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Author Topic: Transitions: grouped "link to" targeted state  (Read 1976 times)

Broken Stylus

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Transitions: grouped "link to" targeted state
« on: September 30, 2019, 10:22:15 AM »
It's about a function that allows the user to:

1. Select several states to link to a single other targeted state.
2. Generate a link from somewhere (more on that below).
3. Drag to the single, other targeted state.
4. Link all transitions from the selected states to the targeted state.

On point 2 is where the complexity begins.
Would the Graph View support the drawing and manipulation of multiple links at once?
If no, what transition would be chosen for drawing the link? Would a visual clue still be displayed on top the other transitions, or next to them, to show that they're part of the group linking too?
That's for the rendering part.

Now the logic.
Would all transitions of the selected states generate a link? Could it be possible to filter some of them?
At least I could imagine all same transitions, example FINISHED, would generate a link.
But what if there are several transitions in some states, other than FINISHED?
Would they be selected too by default?
What if the user wanted to unselect some transitions?
I think it would be logical that by default, ALL transitions would be part of the process. But the user should have the possibility to exclude some transitions nevertheless.

I can imagine a sort of iOS temporary interface when doing so.
When entering grouped linking mode, a Blue Toggle Button would be drawn at the right end of each transition, either inside or outside the rectangle.
Some states can become very wide if the user types a lot of crap in them, so putting the button on the left avoids this but by default, I notice users tend to send the links to the right.
The circular toggle button is, I think, more intuitive than an overlay over each transition that would simply shine brighter if a transition is part of the group.
But the overlay (or any other visual clue that indicates a transition is part of the selection) would allow the user to click anywhere on the transition to toggle it In/Out of selection.

Anyway, by default, all transitions would be on In.
But the user could click on the buttons (or, again, the transitions if another visual solution is used) he'd like to exclude from the grouped linking.

Getting out of this mode would be as quick as clicking in any empty area or, perhaps, also clicking on a cross (x) in a circle displayed next to "Grouped Linking" that would appear above the selected states.

Also, even if it would be logical to have a button to activate this mode somehow, or at least have it crammed into the right-click menu too, and also automatically appearing when two or more states are selected (so it's contextual), a shortcut might be good too.
Although I haven't thought it out, maybe it could be possible to do without a button entirely (although it's always good to have a button), simply because selecting two states or two transitions (at least) would automatically imply the potential use of the Grouped Linking function.
Right now, selecting multiples states and then drag one of them moves the states around the GV.

The Grouped Linking would happen if after selecting several states, you click on a transition from one of these states and it automatically understands that you want to link all of them to another single state.

So, here's how it would go:

1. Select several states (Grouped Linking only works in multiselection of state)
2. Button/overlay appears over all transitions of these states
3. Possibility to micro-manage transitions by deselecting some (can be reselected, by default they're all selected)
4. Drag link from any (validated) transition of the selected states
5. Release mouse button on the destination state; generates all links to this state

Variant of 1 is if you directly multi-select several transitions.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2019, 07:11:17 AM by Broken Stylus »