Rethinking the Assertions Dialog
Aug 9, 2022 5:04:10 GMT -8
Post by Uncle Buddy on Aug 9, 2022 5:04:10 GMT -8
The assertions dialog code is being written with the camera running so there are already 76 videos at the Treebard Genealogy Software channel at rumble.com, about this feature alone.
Assertions are essential to genealogy. They exist in our thinking, in our theorizing, whether software developers acknowledge their existence or not. Maybe one reason sourcing is so tedious and difficult in previous geniewares is that developers have left the missing link out of the equation. It took me 4 years to get enough of Treebard's GUI and data structure built so that I could embark on this key feature of Treebard. As I venture into year 5, my interest and ability to work full time on Treebard might be waning, so I've come up with the term "Chapter One of Treebard development". When I finish Chapter One, which consists of the assertions feature and a few stray details, I might cut way back on my involvement in the project. For now it's still working out to full time due to momentum more than enthusiasm.
Now that the assertions dialog is getting big, it seems that it should be an assertions tab in the main TabBook instead of a dialog. I was going to reserve the assertions tab for assertions that aren't linked to a finding (which now refers to a row of conclusions in the conclusions table). But because the dialog version has already gotten so big, and will be changing content so would have to resize, it seems wrong to make it a dialog. Dialogs should be for temporary display or data that is less central to the process--for mere details?--but assertions are key to the Treebard philosophy.
As for assertions that aren't linked to a finding, to be honest there's no practical way to display together all the assertions for one person, given any substantial numbers of sources for that person. There has to be a way to break the data into usable chunks, and maybe the right way is a current finding entity. So when the user clicks on the SOURCES button in a finding row on the conclusions table, instead of a dialog opening up, the tab view will just switch to the assertions tab. There a new assertion can still be created as envisioned before, or part of a new assertion such as a new source or a new citation. New assertions could be created for anything but linked only to the current finding. (I'm thinking out loud here.) The assertions automatically displayed in the assertions tab on clicking the SOURCES button could be unlinked from the current finding at this point.
To link an existing assertion to a different finding, just go to that finding. If necessary, go to a different current person first. Click the SOURCES button on the appropriate row of the conclusions table and the assertions tab will open with the clicked finding now the current finding. Unlinked assertions will be shown there, and the desired assertion can be linked to the current finding with one more click.
Many details still need to be worked out.
Assertions are essential to genealogy. They exist in our thinking, in our theorizing, whether software developers acknowledge their existence or not. Maybe one reason sourcing is so tedious and difficult in previous geniewares is that developers have left the missing link out of the equation. It took me 4 years to get enough of Treebard's GUI and data structure built so that I could embark on this key feature of Treebard. As I venture into year 5, my interest and ability to work full time on Treebard might be waning, so I've come up with the term "Chapter One of Treebard development". When I finish Chapter One, which consists of the assertions feature and a few stray details, I might cut way back on my involvement in the project. For now it's still working out to full time due to momentum more than enthusiasm.
Now that the assertions dialog is getting big, it seems that it should be an assertions tab in the main TabBook instead of a dialog. I was going to reserve the assertions tab for assertions that aren't linked to a finding (which now refers to a row of conclusions in the conclusions table). But because the dialog version has already gotten so big, and will be changing content so would have to resize, it seems wrong to make it a dialog. Dialogs should be for temporary display or data that is less central to the process--for mere details?--but assertions are key to the Treebard philosophy.
As for assertions that aren't linked to a finding, to be honest there's no practical way to display together all the assertions for one person, given any substantial numbers of sources for that person. There has to be a way to break the data into usable chunks, and maybe the right way is a current finding entity. So when the user clicks on the SOURCES button in a finding row on the conclusions table, instead of a dialog opening up, the tab view will just switch to the assertions tab. There a new assertion can still be created as envisioned before, or part of a new assertion such as a new source or a new citation. New assertions could be created for anything but linked only to the current finding. (I'm thinking out loud here.) The assertions automatically displayed in the assertions tab on clicking the SOURCES button could be unlinked from the current finding at this point.
To link an existing assertion to a different finding, just go to that finding. If necessary, go to a different current person first. Click the SOURCES button on the appropriate row of the conclusions table and the assertions tab will open with the clicked finding now the current finding. Unlinked assertions will be shown there, and the desired assertion can be linked to the current finding with one more click.
Many details still need to be worked out.