View Issue Details

IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0011500MMASynchronizationpublic2013-12-02 01:00
Reporterrusty Assigned To 
PriorityurgentSeverityminorReproducibilityhave not tried
Status closedResolutionfixed 
Product Version1.0.4 
Target Version1.0.4Fixed in Version1.0.4 
Summary0011500: "Waiting for remote server" displays even once synchronization has begun
DescriptionThis is relatively minor, but a user indicated that the "Waiting for remote server" message appears even after a connection to the remote server has formed, as evidenced by the fact that track metadata was being synced while this message was still being displayed.

I would suggest that the messaging be changed so that:
a) it's more clear to users
b) bug reports are clearer for us (right now reports from users about failure to connect to the server may be failure to connect, or stalling during the metadata transfer)

Would the following make sense?
Connecting... -- leave as is
Waiting for the remote server... --> Syncing metadata...

Note: this may not be technically accurate either (e.g. what should appear if metadata sync is disabled?)
Additional Informationhttp://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=74432
TagsNo tags attached.
Fixed in build188

Activities

marek

2013-11-26 14:06

developer   ~0038376

Last edited: 2013-11-26 14:10

I think that it is not so easily interchangeable. I will describe the phases.

1. Connecting ...
 - connecting to server
2. "Waiting for server..." OR "Waiting for server... This is your first time connecting to it, you will probably need to accept the connection on the server in order to proceed."
 - MMA is connected and waiting for server response. The second version of string is displayed when connecting for the first time and confirmation is probably shown in MMW.
3. Settings synchronization
 - it doesn't have its dialog or message, i.e. previous dialog is displayed.
4. Check whether MMW server has changed, i.e. clear all sync ids, etc.
 - it doesn't have its dialog or message, i.e. previous dialog is displayed.
5. Pair unknown tracks with MMW
 - Analyzing... is shown, it is first half of progress bar
6. Upload modifications (metadata changes) to MMW
 - it doesn't have its dialog or message, i.e. previous dialog is displayed.
7. First playlists traversal for confirmation dialog
 - it doesn't have its dialog or message, i.e. previous dialog is displayed.
8. Track are uploaded to MMW
 - Shown as UPLOAD
9. Playlists are uploaded to MMW
 - it doesn't have its dialog or message, i.e. previous dialog is displayed.
10. Synclist is uploaded to MMW
 - it doesn't have its dialog or message, i.e. previous dialog is displayed.
11. List of tracks for deletion is downloaded from MMW
 - it doesn't have its dialog or message, i.e. previous dialog is displayed.
12. Synclist is downloaded and tracks are updated
 - shown as ANALYZING...
13. Tracks are deleted
 - shown as DELETING..
14. Playlists are deleted
 - shown as deleting
15. Tracks are downloaded
 - shown as DOWNLOAD
16. Playlists are downloaded
 - shown as DOWNLOAD

When confirmations are enabled, the workflow is slightly different and more complicated. During the processed phase (e.g. Upload of tracks) is only determined what should be confirmed and the execution of the action (i.e. the upload) is postponed after confirmation dialog is confirmed.

It is true that the beginning of the sync is critical because in case no pairing of unknown tracks is done and no tracks are uploaded, the message Waiting for server is displayed till 12.

I suggest following fixes:

A) I think that we can get rid of "Waiting for server" completely and show "This is your first time connecting to it, you will probably need to accept the connection on the server in order to proceed." only when connected for the first time.

B) ANALYZING with indeterminate progress bar can be shown right before 3, i.e. when MMA is connected and sync started. I don't think that each phase has to be shown. Most of them take a really short time. So adding ANALYZING can simplify and clarify it.

C) I also think that there is a bug (regression) in 6. It should show ANALYZING and progress in second half of progress bar (first half is for 5.).

rusty

2013-11-26 15:51

administrator   ~0038378

B) Re. the choice of language, the wording should indicate that:
- some sort of initialization / analysis is occurring
- that some sort of synchronization is occurring
I think that _both_ messages are required because:
- sometimes metadata sync will occur and sometimes it won't
- it may be important for debugging purposes to understand at which stage the problem occurred.

A couple of possible approaches:
1)
-'Initializing sync...' (this can be a dialog like 'connecting to server'
-Modify the 'Analyzing' dialog so that it has 2 phases:
Updating metadata changes...
Analyzing sync list...

2)
New 'Initializing' phase (similar to Analyzing), that include the following two sub-phases (and progress bar):
-'Initializing sync...'
-'Updating metadata changes...'

marek

2013-11-26 19:18

developer   ~0038383

I suggest to mix these two approaches

3) I will add new initialization phase that won't be shown as dialog, because I would like to get rid of the dialogs for this usecase in the future. I think that it is much better to show it directly in activity as other phases (it doesn't blink and context is not lost).

I suggest to use it as described in 1), i.e. show metadata update as part of ANALYZING phase because it is 6. phase...after 5.phase that is ANALYZING (as I described in C):

Modify the 'Analyzing' dialog so that it has 2 phases:
Analyzing sync list...
Updating metadata changes...

Please note that Initializing phase will probably just blink because phases 3 a 4 takes much less than second

rusty

2013-11-26 22:31

administrator   ~0038386

Sounds good.

marek

2013-11-28 21:19

developer   ~0038419

Fixed in build 188

rusty

2013-12-02 01:00

administrator   ~0038442

Verified 189.