: in the Output Manager, highlight a template and click Copy->Selected you get a crash.
  Fixed.
5 If you edit a saved plot, then click save as template, it goes back to the original plot, then creates the template. It should use the edited plot as the template. Further, it reverts your original plot back to the saved version. Also, you can't create a template from a non-saved plot. It doesn't have any items in it.
 

Partially Addressed. The Plot Page, as represented in the "live" SlotPlots is used as the basis for the newly created Plot Page Template.

But I now see that the original plot is still being reverted back to its last-saved state, and I did see a crash when operating that Plot Dialog (after saving it as a Plot Page Template). In progress.
6 Did we address this comment in my email dated 7/13: "What does the user do if they've made a great template but then decide that they want to change a plot configuration thing (like line color or width)? Sure, they can generate the plot, make the change, then "Save As Template". But if the template configuration takes a long time (selecting tokens, etc), then this may be a hassle. Can we give them access to the underlying plots' configuration either through existing dialogs or some new mechanism?"
  We thought that the hassle of round-tripping the Template isn't actually that much of a big deal. Providing editing capability for the underlying Plot Page may be a little squirly. It's possible, but it is a non-trivial enhancement, mostly for some issues with the management of these things.
7 Similarly, we need to be able to change a plot template's name.
  Addressed. The name of the Plot Page Template can be edited in the Template Dialog.
8 I'm not a big fan of the word "Token" for the column headings. For us non software engineers, what's a Token? Instead of Token Type", just say "Type". Instead of "Source Data Token", say "Source Data Type".
 

Both column headers were changed to just "Type". (The context makes it sufficiently clear). THE CURRENT SCREENSHOTS (8-17-2010) do not reflect this change.
9 When you are choosing to substitute one slot for another, (E.g. Outflow for Storage) it gives you the full GUS when really all we are interested in is the Slot portion. Is there any way to simplify this?
 

No, we don't have a way of managing Slot Names as entities (except for a modest mechanism for Account Slots). And GUS deals with only object instances. But at least GUS is opened in the proper "domain" (e.g. showing only Reservoirs when a Reservoir Slot Name is to be selected).

But after some discussion, we do now allow the user to directly edit the "New Name" replacement text. The user can still use GUS, but that is now operated using a new button: "Set New Name using Selector...".
10 Saving a Supply to a template does not work. In the Save Plot Page as Template, the supplies are missing. Exchange slots too.
  Fixed for Supplies. As per the original requirements statement, substitutions for Exchanges or Exhange Slots are not supported.
11 When we create a plot from a template, do we want to zoom to fit? Often the new data does not fit in the window and it looks like nothing happened until you auto-fit.
  We decided against doing this. The user may have intended for the original Plots' zoom factors to be a significant property of the Plots.
12 Looking at a template, you have absolutely no idea what it will plot until you generate it. I guess the user could enter a description, but without this, there is no way to know. For example, a template might have that I am going to substitute Object 1 for Object 2 but does not say anything about what slots it is going to plot.
 

That is an objection to the basic design. We could display more information as an enhancement -- we'd need to figure out what would be most helpful. In any case, the more streamlined operation now provided may partially address this problem. That is, it is easier now to tentatively generate a plot (before providing any substitutions) -- and doing so no longer dismisses the dialog box.

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