[mythtv-users] Watch Recordings doesn't list size of single recording

[Michael T. Dean]

On 12/16/2015 09:34 PM, Nicolas Riendeau wrote:
>> Unfortunately, the mainline coders have used some library routines which
>> make it even harder for you. So on the Upcoming Recordings page we get
>> 'Today' and Tomorrow instead of the 'shortdate' 12-13 (or Sunday 12-13'.
>> That "feature" is buried in the code, NOT in the theme....
>
> I have a scoop for you, they are also planning to add ereyesterday and 
> overmorrow too...
>
> Kidding obviously...  These are obsolete words for the day before 
> yesterday and the day after tomorrow...
>
> The dev(s) which did that did not do that to bug people, they thought 
> it would be better that way just like you think it would be better to 
> use ISO formats which we can  understand but don't normally use...
>
> And as far as I am concerned it should *not* be settable in the code 
> *nor* in the theme, it should be made configurable by the user.
>
> I know some of the devs do not like adding settings (my guess is that 
> it soon becomes hard to know what is use for what, etc...) but things 
> like that should be configurable I believe.

The main problem with adding settings is that they're often added such 
that they make the exact same feature behave differently for different 
people, resulting in different code paths being followed due to the same 
user action.  This makes it very difficult to test, maintain, and even 
to identify/reproduce bugs that are reported. Usually this 
approach--adding a setting to make an action behave differently for 
different people--is taken when the developer can't decide how something 
should work.  The better approach is for the developer to make a 
decision and code it that way or--if all else fails--code both actions 
and allow any user to use either without having to flip some hidden 
setting somewhere.

When it comes to a setting to determine date/time or other display 
formats, this is perfectly acceptable--and even sensible--because it's 
actually just remembering a user preference.

Other settings fails that we still need to clean up are key bindings 
that masquerade as settings (i.e. changing behavior resulting from a key 
press via settings, rather than making both behaviors available via key 
bindings), settings that break functionality (i.e. such as "Browse 
Filesystem (slow)"), settings that should never be used (i.e. are used 
only to hide some system misconfiguration--when fixing the 
misconfiguration would be the more sensible approach--such as "Video 
aspect override", or similar), and others that I'm forgetting at the moment.

> These settings should I think actually be configurable (and saved) 
> from the page they are related to (if applicable).

Yes, nearly all of our "real" (good/should be kept) settings should 
become "live" settings--such that they can be changed where they're used 
and the change is remembered automatically--not buried in some far-off, 
easily-forgotten, hard-to-find settings page where the difference isn't 
easily observed.  The configuration (i.e. system-specific information 
usually not stored in the settings table, such as Video Sources, Capture 
Cards, etc.--generally the "one-time setup" stuff) is about the only 
stuff that belongs in a dedicated "settings" area.

IMHO, that is. :)

Mike