Improve Expression Preview dialog to show type of results

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Line 424 Can we show the Type() of expression output with color coding, instead 
of the redundant expression itself ?

Original issue reported on code.google.com by thadguidry on 27 Aug 2011 at 8:57

Attachments:

• expression-preview-dialog.js.patch

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Here is a Screenshot of my suggestion.

Original comment by thadguidry on 27 Aug 2011 at 9:56

Attachments:

• [TypeHint - Google Refine.png](https://storage.googleapis.com/google-code-attachments/google-refine/issue-443/comment-1/TypeHint - Google Refine.png)

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Thanks, Thad. Originally, because the preview updates as you types and changes 
the expression, the intention of showing the expression in the preview column 
header is for you to know which expression (editing version) it corresponds to. 
I do understand that this design has its problems and will think about it.

Original comment by [email protected] on 27 Sep 2011 at 9:05

[GoogleCodeExporter]

But do you think a user will simply know their expression anyway, since it will 
be in the larger text area above ?  My thought was YES, and so my feeling of 
feeling redundant, and the header better used as a hinting mechanism.  Hmm, 
maybe a 2 header system would work, the 2nd header being for errors and hints, 
or perhaps errors and hints should always be handled generically with jquery 
popup overlays ?

Original comment by thadguidry on 27 Sep 2011 at 1:21

[GoogleCodeExporter]

The scenario is this: the user is typing in some rather long expression, and 
the preview is lagging behind (especially if Refine is not run on the local 
machine). When the user stops typing and looks at the preview, we want them to 
know whether or not the preview is displaying the results of the full 
expression, rather than some intermediate, half-baked version that likely 
contains syntax errors.

Then there's also the issue of what text to display for various types of 
intermediate result objects. Full Java class names seem a bit too low-leveled.

Original comment by [email protected] on 28 Sep 2011 at 3:45

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Renamed issue. Marked as Enhancement, Post 2.5.

Original comment by [email protected] on 29 Sep 2011 at 3:07

• Changed title: Improve Expression Preview dialog to show type of results
• Added labels: Milestone-Post-2.5, Type-Enhancement
• Removed labels: Type-Patch

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Original comment by tfmorris on 18 Sep 2012 at 3:15

• Removed labels: Milestone-Post-2.5