long descriptions in OPTIONS

[Shaun Amott]

On Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 10:02:16PM -0400, Wesley Shields wrote:
> Based upon an idea in an earlier thread on this list[1] I came up with
> two ways of adding an extended description to our existing OPTIONS
> framework.
> 
> 1: Extend the OPTIONS to be 4 fields instead of the current 3 fields.
> The 4th field would be the long description - providing more detailed
> information about what this option does or supports.  In order to
> distinguish between a port with 4 OPTIONS without the long description
> (12 fields) and a port with 3 OPTIONS with the long description (also 12
> fields) the patch requires the port to turn on a knob (OPTIONS_DESC)
> when using the long field.  The idea is that over time this will become
> the default and can eventually be removed.
> 
> 2: Leave OPTIONS as is but support a DESC_FOO variable for each OPTION.
> This variable would be the long description field, and if it doesn't
> exist a default message indicating such would be displayed.
> 
> Both of these methods are displayed to the user when '?' or F1 is
> pressed during the dialog screen.  In the case of (1) the extra dialog
> is only shown if the port supports it.  In the case of (2) the extra
> dialog is always available since we have a default message to display.
> I suppose a third way would be to use a default message when the knob is
> not set for (1), which would probably simplify things slightly.
> 
> Personally, I prefer (1) but I'm open to suggestions on how to improve
> either of them, or an entirely new idea all together.  I'd like to
> submit these as PRs eventually, so please do try to keep the bikesheds
> to a minimum.  :)
> 

I slightly prefer option 2. It seems like it would be better to support
having a long description for only some of the options.

Another idea might be to make the standard description field contain a
long description, but only display the first X characters in the current
location, and the full string inside the help box. But this might lead
to less than optimal text used in the first X characters.

A very useful feature, either way. Thanks for your work on this!

-- 
Shaun Amott // PGP: 0x6B387A9A
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin
of little minds." - Ralph Waldo Emerson