Bug #27558 Apply button in Table Editor ignores column change if cursor still in input fld
Submitted: 30 Mar 2007 23:58 Modified: 26 May 2009 11:53
Reporter: Robert Sinton Email Updates:
Status: Unsupported Impact on me:
None 
Category:MySQL Administrator Severity:S3 (Non-critical)
Version:5.0r11 OS:MacOS (Mac OS X 10.4)
Assigned to: CPU Architecture:Any
Tags: GUI

[30 Mar 2007 23:58] Robert Sinton
Description:
When you click the 'Apply' button to apply a change in the Table Editor, any change for which the cursor is still in a text entry field is not recognised.

This breaks the user's expectation for a GUI interface of this type.

How to repeat:
- Create a new table or edit an existing one
- Make a change, e.g. change column name, data type, or comments.
- Leave cursor in that field
- Click 'Apply' button

Most obvious occurrence: creating a new table with a single INT column, you only need to enter the column name. It then acquires the default name 'newcolumn', because your column name entry is not recognised.

Suggested fix:
Commit last text input field change before actioning 'Apply'.
[1 Apr 2007 18:52] Sveta Smirnova
Please do not submit the same bug more than once. An existing bug report already describes this very problem. Even if you feel that your issue is somewhat different, the resolution is likely
to be the same. Because of this, we hope you add your comments to the original bug instead.

Thank you for your interest in MySQL.

As described at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/administrator/en/gui-table-editor-columns-and-indices-column-edit...:

"To change the name, data type, default value, or comment of a column, double click on the value you wish to change. The value becomes editable and you can complete your changes by pressing the Enter key."

it is by design.
[1 Apr 2007 20:13] Robert Sinton
> it is by design.

Then I would suggest that you reconsider this design, as it seems to me to be out of step with normal GUI interface practice, and breaks the users's expectation.

If I edit a value in a GUI interface, and then have an 'Apply' button available, it breaks my expectation if my edit is then ignored. The requirement to hit the [Enter] key to lock in my change *before* clicking 'Apply' is non-intuitive, and I'm not aware of such a requirement in any other software that I use where there is also an 'Apply' button.

In this situation there are two common alternatives:
1 - The user's edit is actioned without comment
2 - The user is presented with a 'save change?'-type dialog 

By contrast:
- In the MySQL Query Browser, I can edit the text of a query and hit 'Execute'. My change is immediately recognised and acted upon.
- In the MySQL Administrator Table Editor itself, if I edit the name of a column, I can then click '+' to create a new column, and the name change for the first column is recognised even though I did not hit the [Enter] key. This in particular is internally inconsistent.
- Likewise in the Table Editor, if I edit a column name and then click on a different input field, the column name change is accepted. If these actions are alternatives to the [Enter] key for confirming the user's input, then why shouldn't the 'Apply' button act the same way?

I am by no means a GUI expert, so you should probably seek a recommendation from someone who is, or at least poll a few users.

[N.B. I have changed the status of this entry from 'Duplicate' (which seems incorrect) to 'Not a bug'.]
[2 Apr 2007 8:17] Sveta Smirnova
Thank you for the feedback.

After discussion with MySQL GUI Tools developers we decided current behaviour should be fixed.
[26 May 2009 11:53] Susanne Ebrecht
Many thanks for writing a bug report. We are on the way to implement full functionality of MySQL Administrator into MySQL Workbench. Unfortunately you are using an unsupported platform. More informations about supported platforms you will find here:

http://www.mysql.com/support/supportedplatforms/tools.html

More informations about MySQL Workbench you will find here:

http://dev.mysql.com/workbench/