Improving requirement error message

Pierre-Yves David pierre-yves.david at logilab.fr
Wed Jun 22 08:49:27 CDT 2011


On Wed, Jun 22, 2011 at 02:44:52AM +0200, Pierre-Yves David wrote:
> Here is a reset of the discussion about improving the current requirement error message.
> 
> Timing is very tight, I suggest:
> 
> - 2011-06-22 People give view about what should be fixed,
> - 2011-06-23 People agree on a new phrasing for the message,
> - 2011-06-24 patch is written (before pre-release).
> 
> Bellow are points I believe necessary to be covered by this error message.
> 
> Issue with the current message:
> ====================
> 
> Lack hint about how to solve the issue
> --------------------
> This is the main issue in my opinion.
> 
> The user just get the error and have no clue about how to handle it. 
> 
> - Having a dedicated help entry may help but it won't be made for 1.9.0,
> 
> - linking to a dedicated page on the wiki seems necessary anyway. We need to update new requirement which are by definition unknown by the version that get the error.
> 
> Only display the first missing feature
> --------------------
> Hiding the full issue to the user might be very frustrating. This is something to fix in my opinion
> 
> The goal is to avoid the following scenario:
> 
> 1) Bob using version 1.6 try to access repo created with dotencode+generaldelta,
> 2) Bob get an error --> abort: […] requires features 'dotencode',
> 3) Bob check the wiki see that dotencode is introduced in 1.7,
> 4) Bob install version 1.8.0 (may include fighting with IT departement),
> 5) Bob get an error --> abort: […] requires features 'generaldelta',
> 6) Bob check the wiki see that generaldelta is introduced in 1.9,
> 7) Bob install version 1.9.0 (may include fighting with IT departement).
Refreshing requirement list after Adrian comment

This message need to:

* Hint how to solve the issue
    - With upgrading.
    - Without upgrading

* List all missing requirement
* Refer to a version issue
* make it clear that the issue only occurs with on-disk repository.

-- 
Pierre-Yves David

http://www.logilab.fr/

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