[Ext] Console² 0.1 to 0.3.6.2

[alta88]

it seems left/right arrow keys do not scroll horizontally in console², neither the rather narrow sidebar in Fx nor the standalone window in Tb. any ideas?

would it alternatively be possible to wrap/flow the error messages pretty tightly, with line numbers on the right margin regardless how narrow?

perhaps the very large icons can follow small/large icon convention as well to save space.

[old zeniko]

The horizontal scrolling issue is (mostly) fixed in the latest <a href="http://www.haslo.ch/zeniko/software/console2-dev.xpi">testing version</a> (0.3.4.3+).

As for the layout in the sidebar, it's already about as slick as possible (making the icons smaller would only buy you between 8 to 24 pixels - you can broaden the sidebar by more if needed). Should you still get a scroll bar, you might want to try removing overlong messages (through [Del] or right-click + Ignore Message).

[alta88]

the problem is that opening a new console in the sidebar will not have old loaded messages wrapping, nor subsequent new messages, no matter how far i slide it, there is enourmous empty space between the message and the line number. perhaps a specific message causes this break.

after clearing the console, subsequent new message wrap and flow beautifully, without horizontal scroll. but console is not what is usually open in sidebar.

the icons are completely irrelevant, visual indication of error level is given well by background color, perhaps you can publish a hack to eliminate them. 24px of my normal sidebar width is 15%.

i can think of one thing (at least) that would make it 'slicker'. replace icon with date/timestamp, like most logs since logging began.. (if you have access to the info).

thanks.

[old zeniko]

perhaps a specific message causes this break.

That's usually the issue and not much I can do about (due to CSS limitations).

the icons are completely irrelevant, visual indication of error level is given well by background color, perhaps you can publish a hack to eliminate them. 24px of my normal sidebar width is 15%.

There are no background colors provided by Console². They are probably added by MTLI or your own userChrome.css hack. The following line will hide all icons:

Code: Select all

.console-row-icon { display: none !important; }

replace icon with date/timestamp

As mentioned in the FAQ in the first post: this isn't possible until bug 228205 is fixed. And then a timestamp would only require more space than an icon...

[alta88]

thanks. consider my vote added for that bug, extra timestamp space is at least useful. when you do implement a timestamp i hope you follow this standard and never hear a user whine about formats..

[alta88]

i had the console up constantly, messages where coming in nicely wrapped, until this one, then all subsequent ones stopped wrapping.

'Permission denied to set property XULElement.selectedIndex' when calling method: [nsIAutoCompletePopup::selectedIndex]

= NS_ERROR_XPC_JS_THREW_STRING
http://xxxxxxx/styles/scui7.js Line: 1675


i've changed the layout from the way copy presents it, in the console the first line doesn't wrap and the second line start with = NS_..

single quotes? if this is in console²'s ability to massage, great, otherwise

[Peng]

when you do implement a timestamp i hope you follow this standard and never hear a user whine about formats..

FoxClocks has an awfully big and complex window for customizing exactly how you want the time and/or date displayed.

IMO, Console² should just use the time, and use whichever Firefox is configured to use of 24- or 12-hour time.

[alta88]

when you do implement a timestamp i hope you follow this standard and never hear a user whine about formats..

FoxClocks has an awfully big and complex window for customizing exactly how you want the time and/or date displayed.

IMO, Console² should just use the time, and use whichever Firefox is configured to use of 24- or 12-hour time.

um, you're kidding right? are you advocating one format, your way, to the exclusion of others?

it's a simple string in a pref, to make *everyone* happy, and a link to that site. nor would it even be inventing new code to parse it. like the way this forum and almost all others do it. Foxclocks probably has that large window because of its large user base which may require more explanation.

[dougeeebear]

Hmmm...
I've had console errors and didn't even care what time they happened.
Anyway, they're sorted by order.

[alta88]

and there's an option for you for that preference..

yes, all logs are sorted that way.

it's a question of good practice. don't make me start tellling 'when i had to walk to school the snow was this deep' stories.

[XerBlade]

About every time I look at the console, it's entirely filled up with stuff from just the past couple minutes. If it's not, it's because I haven't done anything for a few minutes. This being mainly because, even when duplicate errors/warnings/messages are hidden, they still count toward the total to be stored at any given time (plus I don't think I've ever seen a page with anything more than the extreme basics that didn't have tons of errors/warnings, besides this one).
Also, by the way, if you just have it display time in the system default format, you CAN customize it, just not from within the extension. Which... makes more sense to me anyway, since it's the same clock used everywhere within the same system, so it should run on the same settings.

[alta88]

and how exactly can you tell it's from the last few minutes, or when for that matter? the console also seems to clear its log at some unknown frequency too. the current system is unhelpful for problem diagnosis.

you also realize if multiple Fx windows are running, all of their messages will appear in an open console; this is rather confusing especially without times and sometime no clear identification what threw the message. one of my windows has some pages that autorefresh, adding to activity.

i disagree system time is appropriate for *all* times displays. for a short term log like this, i would choose something like Mon 14:23:03 format. and i would use 24hr here and not in my email display, where i use descending y-m-d-t, while using ascending t-d-m-y for forums.

my experience is in very big systems, where it mattered that log times were accurate to .001 seconds. and i can certainly envision intranet development where 1)no one will tolerate endless errors 2)one off errors will be tracked and fixed.

anyway, whole thing is kinda moot.. i just don't get the philosophy of no choice, where all choice is available at almost no cost.

[XerBlade]

and how exactly can you tell it's from the last few minutes, or when for that matter?

I can tell it's from the last few minutes because it has references to code in pages I visited in the last few minutes at the very bottom when sorted from newest to oldest.

[old zeniko]

If it were for me, I'd use a simple HH:MM:SS format (24 hours) - mainly because Mozilla doesn't support neither localized time strings (only localized date/time strings: new Date().toLocaleString()) nor more complex date formatting (nothing like PHP). But fortunately bug 228205 won't be fixed soon and I won't do more than bug fixes from now on...

Should anybody want to continue this project more extensively, please PM me.

[Peng]

um, you're kidding right? are you advocating one format, your way, to the exclusion of others?

Absolutely.

it's a simple string in a pref, to make *everyone* happy, and a link to that site. nor would it even be inventing new code to parse it. like the way this forum and almost all others do it.

Sure, the string in the pref may be simple, but parsing it wouldn't be. And it would be inventing new code to parse it. You can't use the C or whatever PHP is written in in a Firefox extension (at least easily).

Foxclocks probably has that large window because of its large user base which may require more explanation.

And, the whole point of FoxClocks is time. So it should be customizable. Console², timestamps would just be a minor improvement.


And I did think about it before suggesting that. I don't think there's any room for more than the time, and it would make sense to use the same format that the rest of Firefox uses.